Fatal softball team bus crash hits home

DAYS LATER, Kris Dolezel's voice still quivers with emotion. It's understandable, given how close she had come to losing her only daughter, Molly.

A horrific traffic accident in southern Oklahoma on Friday night killed four North Central Texas College softball players and seriously injured two others.

Molly Dolezel, 17, is a freshman outfielder for the Lions and the daughter of Soul head coach Clint Dolezel. Kris Dolezel, the coach's wife, was driving her daughter and another teammate in the family vehicle an hour or so ahead of the team bus. The Lions had played at Southern Nazerene in Bethany, Okla.

At around 9 p.m. Central time, a tractor-trailer heading northbound on Interstate 35 crossed the median and slammed into the driver's side of the bus, driven by head coach Van Hedrick. Lions players Meagan Richardson, 19, Brooke Deckard, 20, Katelynn Woodlee, 18, and Jaiden Pelton, 20, all were killed.

"It's so shocking how easily Molly could have been on that bus," Clint Dolezel said. "It drives me crazy thinking about it; makes my stomach sick."

In one breath, Kris Dolezel thanked God for sparing her daughter and in the next her voice cracked and tears welled up as she considered the families that were not so lucky.

"This is a tragedy that is going to affect a lot of people for the rest of their lives," she sobbed.

The Dolezels said Molly has had nightmares since the accident, and was battling tonsillitis. The Daily News preferred to give the teenager her space and declined to ask for comment.

"There's a lot of confusion and guilt that she wasn't on the bus," Kris Dolezel said. The Dolezels also have a son, 15-year-old Trevor.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, an 18-wheeler driven by Russell Staley, 53, slid nearly 300 feet after making impact with the bus.

"It took about an hour before we found the semi," Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Ronnie Hampton told the Associated Press. Staley, who has not been charged, told investigators that he was distracted by something in the cab. Officials said they were investigating the accident as if it was a homicide.

North Central Texas College is a junior college located in Gainesville, Texas, some 60 miles south of the accident scene.

The school's website, www.NCTC.edu, has donation information.

"Molly said if she was at a big school, she would have been a little lost," Kris Dolezel said. "But in this small [school], they're like a family. They do everything together . . . which makes it harder on everyone."

Shortly after the Dolezels reached their home in suburban Dallas, details of the tragedy started coming. Slowly. Painfully.

"The information kept filtering in," Clint Dolezel said, "one after another, that they had passed away."

Things will get darker before the healing begins. The first of the four burial services will be held today.

"The funerals [will be] the hardest part," Kris Dolezel said. "Just trying to wrap your head around it. I think that will be the hardest part. Everybody was close."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A fund has been set up to help with funeral costs and all other expenses incurred from the tragedy involving the North Central Texas College softball team. To contribute, visit www.nctc.edu.