Lisa (Hillman) Taylor wasn’t about to let a headache keep her off the softball field.
But keeping her aliment from Fenton coach Dave Lazar wasn’t going to be easy. Not with her sister, Nikki Hillman,
urging her to let Lazar in on her secret.
The Hillman sisters formed one of the top batteries in the state during the spring of 1993, with Lisa on the mound and Nikki behind the plate.
During a weekend tournament game in Canton, they couldn’t agree on whether Lisa should stay in the contest.
Lazar, sensing something was wrong, had both girls take a break on the bench.
“He was like ‘If you’re going to fight, you’re going to sit down,'” Taylor said. “He knew how to handle his players. It was
exactly what we needed.”
When the Hillmans returned to the diamond, Fenton not only went on to win the tournament, but the Tigers ended up posting a school-record 43-2 mark and reached the Class B state finals.
Lazar’s understanding, of not only the strategy, but the psychology of the game, enabled him to develop one of the top softball programs in the state.
He posted a Flint-area record 725-262 (.735) overall mark and won three state championships during his 28 seasons at Fenton, a resume that has earned him enshrinement into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame.
“Nothing is guaranteed as far as winning goes,” Lazar said. “There are a lot of factors that go into it. I always seemed to have good kids who dedicated their time.”
Lazar took over Fenton’s program in 1976 and it didn’t take long for a legend to be born. Two years later, the Tigers won their first of three straight Class B state championships.
Fenton posted an 81-11 (.880) overall record – 39-1 in the Metro League – from 1978-80. Since the state tournaments began in 1975, the Tigers are one of only four programs – two public school teams – to snare three or more consecutive titles.
Kalamazoo Christian captured a state-record five straight
championships from 1996-2000, Harper Woods Regina won four in a row from 2004-07 and Portage Northern won three
consecutive crowns from 2000-02.
