Triumph Over Oklahoma Tornado

Michael, Sarah and Lisa Gross.
Sometimes the excitement of winning season can feel like a tornado. For one local softball team their winning season put them in the middle of a real tornado.

Sarah Gross, 13, is a member of the Mystic 2000 girls softball team and daughter of County employees Michael and Lisa Gross.

Michael, who has worked for the County for nearly 29 years, is a budget manager for Child Support Services, and Lisa is an administrative analyst III with County Counsel.

The Mystic 2000 team ended their softball season with a win in the silver division of the Triple Crown World Series and by the way, they also survived an F5 category tornado in Oklahoma  last May.

On Tuesday, Chairman Greg Cox said the Board of Supervisors invited Sarah to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the Board meeting because of the team’s big win.

He also noted the girls had raised more than $2,000 for the family of a 9-year-old girl softball player killed in the first Moore, Oklahoma tornado May 20. The Mystic 2000 team went to Oklahoma on May 29 for a softball game and to give their donation to the family.

Then a second tornado struck that day.  The team had gone to a Women’s World Series softball game but was sent back to their hotel to take shelter from the approaching tornado, said father Michael Gross. There was no basement, but the hotel had an emergency plan for guests.

“We were all in the hotel bathroom. Our whole team almost in two stalls,” said Sarah. “We were holding onto each other for support.” She added the tornado experience helped the girls on the team bond even more.

Michael said, “They were scared. I mean obviously scared … there was some crying.”

He recalled that waiting for the tornado was the worst part and it seemed to take a very long time for the storm to pass. He was trying to watch news reports until the power went out. Eventually Michael went outside and shot video of the tornado headed straight for them.

In the end the tornado, which was 2.5 miles wide, spun up and never touched down near them. They were all safe. As it passed overhead, the sky darkened as if it were night and hail the size of golf balls rained down. The winds reportedly blew about 60-70 mph.

Who would imagine that Oklahoma would have two F5 tornados in less than two weeks, Michael asked. He joked that he’d never return to the Midwest.

If his story sounds familiar, you may have heard his voice on the local news stations. During the tornado and immediately after, Michael said he got calls from local news stations and he let them know what was going on with the girls.

Michael said afterward he and some of the girls went to Moore to see the damage for themselves and it looked almost like a lunar landscape.

“It was just numbing. It’s like nothing ever existed,” he said.

He said they also spoke with some people who were trying to find their belongings among all the debris.

“My daughter will never forget seeing that. It’s not just about softball … there’s a bigger picture out there. It’s all about human spirit. They weren’t giving up, they were going to rebuild,” Michael said.

Sarah added, “It really gave me a new perspective with how people deal with natural disasters.”

And despite that big scare, the Mystic 2000 team did go on to win two games in Oklahoma. They also handed off the money they collected for the family of the girl killed by the first tornado and her family was very grateful.

The Mystic 2000 team went on to win five of six major series, Michael said.

“These girls have been training for a long time. I mean, they’re a strong bunch of girls,” he said.