How Philipsburg-Osceola softball’s Steve Frank plans to build his own legacy as coach

Steve Frank had to know what he was getting into when he took the Phlipsburg-Osceola softball coaching job two years ago.

After all, he was following legendary coach Jim Gonder, who led the Lady Mounties to three PIAA championships and over 600 victories in 36 years.

And Frank was around for a lot of those victories as an assistant coach, watching as a succession of outstanding players like the late Taylor Harpster, Kiley Hazelton, Kelly Kephart, Chelsea Rex, Sue Lamb and Brittany Murphy helped build the program into a powerhouse that was respected statewide.

So he knew what it took to guide a program at that level.

But when he was chosen to be the one to fill out the lineup card two years ago, Steve Shedlock, another Lady Mountie assistant, had a question for him: “Do you know what you’re getting into?”

It was a good question. After all, one of the most widely held axioms in sports is that you never want to be the coach who follows a legend, you want to be the one who follows the one who followed the legend.

Still, Frank knew what he wanted and was willing to take the job and the bullseye that came with it. And no one would argue that Gonder did not hold legendary status.

Yet as he sat in the P-O dugout Thursday after the Lady Mounties had dispatched Huntingdon, 16-6, Frank wondered, “How did Mr. Gonder do it all those years?”

There are a number of answers to that question: great talent, great assistant coaches and the evolution of the game from only a cut or two above sandlot level to the highly competitive and sophisticated game it is today.

Now it’s up to Frank to keep the program in the upper echelon of Mountain League and District 6 teams.

“The timing was right,” he said when asked why he wanted the position. “But it’s a heck of a commitment, a crazy commitment. The only time I’m not doing something for softball is when I’m sleeping.”

Because COVID-19 wiped out last season, Frank’s move into the driver’s seat was somewhat softened. There were fewer comparisons to Gonder since there were no games.

“I heard more of that last year,” he said. “I finally told everyone, ‘He built a heck of a program here but we’re not going to mention his name around here now.’ “

Some may think that’s a sacrilege, but the reality of a Mountain League schedule leaves no time for retrospection. After Thursday’s win, P-O was 2-1 with a loss to Clearfield and rivalry battles with Bald Eagle Area, Bellefonte and Penns Valley looming. It’s a minefield and Frank knows it.

“I know we’re going to struggle against some of the better teams,’’ he said. “We’re young — we only have four starters back. But we’re a good hitting team and I think we can hang with the better teams.”

He can only look back and wonder what last year’s team, which was loaded with veterans, might have been able to do.

“With the team we had there’s no doubt in my mind we would have a run in the playoffs with the girls we had,’’ he added. “We had two pitchers who could throw in the low 60s and we had ridiculous depth in the infield and outfield.’’

Fate robbed them of the chance to prove themselves and Frank of the chance to begin his career with a loaded lineup. Now he’s had to mold his current team around the few veterans returning. It hasn’t been an easy transition.

“I think there are only four or five girls who played under him (Gonder), who can compare what he did with the way we coach,” Frank said. “We’ve had to try to get the girls to buy in to how we coach, the hard work, the discipline. We have a couple who work hard but the others are coming along. Little by little, they’re buying in.”

And that’s how you follow a legend, little by little, one game at a time.

This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 4:55 PM.