Hammack shining with Sliders

SANDPOINT - Sandpoint softball standout Rachel Hammack is beginning to attract a lot of attention.

Hammack, a junior at SHS in the fall, has been making trips to Spokane three or four times a week to practice with the U16 Spokane Sliders.

She is the captain of the team and plays a “very solid” third base, according to coach Chris Stangel.

Stangel was holding a private practice with Hammack early Wednesday morning at Memorial Field. The only noise at practice was the crack of the bat, encouraging words from Stangel and osprey flying overhead.

“She drives to Spokane all the time, I felt like I had better drive to Sandpoint at least once,” Stangel said.

Stangel said the drive is worth it.

“Rachel is a unique person and a quality athlete,” he said. “She is sacrificing a lot of time with no guarantees of a payback.”

Hammack is the daughter of Jack and PJ Hammack and has loved softball her whole life.

Stangel has coached Hammack this season and will coach her in the fall when she moves up to the U18 gold team.

“That will take a whole new level of dedication,” he said. “She has all of that. There are no worries there.”

Stangel also knows his way around the diamond.

He played college ball at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, Calif., where he was named to the all-West Coast Conference team in 1983 and 1984. He signed with the San Francisco Giants and spent four years in their minor league organization.

Hammack hopes softball will help take her to either Oregon or Oregon State for college.

She recently returned from the Firecracker tournament in Colorado Springs, Colo. and she will be off to the Western Nationals in August.

“She loves the game and has the mental and physical toughness to go as far as she wants,” Stangel said. “That's something we can't coach into her.”