Hendrickson Softball Playing For Woz

Hendrickson Softball Playing For Woz

FAB 50 Hendrickson High School softball plays for Woz. Get to know the No. 4 nationally ranked Texas team.

May 9, 2017 by Dan Pearson
Hendrickson Softball Playing For Woz
They play for Coach "Woz."

nullHe's no longer with them, but his jersey is neatly hung in the dugout for every game. He remains in the players' hearts and minds as Hendrickson High School from Pflugerville, Texas, continues to reach new heights in world of prep softball.

Coach "Woz" was Michael Wozniak, a business teacher and head softball coach at Hendrickson until he suddenly and unexpectedly passed away last September, leaving his team in a state of shock, grief, and hurt.

Prior to Wozniak's arrival to the team in 2016, Hendrickson was a struggling program that had single-digit win seasons in the three previous years, including going winless in the district in 2015. Under Wozniak, the Hawks went 18-10 last year -- missing the playoffs by just one game.

With seven rising seniors, everything looked in place for Hendrickson to have a big year.

Then tragedy struck.

Wozniak passed away suddenly at the start of the school year, leaving the team without a head coach until Lindsay Eaton stepped in as interim head coach.

"We were at a real crossroad in our program after coach died," Eaton said. "The kids loved Coach Woz and were devastated when he passed. After his death, we decided as a group the best way to honor him was to go out and play the way he would have wanted us to. We decided to dedicate the season to him and our motto became 'Let's do it for Woz.'"


The results have been nothing short of remarkable.  

Hendrickson, ranked fourth in the nation, is 27-1 going into a regional best-of-three series with Bowie (13-13) this weekend, when the Hawks will attempt to be the first team in school history to advance past the third round of the playoff system.

The team is led by a pair of outstanding pitchers in sophomore Taylor Bachmeyer and senior Hope Trautwein. Ole Miss-commit Bachmeyer has emerged as ace of the staff and gets most of the starts, and Trautwein is used as a closer and also gets spot starts in doubleheaders and tournament games.

"We're fortunate to have two outstanding pitchers in Taylor and Hope," Eaton said. "Taylor is such a tremendous athlete. She's also great offensively. She's been hitting close to .400 all season, in addition to her work on the mound. If she is struggling or gets in a tight spot pitching, Hope comes and cleans it up."

Offensively, the Hawks have a strong lineup. They are hitting close to .360 as a team, and Eaton said there are no easy outs.

"Teams really can't pitch around us," she said. "From top to bottom everyone is around that .350 mark and can put the ball in play."

Although the team has won its share of lopsided victories, it has been the close games where Hendrickson has shown its true mettle. The Hawks are 9-1 this season in games decided by two runs or fewer.

"This group has learned what it takes to win," Eaton said. "When we get into late innings and the score is close, we always seem to play with a calm confidence. We were locked up in a scoreless playoff game last week, and we were actually being no-hit. There was no panic. Gabby Garcia got up and ripped a single. We bunted her over and then got a big game-winning hit. It's been like that all season, stay the course and good things will happen."

Eaton said she tries to keep talk of the national ranking and school record win total to a minimum.  

"It's impossible to tell them to ignore it, but we do tell them to keep humble about it," she said. "Rankings mean nothing when the playoffs start. If you lose you are out, and it doesn't matter if you are ranked first, fourth, or a thousand."

Although this is the most successful team in school history, Eaton said it was not sudden development.

"This group of seniors have played together since middle school," she said. "They had some success, but last year under Coach Wozniak they started to not only play well but to believe in themselves and to believe in each other. "

Somewhere the Woz is most likely looking down and smiling.


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