Lisa Downey will be present at every L’Anse Creuse home softball game from this day forward.

On the one year anniversary of her passing, the school officially dubbed their softball field the Lisa Downey Legacy Field, forever enshrining the late coach’s name with the program she loved so dearly.

Of course, the spirit of the late head coach, who died on April 10, 2024 after a battle with a fast-spreading cancer, truly never left in the heart or spirit of the Lancer community.

“I think it means that we have a whole generation of family and just her legacy of being poised, confident and intense,” said junior Lancer Kaylene Wirick, who played for Downey as a freshman. “It’s really important to show that on the field. And now that we’re dedicating the field to her, we just really need to show that extra on the field.

“I feel like it’s really important that the generations that are coming onto this field learn who she is, and so that everyone can know, like how she played, and how we want our example to be on that field. New generations getting to know all about her.”

The ceremony, which was planned to take place at the field itself ahead of the Lancers’ game against Grosse Pointe South on Thursday, was moved indoors to the L’Anse Creuse gym due to freezing temperatures and the game’s cancellation.

Current L’Anse Creuse head softball coach Mike Werth never knew Downey but has made sure to make sure her special culture and gigantic spirit are still as synonymous with the Lancers as it was when she was still alive.

“She was like a mother figure, and not just a coach,” he said. “We did a lot of things this year as a team to honor Lisa, and one of them was different sayings that the girls — we painted an LD and we hung it up inside the dugout. They all put maybe a famous saying that Lisa would always give. Just reading that, it’s hard. But what I got out of that, she was a mother. She was a mother to all these kids. Inspiring.”

Among the Downey-isms that are now forever drilled to the roof of the LC dugout are “Stop being nervous”, “I have a torn rotator cuff and I still throw better than you” and the coach’s signature “Go, go, get ‘em, get ‘em, go get ‘em blue!” and “Poise. Confidence. Intensity.” sayings, which are also printed on T-shirts that have become a staple in the community.

Downey won over 400 games and eight Macomb Area Conference softball titles and over 200 basketball wins between Chippewa Valley and L’Anse Creuse.

She was inducted into the Macomb County Coaches Hall of Fame in 2021.

“I have still been using just confidence,” said L’Anse Creuse senior Alyssa Strohl. “She would beat on me all the time, about being more confident and getting my head out of, you know, just being a goldfish, and letting go of my thoughts. And staying focused, and I still think about the ‘be a goldfish.’

“Not only was she a coach, she was easily one of my best friends. Like going to her house, having sleepovers, having, like, basically, family dinners. And that was the thing that I remember most, like, yeah, there was fun times, like fun games and stuff, but she was a great mentor and a great friend on top of being a great coach.”

L’Anse Creuse struggled in their first season post-Downey, going 5-20-1. Werth has already noticed growth from this year’s Lancers, saying that, despite an 0-3 start, they’re on their way to contention.

“They went through a lot, but we’ve worked hard in the off season, and the pieces of the puzzle are starting to come together,” Werth said. “We played defensively great right out of the gate. Bats were slow, but the bats, they’re picking up every game, so once we piece everything together, I think we’re going to be right there with everyone.”