Dabkowski, Boetjer help South All-Stars earn split Saturday

Sunday, June 24, 2012
South Putnam's Emily Dabkowski (left) goes airborn and just misses a hard shot during Saturday's North/South All-Star Classic at Carmel.

CARMEL -- All good things must come to an end. It's a sad reality we all must face from time to time in our lives and high school athletics are no exception. Saturday marked the final time South Putnam head coach Chris Jones and players Emily Dabkowski and Brooke Boetjer shared the same field on the high school level.

But instead of tears, smiles and laughter flowed out of the South dugout during the ICGSA Indiana All-Star Classic. While Dabkowski and Boetjer donned red jerseys with different numbers, the players underneath were the same.

Boetjer threw hard and fast, while Dabkowski tracked every ball hit toward her shortstop position. It might have been the final time they would play together, but the two players didn't show any signs of a heavy heart.

Jones said it was something special to be able to coach two of his players in their final game on the high school level.

"It's a tremendous honor to coach both Emily and Brooke for one more time," Jones said. "I tell you what; I wish I were coaching all four seniors. I wish Jenny Thompson and Kaylin Yon were here too because they're good enough to be here. But they limit how many players you can have on a team and the max you can get is two and we got two."

In the first game, the South side went down swinging, falling 8-0. However, they regrouped and stormed back to take the second half of the doubleheader 3-0. Ball State-bound Dabkowski recorded a single in the second contest.

Jones said coaching the South team has been a lot of fun and he said he's encouraged the girls to take it all in and have a good time doing so.

"All these girls on this south team are so much fun to work with," he said. "They are a lot of fun. It reminds me a lot of our dugout. They're fun. Granted we lost that first game, but they enjoyed it. I told them it's an experience to have fun and meet new people. I'm learning a lot and I'm having a good time."

The final out of the game Saturday might have meant the end of this stage of the trio's careers together, but for Jones, it was simply an honor to be with Dabkowski and Boetjer one last time.

"For this to be the last game that I get to be with Emily and Brooke, it's just amazing, it's humbling and it's an honor to be able to be here," he said.