MATT FRYE/The Smithville HeraldSmithville High freshman Ashley Ward extends her hand to senior Jamie Tanno after Tanno scored a run in the first inning of the Warriors’ game against Cameron on Thursday, Oct. 2. Also pictured is sophomore Kaily Purtle.
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Tanno's last tango
Smithville's lone senior has one last shot at making state
By Scott Tittrington
As a young girl growing up in Bowling Green, Ken., Jamie Tanno wasn’t unlike many kids in the Bluegrass State. She had basketball on the brain.
She didn’t figure that would change when she moved with her family to Smithville the summer before she entered sixth grade.
However, once she landed in her new digs, she discovered softball, and a love affair was born. Three years later, she would join her older sister, Jenn, at Smithville High, a varsity starter from Day 1.
And now, another four years later, she can’t help wondering where the time went as she faces the stark reality that she’s only one unfavorable outcome away from seeing her storied high school career come to a close.
“I still think I’m a little freshman from all the games that we have together,” said Tanno moments after the Warriors shut out Cameron on Thursday, Oct. 2, to secure their first Midland Empire Conference championship. “The season just goes by so fast. High school, it just flies by.”
And as Tanno quickly replays the memories in her mind, so many different events flash before her eyes:
n Playing alongside her sister as a freshman.
n Becoming the constant target of good-natured teasing after slipping and falling while getting off the bus before a game against Warrensburg as a sophomore.
n Setting the school record for hits in a single season as a junior.
Now, as she prepares to say goodbye, Smithville’s lone senior needs just one capstone moment to make it all complete — a spot in the Class 3 state tournament.
The Warriors have never taken that step, and Tanno will have her last shot at that all-important first this week as Smithville (19-6) takes the No. 2 seed into the Class 3 District 15 Tournament at Excelsior Springs High.
The Warriors received an opening-round bye in the six-team field, and will play the winner of today’s game between between No. 3 Lawson and No. 6 Excelsior Springs at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9.
A victory will likely set up a rematch with top seed Platte County at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, in the district title game, with the winner headed to state.
“I really care about winning. That’s all I want to do,” said Tanno when asked what it would mean to add that level of team success to what she has accomplished from a personal standpoint in her four years with the Warriors. “I don’t care about the individual stuff. I just want to win districts, sectionals, regionals. I want to win state.
“We are very capable of getting to state. We just have to bring our ‘A’ game and have no mistakes.”
Whether Tanno’s career ends with her and her teammates hoisting a gold trophy in St. Joseph, or as soon as some time this week, one thing is certain — it will be a bit of a strange feeling for Smithville coach Steve Tingler when he fills out his lineup next fall and doesn’t have a Tanno penciled into the heart of the lineup and the middle of the infield.
Jenn Tanno was a four-year starter before moving on to play at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College and now the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kan. With Jamie Tanno set to graduate next May, the family’s seven-year run of athletic success at Smithville (brother Justin Tanno also graduated last spring after a stellar boys soccer career) will come to an end.
“It’s been fun to watch Jamie mature,” Tingler said. “When she came in as a freshman, she was shy, quiet, never said anything. To see Jamie develop as a person … not just a softball player, it’s been fun to watch her grow.”
And it will be a sad day when he has to see her go.
“For the last seven years, I’ve had a Tanno hitting third and playing shortstop. Both girls have been great. The parents are great. They’re softball people. The whole family has been great for the program,” Tingler said.
“Usually, after a district championship loss, I always tell (the players), I’m not sad that we lost, I’m sad that I’m losing my seniors.”
In fact, Tanno herself already has an idea of what to expect from her coach once that day does arrive.
“I always ask Mr. Tingler, when I leave, is he going to cry?” Tanno said with a laugh.
Chances are, whenever that final out takes place, there will be plenty of tears on both sides.
Sports editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at 389-6632 or scotttittrington@npgco.com.
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She didn’t figure that would change when she moved with her family to Smithville the summer before she entered sixth grade.
However, once she landed in her new digs, she discovered softball, and a love affair was born. Three years later, she would join her older sister, Jenn, at Smithville High, a varsity starter from Day 1.
And now, another four years later, she can’t help wondering where the time went as she faces the stark reality that she’s only one unfavorable outcome away from seeing her storied high school career come to a close.
“I still think I’m a little freshman from all the games that we have together,” said Tanno moments after the Warriors shut out Cameron on Thursday, Oct. 2, to secure their first Midland Empire Conference championship. “The season just goes by so fast. High school, it just flies by.”
And as Tanno quickly replays the memories in her mind, so many different events flash before her eyes:
n Playing alongside her sister as a freshman.
n Becoming the constant target of good-natured teasing after slipping and falling while getting off the bus before a game against Warrensburg as a sophomore.
n Setting the school record for hits in a single season as a junior.
Now, as she prepares to say goodbye, Smithville’s lone senior needs just one capstone moment to make it all complete — a spot in the Class 3 state tournament.
The Warriors have never taken that step, and Tanno will have her last shot at that all-important first this week as Smithville (19-6) takes the No. 2 seed into the Class 3 District 15 Tournament at Excelsior Springs High.
The Warriors received an opening-round bye in the six-team field, and will play the winner of today’s game between between No. 3 Lawson and No. 6 Excelsior Springs at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9.
A victory will likely set up a rematch with top seed Platte County at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, in the district title game, with the winner headed to state.
“I really care about winning. That’s all I want to do,” said Tanno when asked what it would mean to add that level of team success to what she has accomplished from a personal standpoint in her four years with the Warriors. “I don’t care about the individual stuff. I just want to win districts, sectionals, regionals. I want to win state.
“We are very capable of getting to state. We just have to bring our ‘A’ game and have no mistakes.”
Whether Tanno’s career ends with her and her teammates hoisting a gold trophy in St. Joseph, or as soon as some time this week, one thing is certain — it will be a bit of a strange feeling for Smithville coach Steve Tingler when he fills out his lineup next fall and doesn’t have a Tanno penciled into the heart of the lineup and the middle of the infield.
Jenn Tanno was a four-year starter before moving on to play at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College and now the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kan. With Jamie Tanno set to graduate next May, the family’s seven-year run of athletic success at Smithville (brother Justin Tanno also graduated last spring after a stellar boys soccer career) will come to an end.
“It’s been fun to watch Jamie mature,” Tingler said. “When she came in as a freshman, she was shy, quiet, never said anything. To see Jamie develop as a person … not just a softball player, it’s been fun to watch her grow.”
And it will be a sad day when he has to see her go.
“For the last seven years, I’ve had a Tanno hitting third and playing shortstop. Both girls have been great. The parents are great. They’re softball people. The whole family has been great for the program,” Tingler said.
“Usually, after a district championship loss, I always tell (the players), I’m not sad that we lost, I’m sad that I’m losing my seniors.”
In fact, Tanno herself already has an idea of what to expect from her coach once that day does arrive.
“I always ask Mr. Tingler, when I leave, is he going to cry?” Tanno said with a laugh.
Chances are, whenever that final out takes place, there will be plenty of tears on both sides.
Sports editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at 389-6632 or scotttittrington@npgco.com.