Passing on the passion

FORT DODGE —

When the Martensdale-St. Marys softball team concludes its week in Fort Dodge tonight in the Class 1A third-place game against top-seeded North Linn, it also signifies an impactful week for a young assistant coach.

Orient-Macksburg never won a regional first-round game when Kaela Eslinger was a player for the Bulldogs. In fact, the Waldorf College infielder said she had never stepped into Harlan Rogers Park before she and the Blue Devils arrived Tuesday for their quarterfinal game against defending champion Newell-Fonda. (The Blue Devils won that game, 7-2.)

The second-year Martensdale-St. Marys assistant coach said Wednesday night after a 7-2 semifinal loss to Twin Cedars that the week has provided many learning experiences for her future in sports. She is majoring in exercise science and sports management at Waldorf, hoping her future includes coaching or some other aspect of working with athletes.

Even the semifinal loss didn’t dampen her enthusiasm for the work and the relationships that are built during a state tournament drive.

“It’s still amazing to be here, and that’s what we told the girls,” said Eslinger, a 2020 graduate of Orient-Macksburg High School. She is a shortstop on the softball team at Waldorf College in Forest City.

Eslinger said it was a stroke of good fortune to be able to begin her coaching career so young at a tradition-rich program like Martensdale-St. Marys. The Blue Devils made their 10th trip to state in the past 14 years this season after winning the Pride of Iowa Conference over state tournament teams Southeast Warren (1A state finalist) and Mount Ayr (tied for seventh in 2A), and a Wayne team that was state-ranked most of the season.

“I made the decision when I turned 18 the winter of my senior year in high school that I wanted to get my coaching endorsement and try to make a difference with the knowledge that I gained in high school,” Eslinger said. “Martensdale was one of the open positions and I applied for it. They reached out to me and it’s been a great stepping-stone for being a coach someday.”

Eslinger said she learned a lot from longtime Blue Devils coach Brian Sweet, who retired after last season. Having that background helped in working with first-year head coach Emily Wood, a Kansas City area native who had coached junior high and JV softball in Murray for two years. Wood was a school counselor for two years at Murray before joining the Martensdale-St. Marys staff last school year.

Wood was a former speedy slap-hitting outfielder in Kearney, Missouri, before earning her degree at Buena Vista University in northwest Iowa. Eslinger was a power-hitting shortstop and pitcher at Orient-Macksburg. Their skill sets complemented each other perfectly in coaching together.

“We each have our strengths,” Wood said. “She knows more about pitching than I do, and she’s still playing in college so she brings a lot of current knowledge about the game played at a high level. My specialty is really the outfield and she’s an infielder so that’s just a really good combination.”

While Wood calls the pitches in a game, she’ll often turn to Eslinger for input on strategies against opposing hitters. Eslinger also communicates with starting catcher Sydney Bears about the pitching. Bears is the granddaughter of Sheila Utterback of Creston.

When Martensdale-St. Marys is batting, Wood coaches third base and Eslinger coaches first base. Eslinger said she tries to help baserunners know the difference between being aggressive when there is an opportunity, but to not take unnecessary risks. She also reminds them of situations regarding the number of outs and how a play may affect other baserunners.

“I just try to help them be smart out there,” Eslinger said. “It really helps that even though we have a lot of young kids on this team — with only three seniors and a lot of freshmen and sophomores — these kids have played a lot of softball and they already have a good knowledge base.”

While her time is running short as a player with two more years of eligibility remaining at Waldorf, the coaching experience at Martensdale-St. Marys has fueled her passion to stay in the game in the future.

“I’m just trying to give them a reason to love softball as much as I love it,” Eslinger said. “I get the same feeling walking on the field as a player as I do walking to the first base coaching box. I love the competition and there’s no better place to experience that than the state tournament. One thing I’ve learned this week is that things rarely go as predicted. It’s our job to have the players ready to perform. There’s so much energy here when you walk in. It’s amazing.”