Kotchman's Mother's Day will be sweet

MOUNT PLEASANT — Christal Kotchman came off the College of Charleston's Patriots Point softball field Saturday smelling the Senior Weekend flowers in the dugout. The Cougars' senior shortstop hugged her mother and father and made post-game dinner plans following a doubleheader split with Chattanooga on a nice afternoon sunnier for some players than others.

"It was very exciting. It's always good to have the family here to watch me play," said Kotchman, 22.

Only one thing can top the joy of Senior Weekend and that's an extra-special Mother's Day weekend on deck.

The Kotchman family pulled together during a rough fall and now it's time to celebrate and count blessings. Sue Kotchman, 55, suffered brain hemorrhaging at home in Seminole, Fla., on Aug. 19. Uncertain about her mother's recovery status in an intensive care hospital room, Christal Kotchman decided to leave the College of Charleston and return home for the fall semester.

Casey Kotchman, Christal's older brother and the starting first baseman for the Atlanta Braves, left the club for two weeks and was placed on the major league bereavement list.

Tom Kotchman, a veteran minor league manager, rushed home from running the Orem (Utah) Owlz of the Pioneer League.

"The word I used was 'numbing' when it happened," Tom Kotchman said. "Casey was the first one home because the Braves helped him get a chartered jet. Christal got home and then I had to fly home from Missoula, Mont., to Denver and then Denver to Tampa. From Denver, I had to call Casey and see if Sue was alive. That wasn't a good call.

"She had never even been sick before. And then all the sudden her head blows up? It really showed us all how fragile life is, and we got a first-hand lesson in the power of prayer."

Sibling success

Sue Kotchman is doing much better now. She looks marvelous.

"The hemorrhage healed by itself," she said. "They call me the 'miracle mom.' And I am here. The only thing I suffer from is fatigue, but I don't have any neurological problems and there are so many other things that could have gone wrong."

Mrs. Kotchman moved temporarily to Charleston in January, rooming with Christal in a condo to soak in her daughter's senior year and final softball season.

"It's just been a blessing," Christal Kotchman said. "Every day is a gift. Our family really knows that now. It was rough. But we really stuck through it together as a family and did a lot of praying. It was the Lord."

Both ballplaying Kotchmans are having stellar seasons.

Christal, who stayed sharp last fall with daily gym and softball workouts with her father and brother, is batting .267 with one home run and 14 RBIs for the College of Charleston. She has started all of the Cougars' 46 regular season games. Charleston, 22-24, completes its regular season today with an afternoon home game against Chattanooga and plays in the Southern Conference Tournament next week at Chattanooga.

Casey Kotchman is batting .288. The 6-3, 215-pound former Angel acquired last season in the Mark Teixeira trade had only four runs batted in and no homers through Friday, but leads the Braves in doubles (9) and among Atlanta players, Kotchman is second in hits (23) behind Jeff Francoeur (25).

After softball

A two-week break with no injury during the regular season is big league eternity. But the ordeal brought 26-year-old Casey Kotchman closer to his new team and teammates.

"I'm happy to be back here with this group of guys and this organization," he told reporters upon his bereavement list return in September. "That's one thing my mom wanted to say: 'Thank you to Bobby Cox and (general manager) Frank Wren and the players and everybody.' She said she was going to thank them, but for now I'm doing the thanking for her."

Values are part of the Kotchman makeup. Christal says she is "very close" with her only sibling and, like Casey, is impeccably polite.

"Mom did a good job with her," Tom Kotchman said with a grin.

Christal Kotchman, a business marketing major, hopes to use her degree to work in sports advertising, or perhaps as a player agent.

Her dad finds it hard to stop smiling on a Senior Weekend that was no sure thing last fall.

"There's certain things you just don't miss," Tom Kotchman said. "This was one of those things."

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com or 937-5593.