RANKINGS
EVENTS
I COMMITTED
COLLEGE
ABOUT
As we moved through the summer and top club tournaments, we kept hearing the name “Originals” as one that would play deep into the bracket playoffs.
Based out of Kansas City, Missouri, Tony Austin’s ‘22/’23 team beat several Top 15 squads in the Extra Elite Eighty 16U rankings and had three Top 10 finishes included winning a championship and taking 2nd so we decided to dig deeper into the program to see what makes it so successful.
Here’s our interview with Coach Austin who is assisted by Bob Moore, Johnny Hull and George Shrum…
*****
When did the team/program start and how/why did it come to be?
Our organization was established in 1982 by a man named Earl Turnure. He was cross-town rivals with the founder of the KC Peppers, Dan Aiken, who also formed his organization around that time.
The Originals program has sent many of athletes to college, from the NAIA to DI, the most notable begin pitcher Paige Parker who went to Oklahoma and won national titles.
The Originals helped paved the way for softball in Missouri and the Midwest. Earl has since passed away, leaving a legacy of great sportsmanship, honor, respect of the game and most importantly building athletes to be strong women after softball.
His daughter, Stacey, now runs our organization of 11 teams in all age groups. All our athletes are within a 20-mile radius of the Kansas City Metro area. The last two years our 18’s competed in PGF Nationals and their overall record was 14-4 in those two years beating nationally-ranked clubs.
All those athletes have since aged out and are all playing at the college level from Park University (NAIA) to Wichita State and Valpo (D1), to name a few.
That’s impressive that all your players are so close!
Yes, our athletes all live within half hour of our facility. We have two that live just across the state line into Kansas.
What was the purpose of creating the team originally (no pun intended!) and what is it today?
The purpose of creating this team was to help athletes reach their goals of playing at the college level and helping aid their education. We also feel the culture we create helps them become better people off the field as well and hopefully that carries on long after college.
What have been some of the successes for the Originals ‘22/’23 team in terms of winning or placing at events?
Our second year 16U team had an amazing season going 42-11-5 and beating many nationally-ranked teams over the course of this shortened season. This team was formed in the fall of 2019 basically from scratch. We had no idea the success they would have so early!
We knew we had good athletes, but we also know they needed to have time to gel and learn each other’s ways on and off the field. We played a few of Greg Dickel (Iowa Premier) and Ryan Taylor (Aces Fastpitch) events in the fall, the PGF Team 1 Fastpitch Events to be specific. The girls competed well and we could tell we had something. We continued to practice over the winter months at our indoor facility. We saw major growth and were looking forward to the strong spring/summer schedule we had planned.
Our goals were to chase all the USA Gold National Qualifiers and to play USA 16Gold Nationals in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the qualifiers were getting canceled early on so we chose a different route. We were asked to attend the Triple Crown OKC event last minute as they needed a team to fill a spot.
We accepted and ended up going to Edmond, Oklahoma and going 7-0 to win the tournament. At Triple Crown, the team beat Extreme Elite Gold, Oklahoma Bombers and Impact Gold Premier-Sydney on the way to the championship.
The following tournament was the Tulsa Elite Invite where the team continued to compete very well and many of our athletes got attention from coaches via our live-stream and from the ones that were able to be in attendance.
We also played in the Triple Crown Tennessee Regional and ended up going 5-1-1 and getting wins over Michigan Finesse 16U Peters, Birmingham Vipers-Gillespie, Georgia Impact-West 2023, EC Bullets- Ashley.
We played in the USA Elite Select Nationals in Kansas City, Missouri and ended up with a Top 5 finish. Our overall record was 5-2-1. Our two loses were to MN Bombers-Acketz, who won the USA ES Nationals.
We can fast-forward to the Triple Crown East Coast Summer Nationals in Myrtle Beach S.C. where we finished 7-2-1 and were crowned 2nd to the very talented Lady Dukes-Lamar. (pics attached)
Our overall record in Triple Crown this year was 19-3-2 with a 1st place finish at the TC OKC, Top 8 Finish at the Tennessee Regional and a runner-up finish at the East Coast Nationals.
We just wrapped up the season last weekend going 5-0-1 in the USA Softball Invite in Kansas City, Missouri.
Impressive summer! Not a lot of losing going on anywhere…
Yes, we only lost back-to-back games once this year and that was in two separate tournaments. Just a fun fact! (laughs)
What, in your opinion, is it that makes the organization unique?
I feel what makes this organization unique is that all our girls are local to the Kansas City Missouri area and our athletes understand the 30-plus years of history and are very proud to play here.
What’s your softball background and how did you get to the point of leading the team?
I have been coaching softball for the last 11 years. My daughter Macee, played and I had the honor to coach her through her career. We were blessed to come over to the Originals orgaization back in 2017 when she was asked by 18U Originals KC Coach Scott Niemeyer to join his team.
I then joined the coaching staff. That year we went on to play 18Gold Nationals and PGF the following two years to end her club career before she started her college career. Being part of a great organization and knowing its history, I wanted to continue to coach in the program. I then got the go-ahead by the Originals founder Earl Turnure to start a 13U travel team and the rest is history.
Has there been a key moment or defining experience in the team’s history?
I believe the key moment was when I had four athletes hang in there and not give up. They could have walked away but to them it wasn’t an option. They truly stood by my side and for that I’m forever grateful.
This team formed in the fall after we had a big shakeup following the 2019 summer season. We had those four athletes who remained and believed in what we had going so, from a coaching stand point, I couldn’t let them down. We had a few open tryouts as well as some private workouts. When it was all said and done, we had 13 athletes and were looking forward to the 2019/2020 season.
What is your primary focus or goal with this team?
To continue to compete at a National level and continue to help assist these athletes get recruited to play at the next level.
What do you think are the strengths of the Originals ‘22/’23 team?
Their strengths are, no doubt, how they play for each other. We have 11 athletes from this past season that honestly pay no attention to who is in the other dugout. They play each game like it’s their last and losing isn’t an option. In all my years, I have never seen a group gel so quickly and truly form a sisterhood. It was very impressive to watch and I couldn’t be prouder.
If there is one thing you would say that separates you from other club programs, what would it be?
We played some great teams this past season and we never took a play off, we played every game like we were down runs and needed more. They supported each other on and off the field.
What about the chemistry of this team?
Something that I think is really cool and was a part of our team success is that these girls spent 2½ months together and, in our off time (which wasn’t much), they would always be hanging out.
They would grab small groups and go to our facility and hit the day after we got back in town from a tournament and then come to practice that night. These athletes are a true definition of a team and their record shows a never say quit mentality. It was a very impressive 2020 season!
*****
Scroll down to get a player-by-player look at Original ‘22/’23 with comments from Head Coach Tony Austin: