Republic all-state third baseman Ally Stolte won’t have to put down her glove just yet. Stolte has signed a letter of intent to play college softball at the University of Arkansas-Monticello next fall. She heads to Arkansas after three years as a starter for the Lady Tigers, playing for head coach Lee Dishman and her father, assistant coach Allen Stolte.
“Most parents get to coach their kids in Little League and then growing up, and then get to high school, and … they don’t get to be a coach anymore,” says Allen Stolte. “I got to experience going through and being her coach. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world because when I’m finally done doing this — district championships, hopefully someday a final four — all that stuff is going to be second to getting to coach her.”
Ally says it wasn’t always easy playing with her father on the coaching staff, but it was worth the effort.
“It was awesome; everything I could have dreamed of,” she says. “Yes, sometimes we butt heads, we fight, we kick bicker, because as a daughter you don’t ever want to admit that your dad is right–but he is always right. And I couldn’t have done half the stuff I have without him.”
Dishman says Ally’s leadership on the team grew out of her experience as a coach’s daughter.
“She knows the game, and has been around it her whole life. There’s things you don’t have to say to Ally that she already knows to relay to other players,” Dishman says. “She’s a great kid and a good student. You don’t ever have to worry about her in the classroom. And you know night in, night out she was ready to go.”
The Arkansas-Monticello Cotton Blossoms compete in the Great American Conference. Stolte says she can’t wait to get there.
“It’s like another home to me. I went down there and it just felt right,” she says. “It was not huge–not a lot bigger than my high school. The softball program is amazing. I love it and I can’t wait to spend four more years down there.”
But as she leaves Republic, Stolte says she’ll take much of her experience with her to college.
“It’s a huge blessing being able to play for a program that’s so big and so successful and so strongly looked upon. I can’t put into words how thankful I am for these last four years,” she says.