Always trust you first instinct. Luckily for Katie Omilak, she trusted hers.
A week before tryouts were to begin, the recent St. Pius X graduate was undecided on whether or not to play for the Blazing Angels fast pitch softball team. This would be her final year of eligibility.
Omilak decided that she had better or else she would probably regret it. It is lucky that she did, because the Angels became the first east coast team to win the 2000 ASA girls 18 and under National Fast Pitch Softball Tournament.
“I decided to give it a go one week before tryouts,” Omilak said. “I didn’t really know if I wanted to this all over again. I said I better or else I will regret it for the rest of my life.”
Omilak has been a member of the Angels – based out of Levittown, Bucks County – for three years. She just made the cutoff date because her birthday is Aug. 13, so she would turn 19 on the final day of the tournament.
The Angels have been around for more than 20 years. A very select group of girls makes the team out of about 80 girls who try out annually.
Over the past 11 years, the Angels have won the State Tournament nine times, including the last three in a row. Every year, they get invited to play in the National Fast Pitch Softball Championships in Normal, Ill.
The closest the Angels have ever gotten to winning it all was in 1995 when they finished fifth. In the two previous years that Omilak has been involved, they have finished 25th in 1998 and 27th last year.
“We get chills when we talk about the ’95 team,” Omilak said. “They were the best ever. We had two goals before the season started. Win states and play on Sunday in the Championship Tournament.”
Sunday play ensured a top-five finish in the tournament.
Some 84 teams are invited to play in the tourney from across the United States. The first two days are pool play, while the rest of the tournament is double-elimination bracket play.
Each team is guaranteed to play four games. Two in pool play, and two in bracket play.
The tournament began on Aug. 7 with the opening ceremonies. The games started two days later and concluded on Aug. 13.
The Angels won their first game 2-0 over the New Mexico Sundancers. The next day, they fell to the Bat Busters of Orange County, Calif., 3-2.
Now it was on to bracket play, where the goal is simple – keep winning and you win it all.
They opened bracket play with a 9-0 thrashing of Pegasus from Lionville. Then they downed the Southern California Riptides 2-1.
The day before the finals, they had to play twice, winning both. A 1-0 victory over the Lady Sharks of San Jose and a 10-0 victory over Mililani Prep from Hawaii. It guaranteed the Angels a top-five finish, the best since 1995.
The first game on the final day of competition was against the Palm Beach Phantoms, who they downed 6-1. Up next for the Angels was last year’s fourth-place team, the Echoes Spirit. They won 2-0.
Now, they would be playing for first place. They would face the Echoes again, twice if necessary.
“We were ready to play,” Omilak said. “We had a lot of adrenaline running. We knew that even if we lost the first game, we would be okay. Nobody beats us twice.”
A second game would not be necessary. The Angels downed the Echoes for a second straight time 3-2 in eight innings. Omilak singled in the eighth to tie the score at 2-2, and was on base when the winning run scored.
“I was in complete shock that we won,” Omilak said. “I just stood there for a minute, and then celebrated with everybody else. It was the best three-hour plane ride ever.”
After winning, Omilak sought out her parents. They hugged, shed a few tears, then mom and dad sang happy birthday to daughter, who was celebrating her 19th birthday that same day.
What a present.
When they arrived back into Philadelphia International Airport on Monday, close to 250 people were there to greet the champs, including the Mayor of Bristol.
Omilak is a new person now. She can’t wait to go back to Adelphi, where she is a sophom*ore studying Athletic Training. A 1999 graduate of St. Pius X, she is at Adelphi now on a full athletic scholarship. Her dream one day is to play for the US team in the Olympics, but will take it one year at a time.
Her idol is Olympian Dot Richardson, who she says is “just like me.” They are both energetic and full of spunk.
“I get chills knowing that people will think about our 2000 team,” Omilak said. “Dreams do come true. Always believe in your dreams. You have to have pride in order to play for the Angels.”
