Local softball coach receives hall of fame nod

Softball Coach Lori Videmschek is 15 wins away from the 500 mark and has won a state title with Purdy, but if you ask her the most important thing about her job, her answer won’t be how many wins she has amassed or what titles she’s won.

Instead, the greatest achievements for “Coach V” live in past players, manifested in communications like a recent text she received that said, ”If it wasn’t for coaches like you that pushed us to limits we didn’t believe we could achieve, it gave me a strength to get through some of the hardest times of my life.”

While she doesn’t broadcast them or brag much, Videmschek’s list of personal accomplishments grew recently, as she was inducted into the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

“When I got the call, I was very humbled,” she said. “I didn’t know anything about it, but I do a lot outside of high school with my Big Bass Academy in Purdy, a hitting, pitching and fielding training center for kids playing baseball and softball. And, we do more than just coach — we teach the game. That’s the most fun, to see kids get excited about playing the game.”

At the induction, Videmschek was introduced by her son, Dusty, a moment she will never forget.

“He talked about my life as a mom and a softball coach, and it was very heartwarming,” she said. “I also got to go up and say some things about what softball has done for my life. It was very humbling, and I’m very proud because I’ve put in a lot of hard work.”

Videmschek’s career in softball almost never came to be, as she was a three-sport athlete (softball, basketball and volleyball) in high school and focused primarily on basketball. A 1984 graduate of Wheaton High School, she earned a basketball scholarship to Crowder College, but knee injuries in the offseason forced her to rethink her athletics career. 

She joined the softball team instead, winning a national junior college softball title with Crowder College in 1986, then going on to play at Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State), graduating in 1989. 

For a decade, she left the game other than slow-pitch recreational play, employed in marketing and spending five years as a stay-at-home mom. It was 2000 when she said the Purdy coaching job dropped in her lap, and she took it. 

Videmschek started as an assistant volleyball and softball coach, and when Purdy played both in the same season.

“The head coach was the same for both, too,” she said. “In 2003, she left and I was offered the Purdy softball head coaching job. We got second in the state that year. We had an exceptional group of kids and, and it was a lot of fun.”

Purdy took fourth in state the following year, and Videmschek felt a calling to move up to the collegiate level. Returning to her alma mater, Videmschek coached at Crowder until her son, Dusty, started playing baseball.

“I came back to watch him play,” she said. “When you have 60 games a season in college, it’s tough to find time. In his freshman year, I only saw him play one game. When Purdy found out I wasn’t coaching, they asked me to come back. Softball had been moved to spring, and they ensured me I’d be able to watch my son play.”

That was the 2015 season, and by 2017, Videmschek was also hired as the head coach at Cassville. Overall, counting college and high school, Videmschek is 485-235 as a head coach, with a state title, runner- up and fourth-place finish in Purdy.

“We won quite a few district championships, as well,” she said. “I want to do that in Cassville, and every year, we are getting better and better.”

Regarding coaching, Videmschek maintains it’s not the talent or accomplishments that mean the most, but the effect she has on her pupils.

“One of my greatest memories came from winning that state championship,” she said. “We had a special needs girl on the team who came to play softball with us after not playing for a number of years. She was a big part of the team when we went to Springfield and won state, and a week later, she was still wearing her state championship medal and talking about how fun the game was.

“As a coach, that still warms my heart, because for those kids, they will never forget that moment.”

Videmschek said as a coach, she puts a significant emphasis on communication.

“To be a good coach, you have to communicate well and coach to the kids’ abilities,” she said. Sometimes, I am pretty demanding and hold the kids accountable, trying to get the best out of them. If the kids know you want that, and that No. 1 is just as important as No. 14, they will play hard for you.

“It’s about building relationships, and over my more than 20 years, I have many players from college and high school that stay in touch, call, text and update me on their lives. That’s what’s important to me — doing the right thing for the kids.”