Passing The Torch Olympian Feels Responsibility To Be Role Model

They had their cleats, Nike batting gloves, sliding pads and Louisville Sluggers. They had the sun, the dirt and the grass. And they had an Olympic gold-medal winning pitcher and her 60-something-mile-per-hour fastball.

Sports camp season is in full swing. Thirty-eight girls from all over the region began an American Softball Association Camp at Franklin Park in Spokane on Monday.

The featured guest was Michelle Granger, who led Team USA to a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics by pitching the first and final game. Her pitches then were in the low 70s. “I really wanted to come because Olympic people are a big deal,” said Cadi Bierwagen, 16, one of eight girls from Thompson Falls, Mont.

The girls got a day of instruction and inspiration from Granger, 29, who now works as an analyst/announcer for ESPN2. She has slowed down her number of appearances since her children, Kady, 2, and Jon, 10 months, were born.

But Granger said she feels a responsibility to be a role model, so she often teaches at clinics for coaches and players. Plus, she enjoys it.

After the workouts, many of the girls lined up for Granger’s autograph.

Tanya Denne, 13, from Baker, Ore., had Granger sign her mitt, ball and bat. The bat is a green aluminum Dot Richardson Louisville Slugger, named for Granger’s Olympic teammate. Richardson is now an orthopedic surgeon. She played shortstop on the national team - Denne’s position.

Spokane’s Natalie Shields is a pitcher and said it was great to be able to learn from Granger. “I’m like, `I’m pitching with a pro,”’ she said.

Shields said Granger watched her pitch and gave her some pointers.

“I feel myself getting faster,” she said.

Shields will be a freshman at Central Valley this year, where her sister, Amber, is the star second baseman.

“I hope to start,” Shields said. Part of the camp this week will include instruction on how girls can go about getting college scholarships.

Granger has a few thoughts about that. She said girls need to remember that if they don’t get full scholarships, it doesn’t mean they aren’t good players. She encourages girls to go to tournaments where they know college coaches will be. She encourages them to walk on and try out for a college team. And it’s better to play a lot at a smaller school than to sit on the bench at a Division I school.

And after college? Nobody knows it, but there’s a professional women’s softball league on the East Coast. It has only six teams, but the idea was to start small and grow. Granger said the success of the recent World Cup soccer tournament proves that women and men are willing to go see a good matchup.

But for now it’s about learning and having fun.

Annie Franks of La Grande, Ore., had Granger sign her softball.

Franks is a utility player, including pitcher, if she has to. But fielding isn’t the main thing.

“As long as I get to hit, I’m fine,” she said.