Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia State’s April Huddleston leaves a message in the dirt outside the batter’s box for her father every game.
HOUSTON — The ball landed just a few feet short of a home run. Secretly, April Huddleston wished it would have gone a little farther.
It was Mother’s Day, after all. A home-run ball would have been a great gift to her mom, Sally.
Just a few innings later — after Emporia State defeated Winona State, 9-1, at the Trusler Sports Complex — April helped her teammates hold up the Regional Championship trophy.
April dedicated it to the hardest worker she’d ever met.
“To give (my mom) that championship on Mother’s Day,” April said, “was really special to me.”
Between second and third base, players grinned and hugged and posed for picture after picture.
Just a few feet away, April had already left a note for her dad.
Her message — 7X — remained safe in the dirt just outside the right-handed batter’s box.
***
It’s tough for April Huddleston to stop laughing.
As the story goes, Gregg Huddleston, the race car driver, never wanted his daughter to compete in track.
He always told her the same thing: Track was stupid because all people did was run in circles.
April would quickly have a response.
“Dad, that’s all race car drivers do is drive around in a circle.”
Gregg raced dirt tracks quite a bit growing up. He loved race cars. In fact, he raced as much as possible.
It still never stopped Gregg from teasing his oldest daughter about running in circles over and over.
***
It’s tough for April Huddleston to sleep. Her knees are keeping her awake again.
Like most nights, the prescription drugs aren’t enough to keep the pain away.
It’s worst after she lays in the same spot for a few hours. April bends over at the waist, picks her leg up with her arms, and shakes it a bit to get it set. Then, with her leg straight like the Tinman from the Wizard of Oz, she moves it over to a different position on the bed before wiggling her knee again with her hands to make it comfortable.
“It’s something I’ve almost learned to deal with now, because it is kind of a daily thing to me,” April said. “Nights aren’t great at all.”
The knee troubles started at Johnson County Community College four years ago.
After going back to catch a fly ball, April turned to make a throw back to the infield.
At the same time, she heard a pop. She had torn the MCL in her left knee.
After rehabbing in the fall, April returned for the spring season her sophomore year.
Her luck wouldn’t hold after transferring to ESU her junior season.
Just three days into practice, she tweaked her knee again. The doctor diagnosed her with a torn meniscus.
Worse yet, April learned she also had the same problems with her right knee.
It all started a stressful three-month stretch.
In October 2006, April had surgery to repair the meniscus in her right knee. In November, she had the meniscus in her left knee repaired.
Then, on Dec. 1, she had a complete MCL reconstruction on her left knee.
“It’s been a lot,” April said, “but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to be on the field for your team.”
April faced extensive rehab. She would have to sit out the entire 2006 season.
The question ran through her head: “April, is this really worth it?”
It didn’t take long to decide her answer: yes.
“I experienced that team that year,” April said. “I owe everything I’ve done since that point to those girls.”
That team — ESU’s 62-7 squad that made it all the way to the national championship game — gave April a new outlook and a new purpose.
She wanted the success. She wanted to carry on ESU’s softball tradition. She wanted to make it to a College World Series.
Now, she just had to wait her turn.
***
It’s tough for April Huddleston to concentrate.
The day keeps playing in her memory over and over and over.
“That echoes through your head,” April said. “It has every day for 10 years.”
She was 13 then — the day her life changed forever.
Her father, Gregg, suffered a heart attack.
“This couldn’t be happening,” April thought. Just the day before, he was fine. He was only 37.
April rushed into the room. After opening the door, she saw her grandparents, then her mother, Sally.
April hesitated before asking the question.
“Is he ... gone?”
Her mother looked into her eyes. April never forgot the response.
“Yeah,” Sally said slowly.
“Daddy’s gone.”
***
It’s tough for April Huddleston to think of a better way to end her playing days.
She doesn’t mind admitting that after ESU started the season 3-7, she had some doubts that the team would make the College World Series.
Now, she’s here.
Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia State’s April Huddleston celebrates with her half-sister, Hannah Schreiner, 3, after ESU won the NCAA Division II North Central Regional last Sunday.
“I just want to enjoy the moment, take it all in,” April said. “Yeah, this last week is the last week of my career, but it’s going to be the best of my career, I have a feeling.”
After going to the doctor in March, April found out she would most likely need a partial knee replacement after the season is over.
This is it. The senior needs one more week from her beat-up body.
“She basically gives her knees — her health — to be able to play softball. You can’t ask for more,” ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “She’s been an inspiration to people for that. She’s in pain, and everyone knows it.”
Though it wasn’t easy to overcome the injuries, April said she did it more for others than for herself.
She did it for her teammates, the ones at ESU earlier and also the ones still with her this year.
She did it for her mother, the one who pulled weeds and mowed the lawn and did the dishes and raised three kids without once complaining about the tough circumstances she faced in life.
She did it for her siblings and half-siblings, including 3-year-old Hannah (or Hannah-Bo-Bannah, as they call her), the one who always yells “Go Sissy” from behind the plate.
She also did it for her dad. The one whom she remembers every at-bat.
The one who sacrificed quite a bit for her as well.
***
It’s easy for April Huddleston to show her dad that she loves him.
Just before her at-bat on Mother’s Day, she grabs the barrel of the bat. Slowly, she lowers it so the handle drags across the dirt below.
7X.
She’s done it since her freshman year. Every at-bat. Every game.
Gregg loved race cars. In fact, he raced as much as possible.
That was until one day when he crashed on the track. A little while later, April was born.
With new expenses on the way from his first child, Gregg never had the money to repair his car.
So, for his family, he gave up his racing.
“That’s something I owe him for,” April said.
In every softball field, Gregg’s legacy still lives on.
That’s because his old number — race car No. 7X — makes it to every diamond along with April.
“It’s kind of my way of saying thanks,” April said.
“ ... I know he’s there with me every at-bat.”
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Posted by CaseyHuddleston (anonymous) on May 14, 2008 at 9:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, that is an awsome article. Whom ever wrote that, thank you so much! You did a great job.
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