He may have been serious at the time, or he may have just been testing a potential recruit.

A couple of years ago, following the recommendation of a summer-ball coach he knew in Seattle, Oklahoma State softball coach Rich Wieligman decided to check out a rising player out of lil' ol' Idaho.

He ended up talking to Vanessa Shippy, then a sophomore at Lake City High, on the phone.

"He said, 'I don't recruit Northwest kids; they're not tough enough,'" Shippy recalled the other day.

"I said, 'OK, come watch me play,'" she replied.

Wieligman watched her play at a camp in Hemet, Calif., and must have been impressed with this "Northwest kid" because later that summer, Shippy verbally committed to Oklahoma State.

"That's been something that's definitely driven me since I've been in seventh grade," Shippy said of trying to make it big as an Idaho kid. "My path, I wouldn't trade for anything, but it's crazy when you go down to California and no one knows who you are - because the softball world isn't very big, and everyone knows everyone. And when you're from Idaho, you're not part of that world. Now, I think I've made a little bit of a name for myself down in California, but walking into it, when you're from Idaho, no one cares, because they don't think you're good at all."

WHAT COACH Wieligman probably didn't know at the time was that this kid who was "not tough enough" was putting in the time necessary to improve and be able to play at that level.

Whether it was hours hitting in Lake City's indoor facility, or hours spent on the softball field, hitting and taking grounders - any time of year, any time of day - there was a good chance she was at the school, putting in the work.

Shippy, a second baseman, left the area to play summer ball once she hit high school, first with a team in Seattle, then with a team from California, to expose herself to better competition.

Now a senior, Shippy said that work ethic started in the seventh grade, when she met Casey Stangel, who was a year ahead of her in school here, and her dad Chris.

"They both took me under their wing, and I've trained with him and Casey ever since seventh grade," Shippy said. "When your best friend has the same exact goals as you, it's really nice - because we went in on the mornings and it was fun to train. It's been different without her here (Stangel is a freshman this year, playing and pitching for nationally-ranked Missouri). I still train every day, it's just my partner's not there with me. That's a bummer, but I know she's working hard, and we talk about our training every single day. It's pretty cool to learn what she's doing in college, so that's made me better."

Two years ago, the day after Lake City was stunned in the state title game by city rival Coeur d'Alene, on a day most players would have still been in mourning, Stangel and Shippy were back on the field at Lake City. For seven hours they practiced, music blaring, people driving by and wondering what all the noise was about.

Last year, Lake City went undefeated and won its second state 5A title in three seasons.

"She's always been one of the hardest-working kids I've ever been around and coached," Lake City coach Laura Tolzmann-Fierro said. "I know any time she has any free time outside of games, outside of school, she's hitting. She's always working every day to be better."

Stangel and Shippy used to come to the indoor facility late at night to hit together. Shippy still does.

"It's her stress relief; it's her thing," Tolzmann-Fierro said. "I don't see 'V' getting tired of it."

SHIPPY STARTED at second base for Lake City as a freshman. The next year, the Timberwolves needed a catcher, and there was Shippy, putting on a mask and catching her best friend during that season.

"It wasn't hard for me to want to go in and catch Casey," Shippy said. "I always caught her bullpens anyway, so it was something I just rolled into. Working with Casey was one of my favorite things."

Last year Shippy moved back to second base, but this year, she's caught a few games, and even played once at shortstop - for the first time since her days on a 10-and-under team.

"'V' has always had the attitude of, 'I will do whatever you need me to do what's best for the team,'" Tolzmann-Fierro said.

She even pitched in one game this year - a 1-2-3 third inning in a blowout at Sandpoint.

"I got a strikeout," she said proudly.

"It was a good memory," she said. "It was funny to see people's reactions the next day - they're like, 'did they get those box scores wrong?' No, I pitched."

SHIPPY COMMITTED to Oklahoma State the summer before her junior year.

"The town (Stillwater) is much like here," she said. "I know everybody has this weird idea of Oklahoma, like it's hick and tornadoes and stuff ... it's literally just like here, there's just not a huge lake. I love the school, the atmosphere. I'm excited to go to their football games, their basketball games. Their campus is small, but it feels big. And they have a sports management program there as well, so that helped make my decision. I want to be a college coach."

Funny thing is, she had the chance to join her best friend, in Columbia, Mo. Shippy said her final five choices were Oregon, Washington, Missouri, Tulsa and Oklahoma State.

"That was definitely hard, but I think we both knew it was good for us to go our separate ways," Shippy said. "But now it's kinda hitting me - playing without her sucks. It was probably between (Oklahoma State) and Oregon for my final two. Oregon was more of a city feel (in Eugene) and Oklahoma State was more of a country feel. It was more hometown."

Years ago, Shippy wanted to be a surgeon, and thought softball would be a means to get there. With that in mind, she verbally committed to Idaho State as a freshman. Then her goals changed - she decided she wanted to be a Division I softball coach, she wanted the chance to play for a national championship, and she wanted to play for the USA national team, and perhaps play professionally.

So during her sophomore year at Lake City, prior to softball season, Shippy made the decision to de-commit from ISU - even though she had no other offers at the time. She and her mom, Cheryl, drove down to Pocatello so she could tell the coach in person.

"It was really important for me to take care of that the way it should be," Shippy said.

"That was a long drive there, and a long drive home," she recalled. "On the way there, there was a song playing by Tim McGraw called "How Bad Do You Want It?" And my mom said, 'You know this is going to be hard, once you de-commit, you're no longer guaranteed a scholarship.' And that song came on - 'How bad do you want it?' And now that's why that's my walkup song."

SHIPPY HAS hit leadoff most of her career at Lake City, sometimes hitting in the No. 2 spot. Her first three seasons, she focused on getting on base, stealing second, and letting the big bats behind her drive her in.

Last year, she stole 56 bases in 57 attempts.

This year, the lefty-hitting Shippy is working more on hitting for power, waiting for pitches she can drive. Prior to Monday's game at Colville, Shippy had 21 doubles, already breaking the school season record of 19, set last year by Stangel. She was hitting .733, with 5 home runs, 34 RBIs and 43 runs scored for the Timberwolves (14-4 prior to Monday).

"She knows she can put the ball down any time she wants to, but next year's she's not going to be able to only do that," Tolzmann-Fierro said. "She's worked on all aspects of her game every year."

SHIPPY SAYS she's thankful for the love and support of her parents, Ron and Cheryl, and has thoroughly enjoyed her time at Lake City, and the support she has received there. She enjoys coaching a youth team in town, the North Idaho Xtreme.

Her coach notes that she has a 4.3 GPA, which means she's put in the time in the classroom as well.

Except, of course, when that other classroom - the hitting facility at Lake City - beckons. Like it did one day during her sophomore year.

"It was on my birthday, and I was going out to catch Casey, and I skipped Spanish class, and I had a really good grade," Shippy recalled. "I skipped Spanish class on my birthday to go catch Casey, and my mom found out. And she grounded me. And I've never been grounded in my entire life. And she grounded me. On my birthday. It was just a one-day thing. Because I skipped Spanish class to go practice."

Grounding her. That's probably the only way to stop Vanessa Shippy from doing what she needs to do to get to where she wants to go.