Record Newspapers softball notebook: Lindsey Cocks stars for dad’s alma mater, leads potent Plano lineup

Lindsey Cocks gave her dad the perfect birthday present last week in Plano.

The Plano senior third baseman/shortstop hit a walk-off homer to beat Westmont. She signed the ball and walked over to the baseball field, where her dad D.J. Cocks’ Westmont team was playing Plano.

“It said ‘Happy Birthday dad, this is for you,‘” Lindsey Cocks said. “It had the date and everything. It was great.”

Dad and daughter definitely share a bond through ball.

Lindsey is a two-time All-Stater who is batting .462 for a red-hot Reapers’ offense averaging 11 runs through eight games. D.J., who played and coached baseball at Plano and also coached at Newark, is in his 14th season coaching baseball at Westmont.

D.J. doesn’t get to see too many of his daughter’s games, but he keeps a close eye on them.

“He will text my mom during his game to ask how I am doing,” said Lindsey, who will play collegiately at Judson. “We always have a conversation later in the evening. He will ask me how I did. If I did great, he’ll give me a huge hug. If I didn’t he’ll ask how we can fix it.”

Cocks, oldest of four siblings, said she fell in love with the game following her dad to his games.

“I saw the way he was coaching and said I know I want to do this,” she said. “He used to take me to his batting cages after practice and let me hit. It’s awesome the memories I have.”

Plano coach Dwayne Love has known Cocks for a long time and noted the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree – “her parents are wonderful people.”

He recalls her first coming to open gyms in fifth grade.

“She was the quiet girl. It’s been awesome to see her evolve into what she is,” Love said. “She was going toe to toe with varsity players as a fifth grader, diving on the wood floor. You could see the work ethic in her.”

Cocks, home-schooled since preschool, hardly knew any of the girls at Plano before she got there. But she quickly felt right at home.

“I wasn’t sure how it would be, trying to figure how I fit in,” Cocks said. “But once I started practicing and playing I said this is where I want to be. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. We may not have the best record, but these girls are amazing.”

Plano, 4-27 last year, hasn’t had a winning season in 19 years, but the Reapers (4-3-1) could be turning the corner this spring.

At minimum, they can hit.

Plano has scored 70 runs over its last four games. In a game last week against Genoa-Kingston, the Reapers answered a 10-run G-K first with 10 of their own in an eventual 18-18 tie called because of darkness.

“With my returning four seniors, and other girls added, I knew what we could do,” Love said. “I like my hitters. We are consistently turning the lineup over. Getting to the top of the lineup is key. And the bottom of the lineup has been helping. It’s awesome.”

Love said it’s a year he’s been looking forward to for a long time, Cocks’ senior season.

School days, Cocks is at Plano for two hours in the morning, P.E. classes, so she can play with the team, then goes home for school. And then she gets back to the high school a little before 3 p.m. to get ready for practice.

Love is sure daughter and dad are in the backyard a lot hitting, too, in the cage taking swings. He said a coach told him once that somebody was on the Plano field hitting balls over the fence.

“I said that can only be one person,” Love said. “She’s one of a kind, the hardest-working player I have ever had. That rubs off on the other girls and it’s starting to show. When she goes hard, they go hard.

“Personally, she’s a wonderful person. She has her faith that she believes in and guides her, a nice person to be around. She makes you smile.”

Yorkville’s successful spring break

Yorkville went 4-0 at the Gulf Shores Classic in its spring break trip to Alabama, but Foxes’ coach Jory Regnier noted that the trip is about much more than wins and losses.

Yorkville has made the trip since 2018. The Foxes drive down Sunday and come back Friday, staying in a house as a team.

“It sets the season up for success with team chemistry and team camaraderie, learning about what we have,” Regnier said. “You learn a lot about these girls that you wouldn’t if you didn’t live in the same house. You see the unfiltered side of them. Otherwise you don’t get to learn about the kids.”

Regnier is learning what she has in her pitching tandem of junior Ellie Fox and senior Peyton Levine.

She tried a new strategy in games last week against Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way Central, using them both in tandem for multiple innings in the same game.

“Peyton throws a lot more spin. She is not going to overpower people, but she is going to put a lot of movement on the ball,” Regnier said. “Ellie brings a lot more velocity. She has more up/down and Peyton is more in and out. The combination of those things makes them very different. The last couple games we used them in combination, seeing how lineups would respond.”

Oswego East’s breakout youngsters

Oswego East has just three seniors on its roster, and just three starters back from last year’s team.

But two youngsters are already breaking out.

Sophomore Danielle Stone, the younger sister of the Wolves’ pitcher last year Nicole Stone, hit .462 (6 for 13) in Oswego East’s trip to Tennessee last week with four doubles, a homer and six RBIs.

A catcher who’s really a utility player, she was tried in the outfield and made two diving plays in right field.

“Everything hit to her she got to. She made a couple of incredible catches showing off her speed and athleticism,” Oswego East coach Sarah Davies said. “She’s a smart hitter, hits for power. We are excited to see how she progresses.”

Same goes for junior Olivia Owles. Pulled up at the end of last season, she played in Oswego East’s regional game. She’s hit leadoff in every game but one this season, and is batting .583 (7 for 12) with a double, triple, four runs scored and three stolen bases.

Owles has also taken over the center field spot with a combination of speed and athleticism that reminds Davies of former Wolves’ star Mia Corres.

“She is just insanely fast,” Davies said. “She is a slapper, gets on base, gets things started. It’s not easy coming in as a first-time varsity player in the leadoff spot but she has really taken on that role well, come into her own and become more confident.”