Stangel part of a winning team - again

Anybody who watched Casey Stangel grow up in Coeur d’Alene, become a softball star at Lake City High and later play in the College World Series would not be surprised to hear that one day she would be a national champion.

The only difference when it actually happened was, she did it as part of a baseball team — the Vanderbilt Commodores — with her role being a job titled “administrative assistant.”

“I’m just so happy for the guys,” Stangel said Friday, just two days after Vanderbilt defeated Michigan in Omaha, Neb., in the third and deciding game of the College World Series finals. “It’s such an unbelievable experience, seeing it from this lens and not as a player. Just watching what they accomplished over the year, and how hard they worked, it was just like the most fulfilling feeling, but just in a different way — almost like a proud parent.”

STANGEL, 24, has been at Vanderbilt since fall 2017, first as a graduate assistant, then being hired in her current role, which entails a little bit of everything, mostly behind the scenes — admissions, scouting, running summer camps, etc.

During the games, though, she’s in the dugout, keeping a detailed chart of each pitch for use by head coach Tim Corbin later. So Stangel was there for the final out, and on the field for the post-game celebration.

Though, as someone who was in the middle of the spotlight as a pitcher as well as a hitter during her playing days, Stangel admitted it’s a little different watching from the sidelines while others do it.

“It’s horrible; I hate it,” Stangel said via phone from Nashville, where she’s preparing for her summer duties as part of the Commodores’ staff, as well as continuing to work toward her master’s in leadership and organizational performance. “I am a million times more stressed watching them, and knowing that I have nothing to do with what’s going to happen, and there’s nothing I can do but sit and watch. It’s horrible. Playing, I would never get nervous like that, but watching makes me sick to my stomach. It’s miserable to sit and watch and have nothing to do with it. But I’m getting used to it.”

STANGEL LED Lake City to a pair of state softball titles, graduating in 2013. She played one year at Missouri, and played her final three seasons at the University of Washington, helping the Huskies to the College World Series in 2017.

The day after U-Dub was eliminated in Oklahoma City, Stangel flew home to Seattle with her teammates. The following morning, she and her mom, Debi, flew to New York City, and Casey began work as a summer intern in the commissioner’s office at Major League Baseball headquarters in the Big Apple.

One of Casey’s duties as an intern was chronicaling pace-of-play violations — which included batters unneccesarily stepping out of the batter’s box.

“Which wasn’t really my thing,” Stangel said. “I hate staying in the box as a hitter, so having to fine people for getting out of the box felt like the worst job you could ever give me. That was so miserable; I felt so bad for them because I understood it.”

According to the rules, a batter can only step out of the box at certain times — like after a foul ball, or trying to avoid getting hit by a pitch, or if a pitch is in the dirt and blocked or gets past the catcher, and you need to step out of the box. Otherwise, the batter must keep one foot in the box at all times.

Every morning, Stangel (and others) would look through clips of each at-bat from each player from each game the day before, “flagging” each situation where someone stepped out of the box when by rule they weren’t supposed to.

Each “flag” constitutes a warning, and if a player accrues a set amount of warnings during a series, they can be fined. With each new series, the “clock” starts over.

Stangel would have to call the clubhouse and inform the team of any forthcoming fines, then follow up with written correspondence to the club.

“I forget what team it was, but I had to call and tell them about a uniform violation — somebody had written on their hat. And the clubhouse guy was so upset at me ... ‘I’m not going to tell them that.’ It was a big-time player.

“‘I understand, but we’re still going to have to fine you if you don’t tell them that that’s against the rules,’” she told them.

Stangel said when she watches major league games now, she finds herself watching to see if batters step out of the box when they’re not supposed to.

“There was another guy, it (the potential rules violation) was about his glove,” Stangel recalled. “His comment was, ‘You wouldn’t understand, you’ve never been a player.’ Actually I would understand — ‘You need to follow the rules.’ But I kinda agreed with the player and not the rules that I was following. I just figured I should keep my mouth shut.”

ONCE HER internship with MLB was over, Stangel flew back to Seattle, drove with her mom to Nashville, and Casey has been in the Music City ever since.

As a grad assistant, Stangel spent a lot of time on the field during practice — even playing first base during batting practice, or feeding balls into machines in the batting cages.

Now, it’s more of an office/administrative role.

So what’s next?

Stangel said she’s about a year away from completing her master’s. She said she’s “totally fallen in love with college baseball,” based on her experiences at Vanderbilt. Perhaps she’d like to be a director of operations for a college baseball team.

But that’s down the road.

She recently became engaged to Jordan Getzelman, whom she met during her one year at Missouri, where he was playing baseball. Getzelman is now an assistant baseball coach at Dallas Baptist University.

What’s the most fun part of her job?

“I know it’s silly, but I just love watching them train at practice,” Stangel said. “That’s my favorite thing. I love just watching how the team comes in in the fall, and how they evolve as a group on the field ... if you came and watched a Vanderbilt baseball practice it would be unlike any other practice you’ve ever seen. We don’t call it practice, we call it training. Watching a Vanderbilt training session is like watching a well-rehearsed play. It’s just one of the coolest things you could watch.”

Spoken like a true student of the game.

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