THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, May 15, 2014

Dakota Wilson is an accomplished outfielder, figured out how to play shortstop, is good enough to play in college ... but has chosen not to.

Jordyn McCracken waited three seasons to get her turn in the circle, and used that time to observe one of the best - and also learned how to play two other positions.

Infielder Hailey Jackson is a standout in a few other sports besides softball - and is training for a new discipline that might make you shake your head.

Vanessa Shippy has achieved national honors as a

second baseman and will play Division I softball next year.

Together, they are seniors and four-year starters at Lake City. Three of them are 4.0 students. They've played in state title games in each of their three previous seasons, winning twice. The Timberwolves are off to state beginning Friday in Nampa, where with three more wins, they will have reached the 100th win mark since Wilson, McCracken, Jackson and Shippy joined the varsity as freshmen. They've played in just eight losing games in high school.

"It's definitely been the high school experience you could imagine - we came into the year 80-2 and that's ridiculous," McCracken said. "It's just been a lot of fun, because everybody wants the same thing as you - everybody's out to win."

"What's really cool about our senior class is, we were all together as freshmen - Jordan and Hailey and I played together starting at 10U, and Dakota was on another team so we played against her," Shippy said. "And we're all pretty good students and we take advanced classes and we all help each other with our homework. And it's made us closer."

When Wilson, McCracken, Jackson and Shippy came in as freshman, Lake City was coming off a fifth-place finish at state. Then, with Casey Stangel beginning her sophomore year in the circle, Lake City went undefeated, lost just two games the next year (including the state title game) and went undefeated again last year.

This year, with Stangel off playing at Missouri, and the remaining T-Wolves adjusting to new roles, Lake City is 19-6 but has played better of late, and is confident it can make a run at another state title this weekend.

"There's definitely a sense of pressure in that you almost have to live up to expectations and the glory that those people had produced, but you have to do it in your style," Wilson said. "I think we really decided to come together these last couple of weeks, whereas before it was a struggle, up and down, a lot of uncertaintly, lack of confidence, but I feel its finally coming together at the right time."

WILSON PLAYED left field as a freshman, right field as a sophomore. With the graduation of Katie Rowe, Wilson was asked to move to shortstop as a junior.

"It was like deer in the headlights," Wilson recalled of the move. "I practiced all summer before my junior year, and it probably took me a couple of weeks into practice my junior year where I finally got what I was supposed to do."

She's remained at shortstop until last week - when she moved back to right field. Right before state.

Wilson, who is batting .405 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs, attracted interested from Arizona State, Boise State, Montana, along with some schools in Idaho and some smaller schools in Oregon.

"She's a real team player," Shippy said. "When she's the happiest is when she's hitting really well - you'll see her face light up when she's rounding second on her home run trot. ... It's been cool to watch Dakota get better and better and better."

But, midway through her junior year, she decided not to play in college. She's headed to the University of Idaho, hoping to become an architectural engineer.

"I believe education should come first because I think that will take you farther in life," said Wilson, whose sister, JaeCie, is a junior outfielder. "There were moments when I thought, 'I enjoy sports too much to just drop it,' but then I thought about it, and thought about it, and thought about it, and just realized I'd rather focus on school."

WHEN McCRACKEN showed up as a freshman, Stangel was a sophomore, and she pitched nearly every inning in her four years at Lake City.

When the lefty-throwing McCracken was a sophomore, one of the outfielders quit the team, so McCracken asked T-Wolf coach Laura Tolzmann-Fierro if she could play left field. Last year, after the graduation of Kori Kritz, McCracken moved to first base - where she usually plays when not pitching.

McCracken saw the waiting as a positive.

"I think it was a really good learning curve for me, because now I'm going to go into college not only as a pitcher but also as a practiced outfielder and a practiced infielder," she said. "It's made me work harder for the things I want because I didn't get to walk in and be the No. 1."

McCracken pitched quite a bit on her summer-ball team. In high school, she tried to learn what she could from watching Stangel, also a left-hander.

"The biggest thing was probably her work ethic - she was the hardest working player I've ever met in my entire life," McCracken said. "That, and her mental edge - she was competitive, and that made you want to strive to be the competitor that she was."

"It (the waiting) has been tough on her, but she's handled it really well," Shippy said. "She knew what she was getting into, she's rolled with it and now it's her time and she's taking advantage of it."

This year, McCracken is 12-5 with a 2.93 ERA.

McCracken verbally committed to Utah State the summer after her freshman year. But verbals are non-binding on either side, and when the coach who recruited her resigned last summer, McCracken essentially had to impress the new coach - who watched her play last summer, and opted to honor her earlier verbal commitment.

"Utah State was the first school that ever contacted me," McCracken said. "I loved the school, it's a beautiful place. It's Division I ball, and I wanted that challenge."

JACKSON WAS a standout tennis player growing up - as a 15-year-old, she won an 18-and-under tournament in Lewiston, among other accomplishments.

But when she reached high school, she was advised to choose between tennis and softball.

"I like tennis, but I love softball," Jackson said.

She's been the starting third baseman since her freshman year - until last week's loser-out, winner-to-state game vs. Lewiston, when she moved to shortstop to replace Dakota Wilson, who moved back to the outfield.

"I was fine with it; I'll do anything to help the team," said Jackson, who said she played middle infield when she was younger.

"Her and I are like twins," said Shippy, who is batting .667 with seven homers and 36 RBIs. "We started playing the violin in fifth grade. We've played softball together, basketball together, tennis together. We both enjoy playing Ping Pong; we're super competitive. Her and I are always in friendly competition; I know that's made me better."

Jackson found Daytona State while searching for schools with good communications programs (she wants to be a broadcaster), and a good softball team. She verballed to the NCAA Division II school in Daytona Beach, Fla., last summer.

Crazy thing, though - also a standout basketball player, she was recruited as a junior to play hoops at BYU-Hawaii, where former Lake City star Richelle Fenenbock played a few years ago. She said she was planning to go to BYU-Hawaii for about three months, until Daytona State said it was interested.

Good thing - last month, BYU-Hawaii cut its athletic programs, citing money reasons.

Jackson, who is batting .420 with four homers and 43 RBIs, has been leaving softball practice lately to go swimming - and not just because she likes the water.

She is training for Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June. Her cousin, Kjell Schioberg, who used to live in Germany, now lives in Coeur d'Alene and has competed at Ironman Cd'A, is coaching her.

"I know how bad she wants to finish it," Shippy said. "We'll go on bus rides to Lewiston and Moscow (for softball games), and every bus ride she wants to sit in the front and study the course (the bike course heads south out of Coeur d'Alene down U.S. 95 for two loops)."

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.