It’s always nice for parents to experience seeing one of their children having success in high school athletics. It’s even better for a family to see two of its members have immense success in the field of athletics.

That is the case with siblings Mark and Julia Konieczny of Oak Harbor.

Both are two-sport athletes, with Julia being a standout in softball and a district-qualifier in tennis. Mark, her younger brother, was the football team’s backup running back this season and, as the baseball team’s second baseman and one of its relief pitchers, was instrumental in the team’s incredible run to the Division II Regional Finals this season.

Mark and Julia Konieczny of Oak Harbor

Julia, a four-year letterwinner who played shortstop the past three seasons after serving as the team’s third baseman during her freshman year, leaves Oak Harbor as one of the school’s greatest softball players, having earned first-team status in the Sandusky Bay Conference in both 2009 and ’10, and second-team status in ’08 and ’11.

Konieczny, who saw some time as catcher during her first two years, had the most success in her two middle years, hitting .440 and .370 in her junior and sophomore seasons, respectively. This past season, she finished with a .407 batting average.

Her best individual season came in 2010 when she attained first-team status in both the conference and the district and was named Honorable Mention at the state level.

In 2009, Konieczny was part of an Oak Harbor team that went 17-4 and advanced to the district semifinals.

Konieczny’s success in softball stems from the hard work she invested in the sport, having participated in summer softball programs the past few years with some of the best players in the state, competing in tournaments that took the team throughout the state as well as parts of the Midwest.

She had success playing tennis as well, earning second-team SBC status and qualifying for disticts in singles this past season.

As for Mark, he recently finished helping the Rocket baseball team come to within one game of qualifying for the state tournament.

In the postseason, Konieczny was magnificent. The team’s leadoff hitter, he had five hits, including a two-run home run, drew seven walks and scored eight runs, and as a pitcher, went 3-0 and recorded a save with his most impressive pitching performance coming against Mansfield Madison in the district semifinal when he allowed just one unearned run on three hits in 6.1 innings of work.

For the season, Konieczny, who was named to the SBC’s Second Team, hit .427 with an on-base percentage of .582, the highest on the team. He also led the team in runs (36), walks (24) and stolen bases (20) and was second in hits (35) and third in runs batted in (26).

His baseball coach, Rob Schimmoeller, had this to say about Konieczny’s pitching, which was vital to the team’s postseason success.

“The amount of movement on his pitches that this (his submarine-throwing) motion has created made it very difficult for opponents to hit him,” said Schimmoeller.

Konieczny was also the football team’s primary kick-returner and served as the backup running back, making him the likely candidate to replace First Team All-SBC performer Jake Scott, who recently graduated.

The Rocket football team, which will have to replace a multitude of seniors who helped contribute to a successful 7-3 campaign last season, recently found out some good news when the OHSAA decided that Oak Harbor will be moving from Division III to Division IV for the upcoming season.

The reason for the duos athletic success can be traced back to the fact that, unlike many kids of the current generation, the Koniecznys were not consumed by television and video games but instead engaged in sporting activities amongst friends.

“We didn’t have cable, we didn’t play video games -- so we didn’t have anything to do during the summer,” said Mark with a laugh.

Julia, who recently graduated near the top of her class, is set to attend The Ohio State University in the fall where she plans on majoring in political science.

Mark, who just finished his sophomore year at Oak Harbor High School, where he maintains a 4.0 GPA, will spend his summer playing legion baseball and preparing for the upcoming football season.

With two years of school left for Konieczny, the best may be yet to come.

“With Mark only being a sophomore,” said Schimmoeller. “I am looking for even greater things out of him the next two years.”

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