PHOTO BY Shauna Bittle / MPW.59 PHOTO BY Shauna Bittle / MPW.59
  • My Dad, My Coach
  • By Shauna Bittle, The Tennessean
  • The 59th Missouri Photo Workshop / Chillicothe, Mo.
  • “If I’d had sons, I’d have coached baseball; but I had daughters,” says Chillicothe High School softball coach Stan Baldwin. As the father of three daughters, Baldwin embraced the sport as a way to spend time with his girls and help them develop a love of health and athleticism. He admits that he expects more from his own daughters than from the other players, but in many ways he is a father figure to all the girls on the team.

    Eldest daughter Sally has been playing under her father’s guidance since the age of eight. As a senior, the 2007 softball season marks her last with the Lady Hornets; and Sally is looking forward to attending the University of Missouri. Her plans, for now, don’t include joining the MU softball team. “I don’t think I’ve had time to miss it yet,” she says.

    A collection of photographs on the Baldwin refrigerator commemorates the Baldwins’ relationship with the sport of softball. Stan Baldwin coaches the Chillicothe High Hornets, and 17 year-old Sally is starting left fielder for the team.

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