Scott Lunger was the "good cop" on the Freedom High School varsity softball coaching staff. Players loved the good-natured humor that the infield coach often used to teach and motivate them. But Lunger was also a cop in real life, a 15-year sergeant for the Hayward Police Department. And on July 22, 2016, he was shot and killed during a traffic stop at 3:15 in the morning. A little more than one week later, the Freedom school year began. Six months later, as many as a dozen girls showed up to softball tryouts still very much in mourning. Three months after that, they'd be placing a game ball from their North Coast Section Division I championship victory next to Lunger's headstone.
To mark the fifth anniversary of that inspiring season, we gathered two players and two coaches from that team to share memories. Head coach Brook Russo, assistant coach Scott Adams, pitcher Vanessa Strong and catcher Faith Derby each detailed what went into a season that was dedicated to a fallen friend and hero — and became known as the "Business Trip."
