The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? "Every out mattered. The games weren't 9-3. They were 3-2, and every runner that advanced past first base meant something huge. Every at-bat, every pitch, mattered. I remember those intense moments." She never earned a Big Ten cham- pionship ring, making her deeply ap- preciative of a vast jewelry collection ever since. "Maybe knowing we did not win one as a player, I definitely don't ever take them for granted," Tholl said. "They're to be cherished. Ask some of my teammates here, that age or older, that did not win a champion- ship. We were always so close. They understand how cherished that Big Ten title is." After graduating, Tholl moved on to a graduate assistant coaching position at Indiana University. She spent two seasons in what she described as a completely different culture. It didn't take long to get back to Alumni Field. "In the back of my mind, I always thought I'd like to be back at Michi- gan," she acknowledged. "Especially when you're a new graduate and you just spent the four best years of your life someplace, you want to go back. It was all still pretty fresh to me." She's been part of a dominant pro- gram ever since. She recalled congrat- ulating Hutchins on her 100th career win, during Tholl's freshman season as a player. Hutchins' Hall of Fame career now features more than 1,400 victories, more than any coach in any sport in the history of Michigan athletics. Most of those wins occurred with Tholl giv- ing instructions from the first base coaching box. It's so much more than softball, though, Tholl cautioned. She's been shaped by three major influences — her Catholic faith, growing up in a large family ("and realizing the world is not all about you"), and the Univer- sity of Michigan. Like many coaches attest, relation- ships last. "Each class holds a special mem- ory," Tholl noted. "Sometimes my friends joke with me and say I'm Rain Man — I can remember certain details of certain games. Even though I can re- member those details … the thing that touches you the most are the memo- ries you created through the journey off the field, the funny things, how you developed your relationships with the student-athletes. "They call you as they're getting ready to go to the hospital to have their first child. Or you're at their wed- dings. Those are the memories that are so much fun. When they come back, you have the best time. "They'll talk a lot about their memo- ries at tournaments, but not necessar- ily about the pitches thrown or the runs scored. They'll talk about the funny things that built our relation- ships — whether we were mad at them, or they made us laugh by doing this, they played a trick on us. It's re- membering how much we smiled and laughed with each other." Most Michigan athletes remember the good old days. Tholl just keeps making good new ones. ❏