Sammi Massey knew this year would be her final season as softball coach. She just didn’t know it would end in storybook fashion.
Massey’s final game of her 18-year career was Harmony Grove’s 4-2 win in nine innings against defending champion Rose Bud in the Class 3A state-championship game. Her historic final season was good for Tri-Lakes Edition Coach of the Year honors.
A little over a year ago, Massey, who was also a volleyball assistant coach, decided that this should be her final season. She visited with administrators before the school year and made it clear that no matter what the outcome was, her decision was final.
Massey’s son, Mason, was a junior in high school, and she had taken in her teenage nephew.
“I knew this was going to be my last season. Winning [the championship] was just icing on the cake,” said Massey, a former player at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. “I got lucky. My girls played well against a great team.
“I just knew it was time and that I needed to focus on my family and go back to school. It is a combination of a few things.”
Massey leaves the Harmony Grove program after building the Lady Cardinals into a perennial winner. She helped the program to more than 400 wins and five state titles, including a run of three straight.
“We were competitive almost every year and have had a chance to win,” said Massey, who is married to Heath Massey, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Saline County athletics director. “We’ve had great players coming through and parents and administrators who supported us. That allowed us to be successful.”
Sammi Massey will remember her final team’s resiliency. The Lady Cardinals finished 26-5 and lost to Rose Bud 10-0 in the district tournament.
“First of all, we were senior-heavy, playing nine seniors, and they were just a special group,” Massey said. “We had our ups and downs, and for the most part, we stayed solid and never quit.”
When the season rolls around next spring, Massey admits, she will feel a void. She finished her career at UAM and went right into coaching at Harmony Grove, so softball has been a part of her life for 30-plus years.
“Since the eighth grade, I knew what I wanted to do. I remember analyzing the game and watching film. I love basketball, but I wasn’t as good. I knew I wanted to play softball in college and coach high school.
Massey’s mother, Gloria Riser, coached her in different sports and still coaches high school softball in her native Louisiana. She is a 2006 Louisiana Softball Coaches Hall of Fame inductee.
“My mom supports me in whatever I do,” Massey said. “She thinks I will go back to it someday. I did a lot of soul searching, though. I would never say never [to coaching again], but I am ready for a change. I am tired.”
Upon Massey’s resignation, Harmony Grove promoted Harmony Grove assistant coach Chad Gardner.
“I am going to have to step back and not be involved. I don’t want to be a distraction,” Massey said, “but I want to make sure [the players] know I still support them. It will be hard for me.”
If Massey is pulled to softball practice, she only needs to remind herself why she resigned. Her role as a career-readiness instructor is expanding, and she will be more involved in Mason’s activities, including football, as he finishes his high school career.
“I’m going to have more time to be a mom, and that is very important to me,” she said. “I just realized that I needed to focus on some things other than coaching.”
But while Massey is capping a high school coaching career, she doesn’t see herself leaving Harmony Grove, where she began first as an intern, then a full-time coach a year later.
“I’ve had chances to leave for bigger schools,” Massey said. “I just love it here — the students, parents and administration. This is a special place. I am glad I can continue teaching here and be involved in the community. It means a lot to me, since I have been here since I left college.”