The Front Row with Mark Nelke May 23, 2010

It's one thing to see your season end - yet another when you don't know when your next season will begin.

After being eliminated from the state 3A softball tournament Friday afternoon at Ramsey Park, the Kellogg Wildcats walked off the field knowing they had completed the most successful season in school history - but not knowing if they would be able to continue that momentum next season.

But at least they knew they still had a chance to save the program.

Earlier this spring, due to budget cuts, the Kellogg School District announced softball, baseball, wrestling, cross country, girls soccer and cheerleading were being cut, effective the 2010-11 school year.

Athletes, parents and coaches stewed, but then they were recently given a lifeline - raise a certain amount of money by Aug. 25 (the amount varies from sport to sport), and keep the program.

In the case of Kellogg's softball program, that number is roughly $10,000, coach Alan Williams said.

"They have reinstated the programs so we can do scheduling (for 2010-11), but we have to do fundraising to make enough money to make the program a go," Williams said. "By Aug. 25 we have to come up with enough money to support our program."

Kellogg ran the concession stands at the state 3A softball tournament, so when fans were loading up on munchies and soda, they were also helping the softball program, whether they knew it or not. Williams said they could bring in some $2-3,000 just from concessions.

There is also the option of pay-to-play if a program comes up short in its fundraising, with the more money raised, the less needed to pay-to-play.

KELLOGG STARTED its softball program in 2000. Williams is in his fifth season as head coach, after spending some 27 years coaching in Mount Vernon, Wash.

Before this season, the Wildcats hadn't had a sniff of the state tournament, in an Intermountain League where Timberlake and St. Maries have been the state participants in recent years.

But this year, the Wildcats said they had even greater motivation for winning the district tournament last week and qualifying for state for the first time in program history.

The Wildcats were hoping it would save their program.

"That was pretty much the only way we could think that we would be able to get it back," said junior pitcher Michaela Stewart, who came up through the Kellogg Little League softball program, and has been pitching since seventh grade. "When we won districts it was the biggest emotional experience anybody's every had."

Williams said when he first heard of the cuts, he was "very frustrated ... angry. It was really difficult. It was like, hey, we've worked really hard for five years to get to the point where we're at now. We finally got our program going and now they say they're going to cut it."

If they can't play high school softball next spring, Williams said they would probably put a club softball team together and play in the summer. That is, if there was anybody left in the Silver Valley to play from a program which has grown in recent years at the younger levels.

Kellogg will graduate just one senior from this year's roster of 13 at state. Five juniors, three sophomores and four freshmen were on the Wildcats' state roster.

"If they did (shut down the high school program), there wouldn't be a lot of girls that would be going to that school anymore," Stewart said. "There were a lot of girls already deciding that they were going to go to Wallace or Coeur d'Alene ... they were even talking about moving their whole family, changing their lives, to play a sport."

Hopefully the best move will be the one that didn't have to be made.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via e-mail at mnelke@cdapress.com.