MILLPORT, Ala. — Friendship equals strength.
At first, Jessica Wheat didn’t know what to do. She felt helpless watching as Lauren Crimm, her best friend and teammate on the South Lamar High School fast-pitch softball team, lie in bed recovering from burns to her face, arms, legs she suffered in a grease fire in her home May 8. The only thing Wheat could do was to hold Crimm’s hand, pray, and be there for her.
But Crimm knew there was something Wheat could do for her: She could join the rest of the Lady Stallions and help them win the North Central Region tournament.
Wheat didn’t want to go.
After talking to Kenneth Crimm, Lauren’s father, Wheat realized what she had to do. Flush with the blessing of her friend and encouraged to wear Lauren’s No. 10, Jessica left her friend and hoped for the best for everyone.
“I decided it was the right thing to do,” Wheat said. “She needed her rest and I was going to go do it for her.
“I am playing for her. It is not the same without her there, but I would rather wear her jersey to know I am doing it for her and to know she is still a part of this team.”
Crimm’s strength pulsed through South Lamar last weekend at the North Central Region at Liberty Park In Vestavia Hills, Ala. Powered by an MVP pitching effort by Kendra Wilson and the play of Wheat, South Lamar won two games Friday and two more Saturday to take its first regional title and advance to the Class 1A State tournament.
Third-seeded South Lamar will try to build on that effort and win another championship for Crimm when it plays fourth-seeded Kinston at 9 a.m. today in its first game at the eight-team Class 1A State tournament at Lagoon Park in Montgomery, Ala. The winner of that game will advance to face the winner of the Maplesville-Tharptown game at 1:30 p.m. today. The state champion will be crowned Friday.
South Lamar left Wednesday buoyed by the news that Crimm, a junior, had returned home from the hospital. Coach Tony Seals said Crimm wants to attend the state tournament, but he isn’t sure if she will be able to. He said she will need additional surgery to help care for her burns and that she is in good spirits. She showcased the upbeat personality Wheat has come to love when she talked to her teammates Saturday by speaker phone after they won the North Central Region title.
South Lamar beat Ragland 4-1 and Lynn 9-3 on Friday and Parrish 3-0 and Ragland 8-4 on Saturday. Wheat said everyone was so pumped up at the tournament because they knew they were playing for Crimm.
“I have never seen our team like we did,” Wheat said. “I knew everybody was still a little bit shattered from what happened, but I was amazed how everyone came together and played. God really put His hand on our team last weekend.”
South Lamar learned of Crimm’s situation Tuesday at school. Seals said everyone in the cafeteria cried when he relayed the news and that he wasn’t sure how his players were going to respond.
In the first game, Wilson allowed only two hits and struck out 11. Hannah Cox was 3-for-4 and Wheat was 2-for-3. Karoline Holsonback doubled and scored the first run on a single by Cox. Wheat’s single in the fourth scored Cox and Kallie Pollard and Wheat scored on a single by Blake Hardin accounted for the scoring.
Against Lynn, Wilson had four strikeouts and again allowed only two hits. Laken Hancock had a home run and a single, and Wheat and Hardin had two singles. Bailie Springfield, Holsonback, Bryant, and Pollard also had hits. An early morning start Saturday couldn’t slow South Lamar, Against Area 9 rival Parrish, Springfield and Holsonback singled and scored on a double by Cox in the sixth. Cox scored on a single by Bryant. Wilson allowed only two hits and had five strikeouts.
In the title game, Hancock homered to start to attack. In the third, Wilson walked and Hancock reached on an error. Wilson scored on a double by Holsonback, while Hancock and Holsonback scored on an error. Cox sealed the deal with a three-run home run in the fifth after a double by Hancock and a single by Springfield.
Wilson pitched a complete-game five-hitter. She struck out three and walked three.
“They just came together for Lauren,” Seals said. “They had T-shirts made and they came up with cheers for Lauren. … I have been doing this 28-29 years and I have never seen a team come together like they did. They were so focused on one purpose. They said this is for Lauren.”
Seals said Crimm, who lives in Millport, Ala., was home sick Tuesday with strep throat. He said Crimm was cooking onion rings and chicken fingers when a fire started. He said she threw a towel over the pan and then put out the fire that had spread to the cabinets. When Crimm went outside to throw the grease away, he said the wind blew the towel off the pan and re-ignited the fire, which burned Crimm.
Wheat admitted to being “bummed” on the way down to the North Central Region tournament because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to do as well as everyone expected her to do. She hadn’t gotten much sleep since Tuesday because she tried to be with Crimm as much as possible in the hospital in Columbus and then after she was moved to a hospital in Brandon. But Wheat quickly realized she had the strength to do what she had to do for Crimm and the Lady Stallions.
“If I could have chose, I would have rather her went (to the North Central Region tournament) because I would trade places with her any day,” Wheat said. “I guess I wanted to live up to her expectations for her dad and her mom.”
Wheat said Crimm called her Friday as soon as she came out of surgery to tell her she missed her and that she was proud of her. The friends stayed in contact through text messages the rest of the weekend, but Wheat already knew Crimm was there with her and her teammates.
Wheat, who has an older brother, said Crimm is like a sister. She is looking forward to seeing Crimm again, and knows that she will handle her recovery well. She also knows that she and everyone with the team will continue to draw strength from Crimm.
“I don’t think our team could have came together better,” Wheat said. “I just hope I did everything she could ask for and more. I wish I could have been with her and at the game at the same time. But she is strong and everything is going to be OK, so we do what we have to do.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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