Northwestern softball catcher Olivia Stofflet has a couple of little secrets.

Before each home game she touches the ground behind the plate. She also has a necklace that not everyone knows about. Because players are not allowed to wear jewelry on the field, she keeps the necklace tucked safely inside her uniform, where it is completely legal.

These secrets are more than just a ritual designed to bring luck. They are memories.

This past January, Stofflet’s father passed away. Bill Stofflet died unexpectedly on Jan. 22, leaving a wife and two daughters to mourn. The loss came in the middle of younger daughter Olivia’s senior year of high school, and just before she started training in earnest for her senior season of softball.

The ground behind home plate, and the necklace that Stofflet carries with her, contain some of Bill Stofflet’s ashes. They were put there by Olivia so her dad would always be right with her at her games.

“Knowing he is always here is nice and every time up at bat, I think ‘come on dad, let me get a hit,’” said Stofflet. “If I am not doing too hot in a game, I’ll talk to him.”

Before last Tuesday’s district playoff game against Lehighton, Stofflet touched the ground behind the plate at Northwestern High School for the last time. It was the final home game she and her teammates will have. Any remaining postseason games the Tigers play will be at neutral sites.

Bill is also immortalized on Stofflet’s batting helmet with a sticker that reads ‘forever in my heart’ and has his name, birthday and the date he passed.

Stofflet’s coach, Josh Zimmerman, understands some of what his catcher is going through. His dad passed away when he was younger than Stofflet and he remembers how it affected his life and how sports helped to keep him on the straight and narrow.

“I always remember when I was going through the same situation,” he said “It’s tough, and especially as you keep going through these milestones - your last home game, your last playoff game, playing for a championship - it gets even tougher.

“I think it’s what is important about sports. It teaches you how to deal with adversity. I know if I did not have sports growing up, I could have gone down a very different path. I think it’s a benefit to have that support group that Liv has with her team.”

“For me, it depends on the game,” said Stofflet of playing softball since her dad passed away. “When we are here (playing at home), it’s tough. Even in the (Colonial League) championship game (at Patriots Park) that was a tough one. Other times, it really does help to get my mind off things. I have four more years of softball (at Penn State Harrisburg), so I have to make sure it does help.”

Different memories of her dad pass through Stofflet’s mind every day. When asked about her favorite softball memory, she thinks back to when she was just starting to play and was an infielder, not a catcher. It was one of those times when a dad’s good intentions went wrong, but it created a bond and a special memory.

“At that time, our driveway was gravel, and I needed help on my grounders,” said Stofflet with a smile. “We were on the driveway because of the true hops, and he hit one to me and it came up and hit me in the eye. I wound up with a black eye, but it’s become a favorite memory.”

Bill Stofflet was known throughout the Northwestern Lehigh community and his passing caught many people off guard. For his wife and daughters Felicia and Olivia, it changed their lives. For Olivia, it came at a mile marker point in her life, and has left her without postgame hugs from her dad.

But she still has memories of a black eye, and plenty of other great times. She also has the ground behind home plate and that hidden, treasured necklace for whenever she is having a tough time in a game, or in life.