Lindsay Knapp doesn't own a pair of ruby-red slippers.

But three years ago, the senior pitcher for the Mountaineer softball team wished she had a pair.

If she did she could be like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and click the heels together three times while repeating "There's no place like home."

Lindsay and Dorothy have some things in common.

In the 1939 film classic, Dorothy was a Kansas farm girl who found out that life isn't always better "over the rainbow." Lindsay was raised on a 400-acre farm on Tower Hill outside of Millerton.

They both share a warm smile and seem like the kind of person you just want to be friends with.

While Dorothy was transported to the land of Oz by a tornado, Lindsay left the farm for New Hampshire via a softball scholarship.

Although she was raised in a small community, Lindsay has never been afraid of challenges or moving.

She was a member of my wife, Pam's, first class as a third-grade teacher at Millerton Elementary School.

Millerton was a great place to go to school with small classes where everyone felt like family.

Lindsay was one of the tallest kids, standing in the back row of the class picture that year and displaying that warm smile.

Pam still remembers Lindsay as one of the best and nicest students in that class.

The school was closed the next year and consolidated with R.B. Walter Elementary.

Everything was bigger at R.B. Walter and it took both the teachers and students from Millerton a while to adjust.

Lindsay adjusted well but the next year hit the road again, enrolling in Holy Family School system in Elmira and later matriculating to Notre Dame High School in Southport.

She loved softball and played for a number of summer travel teams from the time she was 13.

You are literally on the road all summer when you play for a travel team, going all over the Northeast and beyond every weekend.

Lindsay became more than a pretty good softball player at Notre Dame and attracted plenty of attention from college scouts.

Mansfield head coach Edith Gallagher was one of those college coaches trying to recruit her.

Edith knew Lindsay and her younger sister, Amanda, as well. They both had attended softball camps at Mansfield for a number of years and Lindsay was Edith's number one pitching recruit.

But as much as Lindsay liked living on the farm -- exploring every acre with her sister -- and loved her family, she also yearned to explore life outside of Millerton.

It was a tough decision, but Lindsay chose an athletic scholarship from Franklin Pierce University over Mansfield.

She would leave behind her family, the farm and a boyfriend, but was excited about the challenges that lay ahead.

Right after she signed, Lindsay injured her pitching arm in summer ball.

"I was really worried," says Lindsay. "I knew I couldn't afford to go to Franklin Pierce without the scholarship and knew that if I couldn't pitch there would be no scholarship."

"My arm did heal, but it really affected the way I snapped the ball on my pitches," she said.

"Instead of snapping my wrist straight up, I snapped from the side and it really had an effect on the ball."

In some ways it was a positive effect.

Lindsay's ball moved like it never moved before, darting and dipping so much on her fastball that even she didn't know where the ball was going to go.

She had a solid freshman season at Franklin Pierce. As a sophomore, she led the team in home runs.

But something changed during that second year.

She had made new friends and liked her professors, but Lindsay started to think more and more about her future.

Ever since she was little she wanted to be an elementary school teacher like her mother, Sharon, who retired this last year after more than 30 years at Mosherville.

Lindsay didn't want to admit it, but she also missed home a little.

Her parents made the seven-hour drive to New Hampshire to watch her play whenever they could, but it was, somehow, not enough.

She came to realize that an education degree from Mansfield would better serve her goals in life and contacted coach Gallagher to see if there still was a place for her.

Gallagher was pleased to have her, and Lindsay transferred home.

Lindsay quickly moved into the starting pitching rotation but just couldn't get a break.

She pitched well at times, but still struggled with control of her pitches. She injured her ankle chasing a foul ball.

She finished the season with a 0-10 record.

She put the disappointing season behind her and immersed herself into class and work.

Lindsay works the 10 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. shift at Wal-Mart, although she does cut back her hours during the heart of the season.

She learned from her parents that you overcome adversity by facing it head on and working through it.

Lindsay got down to work with new assistant pitching coach Angie Stackhouse.

The results are stunning. She leads a vastly improved team in wins and her control is back.

In 70 innings pitched this season she's only allowed 28 walks while striking out a team-best 67 batters.

Last week, Lindsay was nominated for PSAC Pitcher of the Week after winning three games over a two day span.

She also was nominated for CoSIDA Academic All-American honors for her 3.48 cumulative grade-point average.

She will graduate after doing her student-teaching this fall and doesn't know where her life will take her.

Lindsay does know that one thing for sure is -- "There's no place like home."