The voice on the other end of the line paused, and soon got choked up.
For Diane “Dink” Miller, trying to describe the man who showed her the game, taught her the game and who was her biggest fan was understandably emotional.
“In September 2013, I lost my dad,” Miller explained. “And while my family has been supportive, he by far was probably the most influential person just because he shared the love of sports with me.”
Miller took her passion for softball and amplified it, leading Missouri Southern to the NCAA Division II national championship in 1992 and going on to coach major collegiate fast-pitch.
Which is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is honoring Miller on May 27 as part of the Baseball Sports Enthusiasts Luncheon. The Hall will name former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa a Missouri Sports Legend, induct two former high school coaches and a men’s fast-pitch legend and honor the Diamond 9, a group of former high school and college standouts.
Click here for luncheon tickets, sponsorships & congratulatory ads
Miller certainly made a name for herself at Missouri Southern in Joplin. A catcher, she is the program’s career leader in RBI (134), second in triples (22) and doubles (53), third in hits (103) and sixth in at-bats (598).
A career .339 hitter, she was an at-large selection to the D-II softball championship all-tournament team, first team all-region in 1992 and first team GTE Academic all-district and second team All-American and Academic All-American.
This for a player who climbed out of tiny Garnett, Kan., where there’s not a stoplight or a McDonald’s, and yet found her way to success – including as a current assistant coaching role with the Nebraska Cornhuskers after assisting at Colorado State.
And to think her high school didn’t offer softball.
Miller, who spent her springs throwing the javelin and shot put on the track and field team, caught on with a summer travel softball team out of the Kansas City suburb of Olathe just to get noticed. Three friends on that team eventually signed with Missouri Southern, and Miller followed after initially considering the University of Kansas until a coach was let go.
Four years later, Miller found herself back in Johnson County, Kan., site of the conference and national tournaments, and aided the Lady Lions and coach Pat Lipira in winning the national title.
“It was an interesting time,” Miller said. “In the fall, Pat decided she was going to work on her doctorate at the University of Arkansas. She was only able to attend practices on Thursdays and Fridays. I wouldn’t say at that time in the fall we were all moving in the right direction. We were 18, 19, 20 year olds and we did some foolish things.
“But when Pat got back with us in January, she worked us every day. And she delivered her words of wisdom, making us realize how talented we were.”
Among those words of wisdom? A good talking-to following a mid-season loss to Northeastern State of Oklahoma – a defeat that came hours after the Lions reached a No. 2 ranking in D-II.
“Pat realigned our noses,” Miller said.
Miller doesn’t remember details about the run to the national championship that year, other than telling her pitcher and teammates that the strike zone was huge after she was called out on strikes on a ball off her shoe tips.
Giving back
What she does remember is that the lessons from her dad, Chuck, and Coach Lipira have stayed with her into her coaching career.
“It’s a huge responsibility to grow young people,” Miller said. “Softball gives us a chance. Softball teaches you about dealing with adversity, dealing with things that didn’t go your way and you don’t quit. You have to control the things you can control.”
In other words, handle the fundamentals, do the little things. Her dad and mom, Carol, certainly helped as well as her siblings Ellen, Mike, Theresa, Debbie and Mark.
“The only option (in high school) I had to play was summer ball,” Miller said. “My parents made the commitment to drive me 55 miles to practice. That’s how they were active in my amateur career, and they’re still active in my professional career.”
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WANT TO GO?
The ceremony: The Baseball Sports Enthusiasts Luncheon presented by Ozarks Coca Cola/Dr Pepper at is 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 27 at the University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Springfield.
Tickets, sponsorships & congratulatory ads: $40, or $100 for a head table ticket. Numerous sponsorships are available, including a table of eight for $400, which includes associate sponsorship recognition in the printed program. Congratulatory ads are $500 for a full page and $300 for a half page. Call 417-889-3100.
For Diane ‘Dink’ Miller tickets & sponsorships, ask for Marty Willadsen.
Honorees
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa will be honored as a Missouri Sports Legend, in which a specially commissioned sculpture, cast in bronze, will line the Legends Walkway.
Byron Hagler, who won almost 600 baseball games and reached nine state final fours as the head coach of Licking and Hillcrest high schools. His 1988 and 1989 Licking teams won Class 2 state championships.
Diane Juergensmeyer, the longtime St. Elizabeth High School softball coach who won more than 400 games and three state championships in 1992, 1994 and 2002.
Roy Burlison, a former fast-pitch standout in the American Softball Association. He played on teams in St. Louis and Springfield
John Schaefer, CEO of Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper, is the recipient of the President’s Award
Diamond 9: baseball standouts Jack Burrell of Humansville and Southwest Baptist; Brad Simmons of Glendale High School and the Kansas City Royals; Kelly Snider of Hillcrest High School the Oklahoma Sooners and the Los Angeles Dodgers; Barry Short of Mansfield High School, Three Rivers Community College and the New York Mets; Jim Lumpe of Glendale High School, the Mizzou Tigers and Montreal Expos; and former American Softball Association or college/high school softball standouts in Marionville’s Janice Crumpley Bluebaum, Hillcrest graduate Tim Blasi, Caitlin Chapin of Ozark High School and Missouri State; and Missouri Southern graduate Diane Miller.