The ISC is saddened by the recent passing of 2013 ISC Hall of Fame inductee Steve Schott.

Steve was a five-time ISC All-World selection during the 1990s. He followed his father, AJ Schott, into the game of fastpitch softball. Originally a baseball player, Steve started playing fastpitch at age 15 with Farrell Mobile Homes, a team managed by his father in the Kelso, MO area.

In the late 1980s, he was asked to play at the elite level and that began a 20-year career that included stints with Decatur Pride, Sioux City NHCD, Green Bay All-Car Roadrunners, Tampa Smokers and Broken Bow Travelers - some of the biggest teams in the game.

He was a six-time ISC World Champion and spent three years with Team USA.

Schott, a former standout baseball player at Notre Dame Regional High School where he was the MVP on the 1983 state championship team, told the SEMissourian at the time of his Hall of Fame induction that he was humbled by all the recognition and looking forward to being honored.

“I’m just glad those guys really thought about me. It’s where it all started. I played many games on that field,” said Schott, talking about the Kelso ballpark where he threw out the first pitch prior to the 2013 Kelso Classic - in honor of his then pending Hall of Fame induction. “That’s [the ISC Hall of Fame] a tough one to get into. That’s with players all over the U.S, Canada, New Zealand. … that’s a big honor. It was a long road getting there.”

Schott said he became hooked on fastpitch softball at an early age. Not only was Kelso a hotbed for the sport but his father, A.J., was also heavily involved.

“Back when dad played around here, every town had a team. Softball was a big, big deal around here back in those days. I’m sure that’s what got me into it,” Schott said. “Pretty well everybody in my family. … my mom played, my sister, my brother played. We grew up with it from day one.”

Schott, primarily an outfielder, was also a 10-time All-American and was inducted into the Missouri ASA Hall of Fame in 2010.

“It was a great ride,” he said back in 2013 to the SEMissourian. “Friends … absolutely. I could probably go to just about any state around here, Canada, New Zealand, and find some people I know. Softball is that kind of sport. It’s really neat.”