Softball: Stick-with-it Sancken snags future at Northern Iowa
Before the gain, there was that big-league-headache pain.
A rifled groundball off the bat of an athletic man took a wicked hop and smacked Kenzi Sancken in the forehead. A softball-sized welt started forming on the high school freshman's head. Tears had to wait, as a tough athlete knew she had to suck up the hurt.
Then she asked Chris Van Alstine to hit her another one.
"I didn't want to end on a bad one," said Sancken, matter-of-factly.
The strapping Van Alstine, who at the time was an assistant softball coach, had played baseball and basketball at Knox College. His line drives make noise and leave marks.
"Everyone is like, 'He hits it so hard,' " Sancken said. "I'm like, 'Bring it.' "
Wednesday at Grant, Sancken, a senior and softball star, brought more than two dozen friends, teammates, family members, coaches and even her physical therapist to witness her sign a national letter of intent with the University of Northern Iowa.
Smashing gain for her. And for UNI's Panthers.
A proud Van Alstine, Grant's new head softball coach, was there too, beaming.
Sancken said she also considered Tennessee-Martin but never wavered on Northern Iowa after giving Panthers head coach Ryan Jacobs a verbal commitment a year ago.
"I went to a lot of softball camps and visited a lot of schools, but when I went to Northern Iowa, I fell in love with the school," Sancken said. "As soon as I went there, I was like, 'Wow, this is where I want to go.' I talked to the players and coaches, and they made me feel at home. Which was really important to me. And it's not too far from home."
The five-hour drive to Cedar Falls, Iowa means her parents, Jim and Katie, can come to watch her play often. She thanked them during Wednesday's ceremony in Grant's gym and got emotional talking about all they've done for her, including taking her from California to Florida and lots of places in between for softball.
She asked everyone in attendance to give her parents a hand.
Sancken started playing tee ball with boys at age 5 and joined travel softball when she was 9. She was a catcher for four years until arriving at Grant. The first time former Bulldogs head coach Mike Dolezal saw Sancken play, he said it took him "three minutes" to realize he had his future shortstop. And the future was now. Sancken started for Dolezal as a freshman and helped Grant win its first North Suburban Conference championship.
At the same time, she switched to shortstop for travel ball.
Last spring, Sancken earned all-area honors after hitting .347 with 4 homers. For three seasons, she's played dynamite defense at shortstop and hit wicked groudballs herself.
Wednesday, instead of grounders, she soaked up the atmosphere, wearing a Northern Iowa T-shirt and wide smile.
"I love the turnout," Sancken said.
She loves this, too: In the spring, the Bulldogs will play on a new softball field, which backs up to the varsity baseball diamond.
"I'm excited," Sancken said.
As evident Wednesday, a lot of people are excited for her.