THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: The Lakeland Hawks play for each other. They play where they’re asked. They even run into foul poles. This week, they’re chasing a state softball title

No, her nickname wasn’t inspired by the Tommy Roe song from 1969. 

As for her given name ... 

When she was a little girl, Lakeland High senior softball player Delilah “Dizzy” Zimmerman had a hard time pronouncing her first name. 

“And since my last name is Zimmerman, I used to call myself ‘D.Z.’” she recalled the other day, after the Hawks won the 5A Region 1 tournament on their home field. “And then my parents thought I was calling myself ‘Dizzy’ so it just turned into ‘Dizzy’ ... I tried to say my full name and it would just come out as ‘Dizzy.’” 

(Turns out, she loves her given name, Delilah. And she was, in fact, named after a song — “Hey There Delilah,” by the American pop rock band Plain White T’s, released in 2006). 

One word “Dizzy” and the rest of the Hawks know how to pronounce — “team.” 

Thanks to a strong hitting lineup, improved pitching and defense, and just as important, a team-first buy-in from the players, Lakeland is back at state for the first time since 2022.  

The sixth-seeded Hawks (21-5) face the third-seeded Blackfoot Broncos (17-9) on Thursday at 3 p.m. at Post Falls High in their first-round game of the state 5A softball tournament. 

“Our pitching was there, and our defense ... this team is always going to hit the ball,” fifth-year Lakeland coach Dwayne Curry said. “We’re always going to be able to produce runs. It’s the defense that I take such pride in. From last year to this year, we’re at one error, maybe two (per game). Last year there were games we had nine or 10. Because everybody played for themselves, and didn’t trust the girl beside them.   

“Defense is what I’m most proud of, for sure. These girls are going to hit.” 

INDEED.

Senior third baseman Kiersten Drake is batting .435, with five home runs and 28 RBIs 

Junior center fielder and leadoff batter Ada Blakemore is hitting .425, with a team-high 38 runs scored, but is also fourth in RBIs with 26, and has two homers. 

“She’s been so consistent as a leadoff hitter,” Curry said. “She’ll draw the walk ... she does her job as a leadoff, she lets the other girls see pitches, and then she’ll go.” 

Zimmerman is at .400, with four homers and a team-high 34 RBIs 

Junior second baseman Raygen Dutton is batting .397, with a team-leading eight homers to go with 31 RBIs.  

Her sister, sophomore pitcher Reese Dutton, is at .352. 

Sophomore shortstop Reese Vanek is batting .349. 

Vanek was expected to return from concussion protocol earlier this week, after being out for two weeks.  

One day at practice, the Hawks were doing outfield drills, and Vanek (all players partake in infield and outfield drills) slammed into the right field foul pole at full speed chasing a fly ball. 

The result was 10 stitches, some dental work and several hours in the hospital. 

“She had misplayed a ball, so the next ball I hit, she definitely wasn’t going to misplay,” Curry said.  

Her replacement at shortstop in the district title game was junior Jaiden Corbey, normally a left fielder, but who had missed the last two weeks with a hamstring injury. Naturally Corbey, who has five homers, ranged nicely into the hole on a grounder for the out. 

Junior Abby Helmholz has pitched roughly two-thirds of her team’s innings this season. 

Last year, she had 87 strikeouts and 86 walks in 84 innings pitched 

This year, with the screwball as her favorite pitch, she has 122 strikeouts and 49 walks in 99 innings. 

“I think I’ve gotten to trust my teammates a lot more on defense. Our defense has gotten so much better,” said Helmholz, who is 13-3. “I’m trusting that they’re going to get the ball and they’re going to get the out. I’ve been practicing a lot more on accuracy, and not just throwing hard. I’m not as scared to throw down the middle, and over the plate.” 

“Just throwing hard and confident,” Curry said. “And part of that confidence is knowing when she throws and the ball gets put in play, it’s going to be an out.” 

IN THE past, Curry said, players may have harumphed when taken out of a game, or asked to play a different position. 

Not this year. 

Drake had never played outfield prior to high school, but she started in left field until the upperclassmen at third graduated. 

“High school is different than club ball in that you’re playing for yourself in club ball, and in high school you’re there for the team,” said Drake, who has signed with North Idaho College.

Zimmerman, who plays middle infield on her travel-ball team, moved to catcher midway through her junior season. That’s the position she plans to play at Montana State-Northern in Billings, the NAIA school she has signed with. 

“I love catching ... I just like being involved in every play,” Zimmerman said.  

Zimmerman still plans to go to MSU-Billings even though the Yellowjackets fired their softball coach last week. 

“I really do love the college,” she said. 

Corbey, the left fielder, plays shortstop on her travel-ball team. 

And on and on. 

“I just think that all of us are really dedicated to the team,” Zimmerman said. “And all of us have a really strong bond, and it helps us on the field because we have trust in each other.” 

IN LAKELAND'S last visit to state, the Hawks brought home a trophy with a fourth-place finish in Curry’s first season as head coach. 

The next two seasons, Lakeland lost to Moscow in best-of-3 series for the regional title each year. Last year, after losing to Lewiston for the automatic berth to state, the Hawks were beaten by Skyview of Nampa in the state play-in game. 

“As the years went on, and it was trickling out of my grasp, I was really hoping,” Drake said. “And as soon as we started practices this year I was like, this is a completely different team.” 

Lakeland’s 21 victories this season are the Hawks’ most since 2004, when they finished 23-5 in their last year in the Intermountain League, before moving up to 4A (which is now basically 5A). 

“We really do put in the work, and our wins come with the work,” Zimmerman said. “It’s not luck; we’re earning it.” 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.