Playing for Dad

POLSON - Senior middle hitter Sallie Sams steps onto the court

and plays hard every night for the Polson Lady Pirates, dominating

in the middle with her powerful hits to the opposing court. There's

a reason she's out there imposing her will on the rest of the

Northwestern A conference, there's a reason every spring she's out

on the diamond and plays softball. A clue can be found on her

back.

POLSON - Senior middle hitter Sallie Sams steps onto the court and plays hard every night for the Polson Lady Pirates, dominating in the middle with her powerful hits to the opposing court. There's a reason she's out there imposing her will on the rest of the Northwestern A conference, there's a reason every spring she's out on the diamond and plays softball. A clue can be found on her back.

It's a tattoo of a butterfly.

Next to it is the date that her dad died of a heart attack, January 28, 2007.

"I was at church and my uncle came in while we were singing and he took my hand and said we had to leave," Sams said.

Sams said that she held the grief in at first, as she wanted to be strong for her brother, Eric, who had seen their father pass away.

"It was really tough," Sams said. "I had to be the strong one in the family. I had to make it seem like it didn't hurt."

Her father, Robert, had been her coach in softball and had been very supportive of all of Sams athletic endeavors. She said the two would play catch everyday in California before they moved to the Mission Valley in 2005.

"That was our time together," Sams said. "We also built a batting cage together."

Her father was also an umpire for ASA and she would travel around with him to all his games.

"That's who she is playing for," Lady Pirates head coach Jan Toth said.

Sams said she thought about quitting sports altogether but realized it was something she loved and it was something that her father loved also.

"I changed a lot," Sams said. "I became a completely different person."

She said that her father's death made her grow up a lot faster.

"I was a little spoiled," Sams said. "Now I'm just another girl in Polson."

In her senior year of volleyball, Sams is second in the Northwestern A conference with 144 kills, and first in blocks with 32.

"She keeps me in awe," Toth said. "A lot of kids would roll down and go the other way." Sams certainly hasn't. Along with playing softball and volleyball, Sams also is a cheerleader and holds down a job outside of school to help pay some of the bills for the family.

"It's just a lot of being frantic," she said. "I love it. It's a crazy lifestyle."

Sams said she's trying to be a good role model for her brother and she has been dealing with her loss by writing about it.

"When I write about it, I can take time and think about it," she said. "Anytime we do a personal essay that's when I write about it."

In softball, Sams was part of the 2010 state champion Polson softball team. She credited a large part of the team's success to head coach Larry Smith and her own individual success to her father.

"I couldn't have done it without what he taught me," she said. "When we won, I was broken down crying. I definitely did it for him."With time, Sams has gotten better.

"I haven't been mad at anyone," she said. "I've matured a lot with the situation."

Her main focus now is to help Polson win in the volleyball postseason."We've grown real close and we've had some great girls step up," she said. "We're going to make a name for Polson. We want to do it now."

Sams is a big part of that, and she'll continue to step out on the court. For her father."He was my inspiration," she said. "He was my best friend."