Shaun Bennett: When it comes to Keystone softball, the father-daughter memories are as important as the state championships

There are so many layers to the Keystone softball legacy and another surfaced on social media Sunday. It started with an encouraging Facebook post. "Barry, go get you one of these today!!" Mike Conrad said in a post directed at Barry Cassell. "Championship hugs are the best! Good luck Cats!!" The caption accompanied a picture of Conrad giving his daughter Kenzie a postgame hug after she pitched the Wildcats to the 2012 state championship. A short time later another photo was added to the thread. "I agree Mike Conrad they are the best!!" Brad Campbell said in a comment. "Go get em Cats!! Good luck!!!" The picture Campbell included was of the embrace he and daughter Sydney shared after she picked up the victory in the pitcher's circle during the 2018 state championship game. Sure enough, a new moment was added to that particular Keystone ritual as Lily Cassell found her father after the Wildcats' 7-3 win over Wooster Triway on Sunday night and the pair shared an emotional celebration. "Got it Mike!!" Campbell posted to Conrad's original post with a picture of the Cassells in each other's arms. "Barry Cassell tradition continues!!" "It was amazing," Lily Cassell said. "We were all speechless after the game. My family has been my rock all these years and I definitely wouldn't be the player that I am without their support and everything they do for me. So to share that moment with my mom and dad is something I'll remember for the rest of my life. "Ever since I was little my dad was always the one that would catch me and would be outside with me in a field putting in the work with me. Without my dad I wouldn't be the player that I am because he spent a lot of his time helping me become the player that I am." Interestingly enough, the first picture posted directly ties into the latest, as Kenzie Conrad got Lily Cassell started down the pitching path. "I coached (Lily) on her farm league team and we were getting near the start of the season and I realized we didn't have any pitchers on the roster," Barry said. "So I sent out a message to all the parents to see if their kids had any pitching experience and none of them did. Then I asked if any of the kids would like to try pitching and two girls said they would. So I told Lily that since she was the coach's daughter she would have to try and pitch, too." Cassell reached out to Kenzie Conrad, who came out for two weeks to the team practices and worked with the three girls on the basics. "I said whoever throws the most strikes at the end of the two weeks was going to be our main pitcher," Barry said. "Lily really took what Kenzie showed her to heart and she's never looked back." From there it was countless hours on top of an overturned bucket catching pitches in their cul-de-sac, and taking Lily to lessons, clinics and practices. "The bond between a dad and his daughter is one of the greatest in the world," Barry said. "She made winning a state championship for Keystone her top goal. She didn't want to win it for herself, but for her school. So that was one of the things that really made last night special for her and for me." The social media exchange was the catalyst that focused the spotlight on how important dad-daughter relationships have been during Keystone's run of success on the softball diamond. Both Wildcats Hall of Fame coaches — Dave Leffew and Jim Piazza — had daughters who played for the program and helped win state titles — Amie Leffew in 1999 and Brooke Piazza in 2018. Brooke joined the coaching staff for the stretch run of the 2021 season. "I think she's taken a different approach as far as seeing the coaching side," Jim said. "That's something we've talked about since she came home from school. She has a great mind for the game, too. She was a great scout for me. The scouting reports she gave me were spot on." Piazza said the embrace he shared with his daughter after Keystone won it all her senior season tops the list of special moments he's had during his two decades at the helm. There were plenty more father-daughter memories made this season. "It's got to be such a relief after all the time and the money and the sacrifices that these parents are making for these kids, to reach that ultimate goal," Piazza said of the immediate feeling after the final out of the state final. "That's the moment they all looked for each other. Kerrigan (Williams) going to her dad, and Madi (Herrington) going to her dad, Jess Gerhardinger running to her dad and they took a family picture with the trophy … everything that you worked for, you got that reward last night. I thought that was huge." Contact Shaun Bennett at 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @ShaunBennettct on Twitter.