So he took a couple of coaching clinics led by a former U.S. Olympic softball coach. And when he registered the girls for softball the next spring, he signed on as coach.

Before long, his team was learning the basics and doing pretty well. Many of the same girls come back each year—and they continue to win. In 2007, Locksley became the first softball coach to win the San Francisco Little League's Best Coach of the Year Award.

Next spring, the girls will have to choose whether to switch to their high school team or keep playing with their dad as coach. When the inevitable happens and they move on, Locksley says he'll miss his time with them. “It is so fun working with all these girls—not just my daughters—watching them develop, seeing how happy they are when they win, how collected they are when they lose.”

Right now, however, all three Locksleys are focused on what's happening on Ketcham field. In the bottom of the 3rd, Morgan hits a long fly ball to right field for a grand slam. As she rounds second base, Locksley hollers from his 3rd-base coaching position “Morgan, get on your horse!” The SF Angels, as Locksley's team is called, won the game, and they finished the season undefeated.

Illustration: Peter Arkle

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