Daddy's Girl: Shoemaker Father-Daughter duo hopes to take Lady Grey Wolves to first playoffs Posted On: Tuesday, Mar. 25 2008 12:22 AM By Matthew Girard
Killeen Daily Herald

The Berg family has one goal. To take the Shoemaker Lady Grey Wolves' to the state softball playoffs for the first time in school history.

Head coach Kelly Berg has yet to take a team to the playoffs in his time at Shoemaker High School and he is anxious to achieve that goal in the next two years, while his daughter Sami is a member of the team.

"We have one simple goal here at Shoemaker. We want to be the first team to make the playoffs," said Kelly before the Lady Grey Wolves' 9-1 win against Ellison last week. "Whatever it takes, we want to be in the playoffs. My one goal, either this year or next, is to get one of those four playoff spots."

Sami, who is Shoemaker's go-to pitcher, said she wants to be a part of the team that gets to the postseason first.

"For me it would be awesome. Just to be able to say that my team went to the playoffs, even if it's one round or six rounds deep," Sami said. "For my dad, he's been wanting it as long as he has been coaching there (at Shoemaker) and that's been a long time."

Their win against Ellison moved the Lady Grey Wolves (7-10, 2-3 District 13-5A) into a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot with six league games left, including tonight's 7 p.m. game against A&M Consolidated at Shoemaker.

The two have nearly been inseparable since Sami start playing softball, with Kelly coaching his daughter throughout her career.

"She's almost like my 'Mini-me,'" Kelly said. "We've spent so much time together and my wife kind of plays second fiddle. I don't think she likes it, but we've just spent so much time together at the ballfields and complexes that we've become very close. It's a great feeling.

"It is probably the most challenging thing I've ever had to do in my life, to coach your child at a high level. But I don't look at it as coaching my child. When I coached the old (Killeen) Storm team, all those kids, I've always tried to act like a dad would act. It's very difficult, but it has gotten a little easier. As she has grown, I've grown, but we still have our challenges every day."

With her dad looking on, Sami – a junior – was named the District's Newcomer of the Year her freshman year and was named first team all-district after her sophomore season.

"I've been coaching her so long through KPR (Killeen Parks and Rec) and travel ball, that I've kind of become accustomed to having her on a team," Kelly said. "There are very, very rare times that I actually act like a dad and I find myself being guilty of it, but I try hard not to be a dad when the game is on and in practice."

Sami said she has had no problem with her dad being her coach.

"He's my dad and he's my coach, but there is really no big difference," Sami said. "There is that difference on the field and there has to be because in order for the team to respect him, I have to respect him."

Despite being close, watching the pair in between the lines one probably wouldn't even realize they are father and daughter. In one instance during last Thursday's game, Kelly called a pitch for catcher Ashley Shannon to relay to his pitcher. Shannon flashed the sign, and Sami glared over toward the dugout.

Sami said, like any pitcher, she doesn't always agree with her coach.

"There are times he calls a pitch and I don't completely agree, so yeah we butt heads all the time but that's just our relationship," Sami said.

Kelly said her not agreeing with him is no surprise.

"She has my temper, my mentality and it's not a temper or a mentality I wish too many people to have," Kelly said jokingly.

Kelly said the reason Sami and he have been able to be a part of successful teams is because of the players surrounding the two.

"I'm very proud of everything she has accomplished as an individual, but a lot of those accomplishments aren't anything without the players that she has played with," Kelly said. "Ashley (Shannon), Amanda (Cruddas, Ellison), Sierra (Sanchez, Ellison), Shelby (Gonzales, Ellison), Tiffany (Noble, Ellison), Sam Smith (Ellison) and Veronica (Espinoza, Harker Heights) helped make what our Storm team was. It goes back to the 10 or 12 of them who dedicated themselves to becoming a select player."

Even though Kelly has just a little more than a season remaining with his daughter, he said he will enjoy the memories they have made together.

"She's going to end up graduating from college, she's going to go have her own life, but I will always have those first 18 years that we were together," Kelly said.

Sami said having her dad around is special.

"I love spending time with my dad," Sami said. "Especially on the field because we are completely ourselves. We can goof off together, we can have fun, he knows me and I know him. Our relationship is so close and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Contact Matthew Girard at mgirard@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7569.