April 14, 2024 • 11 mins
Carol Evens, who lost her parents last year, talks loss and having a press box dedicated to her parents.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:02):
We're back on a Sunday afternoon,and Mindy has just a story and an
interview for us. Now that reallywill lift up you and your community.
If you're listening, one hundred percent, absolutely we're going to have Carol Evans
join in on the conversation. Carol, you're on the line with us,
right, I hope so? Yes, I think you are, because we
(00:25):
hear you. We hear it right, Okayla, yep, I can hear
you. Just great, Carol,welcome to the show. Thank you.
And how about that big o'haz statesoftball Wednesday? Oh yeah, now,
we gotta know. We gotta winon Tuesday Wednesday this coming weekend when Maryland
comes to town. Oh, whereyou go? We hoped bill Buckeye Field.
But Carol, how many years didyou coach high school softball at Buckeye
(00:48):
Valley? Twenty five? Wow?And if you do that for twenty five
years, pardon me? How didyou do that for twenty five years?
That is such a long time.I'll tell you how. I had great
players and the great community and greatsoftball parents, most of them, you
know, you know, we're afew, but you know it's just a
(01:10):
Buckeye Valleys are just a big,loving community and it's easy easy to do
that when it's somewhere you love andwith people you love. And it came
full circle really in the story thatwe're about to share from you, Carol,
and I know Mindy knows you andas talk to you, but set
the stage for us. Your familyhas just been through a really difficult time
(01:32):
that leads us to where the storygoes today. But can you set the
foundation for us about what happened toyour family not all that long ago.
Yeah, my parents died in ahouse fire, which was still it's still
pretty unbelievable, and so it waspretty much a year from health. And
(01:53):
in the you know, in theobituary, we said memorial funds can be
sent to the church or to BuckeyeValley saw Fall and we've got lots of
money for Buckeye Valley Softball as wellas a church, but you know,
from all over the community and evenAnne Johnson, who used to teach at
Bucky Valley she now teaches at GroveCity, is their show choir director and
(02:16):
they had a show choir competition andall the donations from that went back to
Buckeye Valley softball, So it's allover the place. Lots of people donated.
So I can only imagine you coachingfor twenty five years being close to
your parents. I bet you theycame to so many of your games to
(02:38):
watch you coast and they've probably gotto know a lot of your players.
Well, yeah, mom ran myconcession stand and one day I don't know
what she was doing. She waspretty ornery, and I said, way
to go, wild Wanda, andthat's stuck. And so for twenty five
years, my players called her wildWanda and she would get them at the
(02:58):
beginning of the season luck card toput in their pocket, had a little
rabbit on it, a little poorlet clover on it, just said good
luck, wild Wanda, and theywould put it in their uniform pockets for
the whole season and in this yeahand then uh, and then Dad just
walked around. They just called himBig Ed because he was six too,
and just you know, just hangingout. But they were always both very,
(03:22):
very supportive of me and this softballprogram. They just loved it.
So how did your players, currentplayers and former players take the passing of
wild Wanda and Big Ed, Becauseman, that's it was tragic Carol.
It truly was. Oh yes itwas. Uh so many of them showed
up at the funeral and calling hours, lots of Facebook comments and and uh
(03:45):
condolences and yeah, yeah they're justI love them all. Well, that
to me is the beauty of asmall town because it is so community driven.
Everybody knows everybody else, and youbecome family. And when something like
that happened to you, a coachof twenty five years, I understand you
(04:06):
are so beloved and so cared aboutthat people wanted to give back to you
and your parents. And first ofall, I am so sorry that that
happened to you. That had tohave been just a devastating loss. You
know, life is hard, there'sno doubt, but when we face the
person, it's not what the adversetime is. It's what you face afterwards,
and you pick yourself up and youcontinue on with life. And I
(04:29):
think it's such a wonderful thing thatnow, because of all the donations that
came in from the community to yourfamily and an honor of you and your
parents, they were able to upgradethe press box at buckey Field High School
softball field, where you spent twentyfive years coaching. That is beautiful.
It is it's I feel honored.I felt like my whole career I was
(04:57):
blessed because you know, so manypeople go through the world life doing something
that they hate as a job,and how lucky was I to be doing
something that I loved again at theplace I love. And then you know
John Stewart and in the softball girlsnow and in the whole softball community.
I'm just very, very honored,and I just want to throw out some
more names that I know of thatare helping with this. Marjorie Harrol,
(05:20):
who was my administrative assistant when Ibecame athletic director. I know she selected
all the money. And a goodfriend of mine, Diane and Nohan is
on this. So many family andfriends, and I'm just honored that they
all think enough of They probably thinkmore of my mom and dad, but
think enough of me that just seemto be I'm just very very touched and
(05:46):
honored this is happening. We knowthat they have to think so much of
your entire family, though, Carol, truly, what does this press box
look like? Tell me a littlebit more about what was dedicated this past
week, and Mindy like, whatdoes it look like? What does it
mean to this group? You knowwhat, Mikayla. They didn't get to
dedicate it because of the rain,so it's going it got postponed. It's
(06:09):
gonna happen this coming week. Okay, we about it before they do it,
we get to preview. It's awesome. Yeah, so I don't know.
It'll be a big surprise. Doyou haven't You have not seen a
sneak peak of it yet then,Carol, No, I've stayed away because
I didn't want to. I didn'twant to have a heads up. You
know. I totally understand that,totally, Carrol. Yeah, it's a
(06:33):
very emotional time. I'm sure there'llbe tears shed and happy tears, happy
tears, but it'll be fun.It'll be a good time. I don't
care if they just put one littleyellow ribbon on it. It's all all,
you know, It's just they're justgreat. No, I'm kind of
curious, but Kayla, and I'msure you are too. In those twenty
(06:55):
five years, what was your recordand what were some of your favorite which
that you can't believe that this happenedon the soft ball field. Oh gosh,
I had I think it was fourhundred and thirty seven wins and just
over one hundred losses. Oh mygod, Mindy's reaction tells all Carol,
(07:19):
I didn't have like a known sonon that, but now I know for
Mindy, yeah there. You know, there were so many good players.
I had quite a few all stateplayers in two thousand and five. We
made it to the final four,and that was just, you know something,
and we had a lot of districtchampionships and league championships, but some
(07:44):
of the best moments were just thekids being kids, you know, funny
times and that kind of thing.I know once took to go when we
were in the regionals to make itall further on. This is one example
we had. Uh we were downand we had two outs, nobody on
(08:05):
the base, and we I thinkwe needed two runs, and somehow we
loaded up the bases and so we'remy next player which chin and Lynn gets
up and its two outs and shegets two strike on strikes on her and
I just kept yelling her, yougot this, you got this. Well,
she hit a grand slam out ofthe park to hit to win the
(08:26):
game. So that was probably oneof the most dramatic. Uh, fie.
Oh yeah, I could imagine.Now someone shared a story about you,
and it may have been that game. As soon as that happened,
you went over. Are you stillthere? Should? We might have lost
her for a second. Are youback, mindy? Can you say that
(08:50):
again? We lost you for aminute. Oh I'm here. Can you
hear me? We can hear you. Now ask your question again, Carol.
Someone said in a story about you, and it may have been that
exact game that you shared about theGrand Slam. But there was either that
exact game or one like it,that the pitcher on the opposing team lost
the game and instead of celebrating rightaway with your team, you went over
(09:13):
to the picture circle and hugged thepitcher on the opposing team. Was that
that same game? Yeah? Yeah, I mean just think of her.
She just she was one strikeout fromwinning that game and going to the States,
and you know she loads up thebases and then a Grand Slam.
I just felt, you know,I played soft ball. I know how
(09:35):
that feels when you have when youthink you're going to have a big moment
and it slips away from you.So I just I think I did cross
home plate and say could celebrate withmy curls for a couple of seconds.
But I saw her and went outto her and just helped, you know,
just hug her and said, hey, you pitched a great game.
And I knew she wasn't a seniorand I said, you'll have other opportunities
(09:56):
and you know, something like that. Yeah, what a great story.
Mindy, how did you hear that? Did just come your way from some
of the groups that you're in?Listen, I know people you do.
I've got some connections. But honestly, Mikayla, that story that was shared
with me about Carol tells you everythingyou need to know about Carol Evans and
(10:18):
the kind of coach he was fortwenty five years. Quite honestly, Carol,
there needs to be more coaches likeyou, And I'm sure that Buckeye
Valley community is just indebted to youforever, and I'm I'm so glad that
they're able to give you this andto have this dedication this coming. It's
Wednesday, right, It's Wednesday.Yeah, Yeah, And I'm just grateful
(10:39):
to them. It's a two waystreet, so totally can understand that well.
Out of a really difficult, beyonddifficult situation. Yes, we're thinking
of you in so many ways.Carol comes this a full circle community moment.
Just really enjoy the time on Wednesdayand seeing this brand new press box.
Yep. And you know, myparents were fantastic, so I'm glad
(11:03):
this all came about, you know, because of them. Well, Carol,
we appreciate your time here on WhatMatters. Thank you so much.
We'll be looking for some news itemscoming out of that area on Wednesday.
Well, thank you so much foryour time, and go bucks, Carol.
We got to get you down toBuckeye Field. We're gonna get to
(11:24):
you to one of these games beforethe season's over. There's only like twelve
games left. I'll have to makemy way down there. Yes, absolutely,
Thanks for being on our show todayand enjoy your moment on Wednesday.
You deserve every single second of it. I really appreciate it. Thank you
so much for your time. Thisis What Matters on six' ten WTVN
We're back on a Sunday afternoon,and Mindy has just a story and an
interview for us. Now that reallywill lift up you and your community.
If you're listening, one hundred percent, absolutely we're going to have Carol Evans
join in on the conversation. Carol, you're on the line with us,
right, I hope so? Yes, I think you are, because we
(00:25):
hear you. We hear it right, Okayla, yep, I can hear
you. Just great, Carol,welcome to the show. Thank you.
And how about that big o'haz statesoftball Wednesday? Oh yeah, now,
we gotta know. We gotta winon Tuesday Wednesday this coming weekend when Maryland
comes to town. Oh, whereyou go? We hoped bill Buckeye Field.
But Carol, how many years didyou coach high school softball at Buckeye
(00:48):
Valley? Twenty five? Wow?And if you do that for twenty five
years, pardon me? How didyou do that for twenty five years?
That is such a long time.I'll tell you how. I had great
players and the great community and greatsoftball parents, most of them, you
know, you know, we're afew, but you know it's just a
(01:10):
Buckeye Valleys are just a big,loving community and it's easy easy to do
that when it's somewhere you love andwith people you love. And it came
full circle really in the story thatwe're about to share from you, Carol,
and I know Mindy knows you andas talk to you, but set
the stage for us. Your familyhas just been through a really difficult time
(01:32):
that leads us to where the storygoes today. But can you set the
foundation for us about what happened toyour family not all that long ago.
Yeah, my parents died in ahouse fire, which was still it's still
pretty unbelievable, and so it waspretty much a year from health. And
(01:53):
in the you know, in theobituary, we said memorial funds can be
sent to the church or to BuckeyeValley saw Fall and we've got lots of
money for Buckeye Valley Softball as wellas a church, but you know,
from all over the community and evenAnne Johnson, who used to teach at
Bucky Valley she now teaches at GroveCity, is their show choir director and
(02:16):
they had a show choir competition andall the donations from that went back to
Buckeye Valley softball, So it's allover the place. Lots of people donated.
So I can only imagine you coachingfor twenty five years being close to
your parents. I bet you theycame to so many of your games to
(02:38):
watch you coast and they've probably gotto know a lot of your players.
Well, yeah, mom ran myconcession stand and one day I don't know
what she was doing. She waspretty ornery, and I said, way
to go, wild Wanda, andthat's stuck. And so for twenty five
years, my players called her wildWanda and she would get them at the
(02:58):
beginning of the season luck card toput in their pocket, had a little
rabbit on it, a little poorlet clover on it, just said good
luck, wild Wanda, and theywould put it in their uniform pockets for
the whole season and in this yeahand then uh, and then Dad just
walked around. They just called himBig Ed because he was six too,
and just you know, just hangingout. But they were always both very,
(03:22):
very supportive of me and this softballprogram. They just loved it.
So how did your players, currentplayers and former players take the passing of
wild Wanda and Big Ed, Becauseman, that's it was tragic Carol.
It truly was. Oh yes itwas. Uh so many of them showed
up at the funeral and calling hours, lots of Facebook comments and and uh
(03:45):
condolences and yeah, yeah they're justI love them all. Well, that
to me is the beauty of asmall town because it is so community driven.
Everybody knows everybody else, and youbecome family. And when something like
that happened to you, a coachof twenty five years, I understand you
(04:06):
are so beloved and so cared aboutthat people wanted to give back to you
and your parents. And first ofall, I am so sorry that that
happened to you. That had tohave been just a devastating loss. You
know, life is hard, there'sno doubt, but when we face the
person, it's not what the adversetime is. It's what you face afterwards,
and you pick yourself up and youcontinue on with life. And I
(04:29):
think it's such a wonderful thing thatnow, because of all the donations that
came in from the community to yourfamily and an honor of you and your
parents, they were able to upgradethe press box at buckey Field High School
softball field, where you spent twentyfive years coaching. That is beautiful.
It is it's I feel honored.I felt like my whole career I was
(04:57):
blessed because you know, so manypeople go through the world life doing something
that they hate as a job,and how lucky was I to be doing
something that I loved again at theplace I love. And then you know
John Stewart and in the softball girlsnow and in the whole softball community.
I'm just very, very honored,and I just want to throw out some
more names that I know of thatare helping with this. Marjorie Harrol,
(05:20):
who was my administrative assistant when Ibecame athletic director. I know she selected
all the money. And a goodfriend of mine, Diane and Nohan is
on this. So many family andfriends, and I'm just honored that they
all think enough of They probably thinkmore of my mom and dad, but
think enough of me that just seemto be I'm just very very touched and
(05:46):
honored this is happening. We knowthat they have to think so much of
your entire family, though, Carol, truly, what does this press box
look like? Tell me a littlebit more about what was dedicated this past
week, and Mindy like, whatdoes it look like? What does it
mean to this group? You knowwhat, Mikayla. They didn't get to
dedicate it because of the rain,so it's going it got postponed. It's
(06:09):
gonna happen this coming week. Okay, we about it before they do it,
we get to preview. It's awesome. Yeah, so I don't know.
It'll be a big surprise. Doyou haven't You have not seen a
sneak peak of it yet then,Carol, No, I've stayed away because
I didn't want to. I didn'twant to have a heads up. You
know. I totally understand that,totally, Carrol. Yeah, it's a
(06:33):
very emotional time. I'm sure there'llbe tears shed and happy tears, happy
tears, but it'll be fun.It'll be a good time. I don't
care if they just put one littleyellow ribbon on it. It's all all,
you know, It's just they're justgreat. No, I'm kind of
curious, but Kayla, and I'msure you are too. In those twenty
(06:55):
five years, what was your recordand what were some of your favorite which
that you can't believe that this happenedon the soft ball field. Oh gosh,
I had I think it was fourhundred and thirty seven wins and just
over one hundred losses. Oh mygod, Mindy's reaction tells all Carol,
(07:19):
I didn't have like a known sonon that, but now I know for
Mindy, yeah there. You know, there were so many good players.
I had quite a few all stateplayers in two thousand and five. We
made it to the final four,and that was just, you know something,
and we had a lot of districtchampionships and league championships, but some
(07:44):
of the best moments were just thekids being kids, you know, funny
times and that kind of thing.I know once took to go when we
were in the regionals to make itall further on. This is one example
we had. Uh we were downand we had two outs, nobody on
(08:05):
the base, and we I thinkwe needed two runs, and somehow we
loaded up the bases and so we'remy next player which chin and Lynn gets
up and its two outs and shegets two strike on strikes on her and
I just kept yelling her, yougot this, you got this. Well,
she hit a grand slam out ofthe park to hit to win the
(08:26):
game. So that was probably oneof the most dramatic. Uh, fie.
Oh yeah, I could imagine.Now someone shared a story about you,
and it may have been that game. As soon as that happened,
you went over. Are you stillthere? Should? We might have lost
her for a second. Are youback, mindy? Can you say that
(08:50):
again? We lost you for aminute. Oh I'm here. Can you
hear me? We can hear you. Now ask your question again, Carol.
Someone said in a story about you, and it may have been that
exact game that you shared about theGrand Slam. But there was either that
exact game or one like it,that the pitcher on the opposing team lost
the game and instead of celebrating rightaway with your team, you went over
(09:13):
to the picture circle and hugged thepitcher on the opposing team. Was that
that same game? Yeah? Yeah, I mean just think of her.
She just she was one strikeout fromwinning that game and going to the States,
and you know she loads up thebases and then a Grand Slam.
I just felt, you know,I played soft ball. I know how
(09:35):
that feels when you have when youthink you're going to have a big moment
and it slips away from you.So I just I think I did cross
home plate and say could celebrate withmy curls for a couple of seconds.
But I saw her and went outto her and just helped, you know,
just hug her and said, hey, you pitched a great game.
And I knew she wasn't a seniorand I said, you'll have other opportunities
(09:56):
and you know, something like that. Yeah, what a great story.
Mindy, how did you hear that? Did just come your way from some
of the groups that you're in?Listen, I know people you do.
I've got some connections. But honestly, Mikayla, that story that was shared
with me about Carol tells you everythingyou need to know about Carol Evans and
(10:18):
the kind of coach he was fortwenty five years. Quite honestly, Carol,
there needs to be more coaches likeyou, And I'm sure that Buckeye
Valley community is just indebted to youforever, and I'm I'm so glad that
they're able to give you this andto have this dedication this coming. It's
Wednesday, right, It's Wednesday.Yeah, Yeah, And I'm just grateful
(10:39):
to them. It's a two waystreet, so totally can understand that well.
Out of a really difficult, beyonddifficult situation. Yes, we're thinking
of you in so many ways.Carol comes this a full circle community moment.
Just really enjoy the time on Wednesdayand seeing this brand new press box.
Yep. And you know, myparents were fantastic, so I'm glad
(11:03):
this all came about, you know, because of them. Well, Carol,
we appreciate your time here on WhatMatters. Thank you so much.
We'll be looking for some news itemscoming out of that area on Wednesday.
Well, thank you so much foryour time, and go bucks, Carol.
We got to get you down toBuckeye Field. We're gonna get to
(11:24):
you to one of these games beforethe season's over. There's only like twelve
games left. I'll have to makemy way down there. Yes, absolutely,
Thanks for being on our show todayand enjoy your moment on Wednesday.
You deserve every single second of it. I really appreciate it. Thank you
so much for your time. Thisis What Matters on six' ten WTVN
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