Softball: Hoppe earns 4th first-team mention

It was the 2005 preseason softball scrimmage for the Douglas High softball team.

The Tigers were matched up with perennial powerhouse McQueen for their first and last tune-up before the year officially started.

Stepping into the batter's box as the lone freshman on one of the most talent-laden rosters the Tiger softball program has ever produced, outfielder Lauren Hoppe wasted little time setting the tone for her 2005 rookie campaign.

Hoppe blasted a home run over the left field fence and rounded the bases mostly in disbelief.

"When I hit it, I just started crying," Hoppe said. "Coming around third, I could see that both my dad and my mom were crying too. I didn't know what to think. I was just amazed ... I was in shock."

With one stroke of the bat, any qualms of being able to play at the varsity level dissolved.

"I'm not really prone to nervousness," she said. "But I was pretty nervous that day. The home run calmed me down a lot."

Four seasons and 18 career home runs later, Hoppe closed out her career as a four-time first-team All-Sierra League honoree.

"She's been a true leader of this team," Douglas coach Andy Mitchell said. "She has great talent and great ability. Other teams had to adjust their game plan specifically for Lauren. That says a lot about a player's reputation."

As a freshman, Hoppe won the starting spot in left field on a team that featured three Division I signees.

"I wasn't worried about anything that year," she said. "I knew that whatever I did, we'd still be a really strong team because of the caliber of players we had. I was just excited to be on the team."

As a sophomore though, after all of the Division I talent had graduated, Hoppe suddenly found herself as the big bat in the lineup.

"There was a little bit more pressure that year, but we still had players like Mitzi Olsen and Tisha Luken who carried the leadership role," Hoppe said. "It wasn't until I was a junior and I was elected team captain that I really started to take on a role completely outside of playing.

"That took a while to get used to."

While the young Tigers went through the inevitable growing pains of carrying a roster primarily made up of freshmen and sophomores, Douglas made it into the playoffs and pulled off a pair of the most stunning upsets in the program's history.

The Tigers topped league champ Reno in the quarterfinals and then surprised Reed, a team that had 10-runned Douglas in the first round, to advance to the regional title game.

"Everyone was just so relaxed," Hoppe said. "We just wanted to go out and have fun. That's where our talent came through. Everybody was just amazing. I've never seen a team play like that, it came out of nowhere."

Heading into her senior year, a different kind of pressure began to rear its head.

Talk of being in contention for Player of the Year, not to mention the host of colleges taking a look at her, began to grate on Hoppe.

It didn't help that opposing coaches had been able to see her play for three full seasons either.

"I was hearing from people that it was very hard to keep your production up as a senior," Hoppe said. "It was really frustrating. I got in a mental block."

Teams started pitching around her and she struggled with the few pitches actually thrown in the strike zone.

"There was a lot of pressure, trying to figure out the best college for me to go to where I could continue to play, trying to lead the team in a positive way," she said. "It was tough."

Even though her numbers weren't there, her presence in the lineup alone was enough to make a difference, Mitchell said.

"You know we had a great hitter right behind Lauren (Katrina Morgan) and coaches would pitch around Lauren to get to her," Mitchell said. "She was a remarkable asset to the program, having her out in center field defensively and having opposing pitchers constantly having to work around her, that's the stuff that doesn't show up on paper."

But about halfway through the season, something clicked.

Hoppe finished out with a .415 average at the plate with 10 doubles, four home runs, 40 RBIs and a team-leading 19 walks.

"I just got to the point where I had to take a little time for myself to get things straight," Hoppe said. "I started going to the batting cages and stop thinking too much about what I was trying to do. I was able to work my way through it."

It was only fitting that in her last home game, she ended her career in Minden much the same as it started -- with a home run.

She blasted a grand slam in an 11-1 win over Wooster on the Tigers' senior day.

"Senior Day was probably the hardest day of the year," said Hoppe, who along with pitcher Dorothy Sliva were the only Tiger seniors this season. "I got really close to this year's team. A lot of my best friends are on the team."

Hoppe plans to play at the next level in college and said she is favoring College of Idaho.