One Team's Legacy: A Feature Story on the 1999 UNK Softball Team
This is the final profile of the inductees to the RMAC Hall of Fame on Friday, July 14 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel. Tickets for the Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet can be purchased by clicking here.
Eighteen years ago, one of the most distinguished teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) featured fourteen, skilled softball student-athletes and one seasoned head coach.
The 1999 University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) Softball Team made winning a tradition and working hard a habit as they finished the season 39-4 overall
(NCAA) and 22-0 in the RMAC
(does not include forfeited games or post-season tournament games).
Former UNK pitcher and designated hitter, Terrisa (Eckmann) Reeves was on the team that year and recalls how the team’s dynamic was key towards their success.
“It was all business [from] start to end,” said Terrisa. “Pitching was great, defense was great and in that you get such a unified front; it was amazing…We were disciplined in a way that we took every game seriously and you don’t assume anything going into a game. What’s humbling is that every single member of our team knew that going in [to the game].”
The team, which consisted of Terrisa Reeves, Amanda Kelly, Darcie Berry, Kelly Moats, Christine Rollman, Holly Waller, Tina McCaslin, Erin Perry, Laura Espenmiller, Becky Sintek, Karla Simmons, Sarah Anderson, Jennifer Averill and Shawna Young, was led by former head coach Dan Simmons. Dan is a UNK Hall of Famer (2001) and a four-time RMAC Coach of the Year winner.
“Dan, he demanded excellence and in a coach like that you have to appreciate it,” said Terrisa. “I would say in my career, he was by far one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He saw what was special in each individual player and he demanded that excellence even more. Players like Amanda, Holly and Chris, and Laura, you take those amazing qualities of those players and demand more.”
Dan developed the 1999 softball squad into some of the best student-athletes to come from UNK and the RMAC.
To name a few, infielder Darcie Berry had a fantastic year becoming the season leader in home runs, which places her third all-time for the Lopers. Her 15 home runs were also fourth in the nation (NCAA Division II) in 1999. Teammate Kelly Moats was one of the toughest players to strikeout that year. She finished 10
th in DII with only two strikeouts in 114 at-bats. In addition, UNK led the nation with 53 home runs for an average of 1.23 home runs per game. They also pitched a total of 333 strikeouts, good enough for second all-time at UNK. The 1999 RMAC Pitcher of the Year, Amanda Kelly pitched 223 of the 333 strikeouts thrown, placing her seventh all-time in the RMAC for season strikeouts. That year, she was ranked second in the nation averaging eleven strikeouts per seven innings and went 20-0 with 15 shutouts and a 0.54 earned-run average.
“[Pitching] was a huge part of the game. You can never deny that and Amanda brought the most amazing rise ball I have ever seen…[Then] you have Tina who quite frankly [has] one of the fastest arms and when you have those two come in game-to-game, the opposing team has no chance.”
Each player was diverse and combined, they dominated their competition.
The Lopers captured the 1999 RMAC Regular Season and Tournament Championship title for the fifth consecutive year (1995 (MHISL) – 1999) and made their fourth appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
They took control of the regional tournament with a 4-0 victory over Washburn and a 4-3 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State. In the final game, they defeated Truman State 3-0 to take home the NCAA South Central Region Championship title.
“As a squad, we knew we had a chance [to win the championship game]; we knew we had something special, it was just a matter of getting to that spot.”
Moving forward to the College World Series (CWS), UNK was 2-0 before falling to Humboldt State, 3-1. In the elimination round, the Lopers won their game against Alabama-Huntsville 6-0 to advance to the championship game, but would fall to Humboldt State 7-2.
Although they did not win the national title, the Lopers had much to be proud of. To this day, they are the only softball team in UNK history to go undefeated in conference play. They’ve also produced the program’s least amount of overall losses (4) since joining the NCAA Division II.
Adding to the team’s success, Dan was named NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year. In the 1999 campaign, he had two players named NCAA DII All-Americans (Berry and Kelly), four named DII All-Region (Berry, Kelly, Espenmiller, and Sintek), and seven named All-RMAC (Berry, Espenmiller, Kelly, McCaslin, Simmons, Sintek, and Waller). Off the field, six earned RMAC All-Academic honors (Averill, Berry, Espenmiller, Kelly, Rollman, and Simmons). Berry was also named CoSIDA Academic All-American.
In 2009, several of the players from the 1999 squad were named to the RMAC Softball Centennial All-Time Team, which includes Darcie, Amanda, and Laura. Dan was named RMAC All-Time Top Coach. The 1999 UNK softball team is the first-ever softball team inducted into the RMAC Hall of Fame. They will be honored on Friday, July 14 at the Colorado Springs Marriott Hotel.