With heavy heart, Jeannette softball's Grace Stein follows in her sister's footsteps
JEANNETTE, Pa. (KDKA) — Out in Jeannette, the Stein family is all in when it comes to softball.
Dad "Tubby" is the head coach, his wife Dody is his assistant coach and their daughter Grace is the star player. Unfortunately, there's one member of the family who's no longer involved. This year, the Steins are honoring her the best way they know how.
As a senior at Jeannette High School, Scarlett Stein was a dominating force.
"She was just all power," Tubby said. "She had power pitching, power hitting. She was just strong."
In December 2016, just days after committing to play softball at Penn State New Kensington, Scarlett started to feel ill while making herself something to eat.
"She was in the kitchen and I heard a big thud," Tubby said. "I went in there and she was just motionless on the floor."
"She got sick at our house, then she went to Children's Hospital for two weeks," Dody said. "Honestly, we were ready to pick her up the next day."
"We went home Sunday night after having dinner with her that day at the hospital and they said we could come down Monday to pick her up," Tubby said. "We got a call Sunday night saying that she went into cardiac arrest."
"I came home from school and my mom told me (Scarlett died) and I didn't really believe her at first," Grace said. "But then it became very real."
The reality of Scarlett's death hit the Stein family hard. They were devastated by losing their oldest daughter, but they knew had to remain strong for Grace, their youngest. They decided to honor Scarlett by doing what they knew best: coaching and playing softball.
"It's been our release point," Dody said. "It's been something that we can give back to the community by helping these girls and by helping her."
"It takes your mind off it a lot of times because you're in the mojo of the game," Tubby said. "To see them having a good time doing what her sister wanted to do in college, it makes me proud. She wanted to follow in her footsteps."
And Grace is literally following in her sister's footsteps by taking the mound at Jeannette as a first-year varsity player.
"I started doing pitching because of my sister," Grace said. "But then I started to love it and then I kept doing it for her."
"Honestly, I think she pitches with her heart and that's why she does so well. " Dody said. "She pitches for Number 11."
That No. 11 means a lot to the Jeannette community. Scarlett's jersey hangs in the dugout for every game and Grace proudly wears 11 to honor her older sister.
"I took it on her for her and I'll wear this number for her forever," Grace said.
"We always say 11 strong or 11 forever. That's just our number," Dody said. "Honestly, it seems like that's how most communities around here remember Scarlett."