IN MEMORY OF Coach
ST. MIKE’S SOFTBALL TEAM DEDICATES ITS SEASON TO WOMAN WHO GUIDED THEM BEFORE HER RECENT DEATH
Orange ribbons that change by game adorn the hair of the softball players from St. Michael’s High School. Blue ones with orange trim flutter from the fence at the school’s softball field.
And, for those who know, the ribbons tell a story.
“They’re going to stay there until the wind and weather carry them away,” Lady Horsemen assistant coach Ron Noedel said of the fence-sitters.
The ribbons are a tribute to his sister and longtime coach Roseanne Noedel, who passed away in February after a vicious attack of kidney cancer.
Now, her team, coached by her younger brother and fellow longtime assistant coach Deborah Garcia, are honoring their late coach with a stellar season.
The Horsemen won their first nine games this season before a tough West Las Vegas squad salvaged the nightcap of a doubleheader Tuesday.
And, as the team piles up the hits and runs and wins, the players know they have an extra eye on them.
“It’s hard, especially with everything in the back of my mind,” said niece Claudia Noedel, a sophomore who is Ron Noedel’s daughter. “But it also helps us in a way. We want to make her proud ... . We know she’s up there watching us.”
And what she’s been seeing is a team firing on all cylinders, Garcia said.
“They decided this was going to be the year,” she said. “They decided they want to show her how well they can do.”
Led by dynamic senior pitcher Allie Berhost, who has taken the hill in every game and took a 0.52 ERA into Wednesday’s games, the Horsemen have been playing ball like never before.
“We have a super group of young ladies,” said Garcia, who is the interim head coach.
Berhost, who will be playing at Scottsdale Community College in the fall, “just has got that mentality,” Garcia said. “She believes in what she’s doing.”
Berhost also is clubbing the ball, hitting a robust .739 with 10 extrabase hits and 12 RBI.
She gets plenty of help at the plate, with fellow seniors Miranda Lovato hitting .625 with 10 RBI, and Mikayla Leyba hitting .560 with nine RBI and 16 runs.
Yet, even as the Horsemen are galloping past their opponents, they honor St. Mike’s and Roseanne Noedel.
It was Bernalillo that brought the ribbons that hang from the fence. Pojoaque Valley presented a beautifully framed photo of her. And rival Santa Fe did a pre-game tribute, giving each of the players flowers.
“It’s been rather the emotional rollercoaster,” Ron Noedel said. “I coached with my sister for 21 years. It’s been very different to be down there and not see her face.”
Still, seeing how the team has responded brings some cheer to the situation, Garcia said.
“It’s just been amazing,” she said. “We don’t play a game or have a practice where we don’t remember her. They’re dedicating the whole season to the coach. Their love for her, dedication, loyalty and desire to do their very best is showing. The record kind of speaks for itself. Their love and the way she inspired them has been their motivation.
“It’s been a very emotional time, but they’ve really made it a positive.”
St. Mike’s has not won a state championship, although the Lady Horsemen twice reached the championship round.
They’re hoping to change that this season, Claudia Noedel said.
“When my auntie coached, they never made state champion,” she said. “I know for sure that was something she always wanted to do. Now that she’s not here, we really want to try now, try a little harder to get that for her.”
No matter what happens, Ron Noedel said, this has been a season unlike any other.
“I think these girls have learned a lot about life in this season the last couple of months,” he said. “They’ve learned how short life can be. You can’t take life for granted.
“No matter what seeding it brings to us in the state tournament, we have some very high goals set,” he added. “We have a very talented team. No matter how this run ends, it’s been a very special season.”