MICHAEL KIRAL

RESERVE – Reserve Christian’s home softball game against Hosanna Christian will be a solemn one Tuesday as the Lady Eagles remember Stephanie “Nikki” Wilking. The game is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Lady Eagle Field Wilking, the starting center fielder for the Lady Eagles, died last week after contacting meningitis. The team will leave her position in center field open against Hosanna and will leave her name in the batting order. “We’ve lost a valuable teammate and person and that has left a void with us,” Reserve Christian head coach Michael Marix said. “We have to come together as a team. We do miss her and we will never forget her.” Reserve Christian will also wear a black “12” (Wilking’s number) on their jerseys over their hearts. The team will also wear shirts with her number and “In Memory of Stephanie (Nikki) Wilking” on them. All proceeds from the gate from the game will go toward Kids for Kops, the organization Wilking founded that was instrumental in getting bullet-proof vests for St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff’s deputies. “We were all really close,” Renee Delaneuville, Wilking’s best friend, said. “With us being a small school, we are really close with everybody. We wanted to do something special for her. We want to keep her vision and her dream alive. I know that’s what she would want me to do.”