Cancer diagnosis adds extra meaning to Strike Out Cancer game for Jags head coach Belinda Pitman

One of the most important events of the prep sports calendar has arrived.

Hosted by Tate High School, the Strike Out Cancer annual softball game between the Aggies and West Florida Tech is set for its 13th renewal.

Preceded by a junior varsity contest, first pitch for the varsity tilt is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.

“This game is extremely important for me because a lot of my family members are women (who) have gone through breast cancer and ovarian cancer,” Jaguars captain Madelynn Laubach said. “This game is a lot more to me than softball or West Florida versus Tate, and I feel like that’s how it is for a lot of the girls out here. It’s a lot more than just the names on our shirts and a softball game.”

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With 20 sponsors providing monetary donations, additional local businesses donating various items and families contributing gift baskets to be raffled off, the hope is to continue the event’s upward trend.

Last year’s event brought in a whopping $31,000, bringing the event’s overall total to more than $160,000 raised for cancer awareness.

“We’ve been blessed,” Tate head coach Melinda Wyatt said. “We have a great community, great booster club, school support, obviously player support and the support from West Florida Tech. I don’t know how many years they’ve been supporting this event, but they seem to be the ones who bring the most money, so I’m going to stay with them.”

Leading up to this year’s edition, cancer has hit close to home.

This past fall, West Florida head coach Belinda Pitman was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her battle remains an ongoing one, but with loads of people behind her, the event takes on added significance.

“It’s not good news, but it’s good news that we can still support opportunities for individuals like her to receive funding,” Wyatt said. “I don’t know if she has problems with transportation, but I know doctor’s bills are out of this world. So if it’s helping with medication, emotional support, whatever we can give her, we are 100 percent behind Belinda.”

'Slow and steady wins the race'

Within a two-week period in 2019, the dreaded disease impacted Pitman when both her mother and sister were each diagnosed with breast cancer, bouts which they both have since beaten.

However, if it wasn’t for that trying time, Pitman admits she wouldn’t have taken the steps to get a mammogram or have yearly screenings. She was also pushed to undergo BRCA genetic testing, a blood test that’s done to determine if there’s any mutations in DNA that could increase the risk of breast cancer. From there, the head coach learned she was BRCA positive.

“It made me understand and do a lot of research, especially when I did the genetic testing,” she said. “But it allowed me to realize that just because I was diagnosed with a cancer one week did not mean my fight was over the next week. I called it pumping the breaks, where I really made informed decisions on my care and what I was willing to sacrifice and what I wasn’t willing to sacrifice all while keeping in my mind I had a large fight ahead of me for my life.”

Cancer was detected in Pitman's lymph nodes Oct. 12. The following week, she had a breast biopsy to learn that the breast was positive as well. Meeting with a pair of oncologists, Pitman had a chemo port inserted to draw blood and give treatments.

That all was within the span of a month.

From there, she began AC (Adriamycin Cyclophosphamide) chemotherapy, with the combination of drugs also known as the “The Red Devil” due to its side effects.

Leading one of the area’s best softball programs as well as serving as the Jaguars freshman volleyball head coach, Pitman immediately understood that she had to take a step back during the offseason.

“It was more so slow and steady wins the race,” she said. “I had to realize and recognize that you can only do what you can do and you got to make sure you are listening to your body, for sure.”

Roll with the punches

Her softball players weren’t alerted of her condition until a parent-team meeting just before the Thanksgiving break. That is when she pulled her players aside to reveal the news.

“That was a really hard part for me,” she recalled. “I took them from the parent meeting and into a classroom. I talked to them a lot about being vulnerable and talking through things, and if they needed things, I’m here. For me, it was me being vulnerable with them and letting them know what my journey ahead was going to be like. The response from them was heartbreaking, but I knew it was going to affect them because I’m with them all the time.”

Needless to say, not a single player was ready for the news, but before a single pitch was hurled, the group of players became one.

“We definitely were all shocked. We were not expecting that at all,” West Florida co-captain Sydney Scapin said. “But we definitely became closer as a group. It definitely built us to be more of a family instead of a bunch of individuals on a softball team at that moment.

“She told us the whole situation, but she assured us that she’d be OK and that she was going to finish off the season as our head coach.”

Laubach added: “It was something I never imagined or could’ve prepared myself to hear from my coach because she has impacted us in so many ways and she’s someone who we all look up to. …. We’re playing softball this season not only for us, but this is for Coach B and we’re doing it all for her. We just want her to be proud.

Pitman admits discussing her diagnosis has only gotten easier to talk about over time. She’s been willing to be open as an effort to encourage others to get screenings.

But as much as anything else, she wants to serve as an example of strength, resilience and mental toughness to her players.

'Heck yeah'

Victorious in their last game - a 2-1 road win at Jay - West Florida enters Friday’s matchup with a 9-5 record.

And through every single game, Pitman has been there the entire time, having not missed a game. The head coach says she’s made it a point to keep things as normal as possible.

“I really feel like she’s been doing an amazing job just being there and showing up for us,” Scapin said.

Pitman’s daily presence is a byproduct of the support she’s received from her family as well as her West Florida family, from the administration and her assistant coaches to the softball and volleyball players.

“I just couldn’t ask to be surrounded by better people. That goes a long way,” she said. “I think that helps me keep my mind strong and able to push through for sure.”

As for Friday’s game, is there any added incentive to actually win?

“Heck yeah,” Pitman said with a laugh. “I think that this game is something extremely special for us this year. I think that the kids get that and that’s why they’re wanting to fight and push even harder for this game more than any of the others. Not that we don’t push to win every game, but I think if we can win this one, it would be super special.”

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for the Pensacola News Journal. He can be reached at (850) 503-3828, on Twitter @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Jags softball coach Belinda Pitman fights cancer heading into game