Remington Stittleburg smiles and calls it payback.

It’s 9:30 p.m. on a Thursday in mid-June, and he’s tired. Three hours and 11 innings of Pony League baseball will drain even the most energetic 13-year-old. All Remington and his twin brother, Grant, want to do after playing a marathon game is eat some strawberries and go to bed.

It’s also been a long evening for their sister, Brooke. She watched her brothers’ game from the wooden bleachers along the first-base line — not exactly a comfortable seat even with a blanket as a cushion.

Remington knows the feeling. He doesn’t know how many of Brooke’s volleyball matches and track and field meets he’s watched from the discomfort of the bleachers during her four years at Black River Falls High School. If you ask him, it’s only right that she returns the favor.

The thing is, Brooke doesn’t consider spending time with her family a chore. Not in the least.

She knows she’ll be gone in less than eight weeks, bound for Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill., on Aug. 10 to begin life as a NCAA Division I volleyball player. She’ll be living six-and-a-half hours away from home. Most of the time her family — father, Todd; mother, Kathy; sister, Morgan; and Grant and Remington — will have to watch her matches via the Internet.

But for now, they’re all together in the kitchen of their home. Grant is the hero of the night, having scored the winning run in his team’s 12-11 victory. Brooke is understandably proud of both her brothers. They’re already good athletes as soon-to-be eighth-graders, and she knows they’re going to get better.

But she knows her opportunities to watch them and enjoy her last summer of freedom before starting a new phase of her life are slipping away.

“I’m going to miss that opportunity (to watch my brothers play sports),” Brooke said. “It’s a bummer that I won’t get to see them compete when they’re in high school sports. They always came to (my events).”

Home is where the heart is

Brooke is a recognizable figure in Black River Falls, a city of 3,600. She’s a 5-foot-9 right-side hitter who packs a wallop, having smashed more than 800 kills between her sophomore and senior seasons. Between 40 and 50 Division I schools sought her services before she committed to Western Illinois in 2007.

She’s greeted by a familiar face as she pulls her father’s Chevrolet Uplander into the parking lot at Skyline Golf Course, where she has a part-time job driving the beverage cart and tending bar. Dave Meyer, a retired technological education teacher and cross country/track coach at Black River Falls High School, says Brooke “was wonderful” as a student in his class. He adds she was fun to watch both as a volleyball player and a track athlete.

Three older gentlemen greet Brooke as she walks into the bar. She says she served them recently, but hadn’t yet learned their names. She promised she would.

“I’d say the best part about living here is the fact you’re able to walk down the street and you can carry on a conversation with anyone you see whether you know them or not,” Brooke said. “Everyone here is friendly.”

Except for a six-month stay in Beaver Dam, Wis., in the early 1990s, the Stittleburgs have called Black River Falls home since 1987. Todd owns his own business selling wildlife nutritional products. Brooke helps him with the clerical work. Her name also shows up on the family’s chore chart. It was her turn to dust the hallways, not a fun project for a house with hardwood floors.

Still, any time Brooke gets with her family is precious. They play beach volleyball at Lunda Park, just a couple of miles from their home. They run together on the Foundation Trail, which winds around town.

And on this night, they’re together eating taco soup, albeit in somewhat of a hurry, and getting ready for a night of baseball. Todd coaches his sons’ team. Kathy will work the concessions stand. Morgan, who will be a junior in the fall, will work the scoreboard. And Brooke is simply content to be an attentive big sister.

“Summer in a small town is watching baseball games and (going to) bonfires,” Brooke said. “This is a typical night for me.”

‘I’m glad she comes’

It’s 5:59 p.m. when Brooke pulls into the parking lot at the baseball field by the fairgrounds. “We’re just in time,” she says as her brothers’ game gets underway.

She chats with her grandparents, who have come from Wisconsin Dells to watch the game, and enjoys a sports drink and a few M&Ms. She takes a couple of calls on her cell phone and glances at a volleyball magazine Morgan has brought with her, but her attention is mostly on the game.

And when Grant races home from third base with the winning run, Brooke stands up and claps. She also gives him a high-five before everyone heads home.

“I’m glad she comes to my games,” Grant said. “It cheers me up and makes me play better.”

Remington is a little more subdued at first when asked what it means to have Brooke at his games (“It’s OK”). But he soon admits it “means a lot” to him that she spent a Thursday night at his game.

Of course Brooke will be at more of her brothers’ games. Not because she has to, but rather because she wants to.

“I really am going to miss my family,” Brooke said. “Some days it’s hard to believe, but I will miss them when I leave.”

Nearly back at full strength

There was a gentle yet fatherly tone in Todd’s voice. Perhaps Brooke might want to reconsider her plans.

Maybe she was kidding, but it didn’t sound like it. At some point this summer, she would make right what had gone so terribly wrong. She’d line up the hurdles and this time she’d clear all of them without incident.

It’s moments like these that give a father a nervous tic. For nearly six weeks, Todd watched Brooke hobble around in a protective boot. One misstep at a WIAA Division 2 regional track and field meet on May 19 resulted in Brooke spraining ligaments in her left foot.

Just like that, life changed drastically for Brooke. She still could lift weights and do some very basic volleyball drills such as serving with her sister, Morgan.

But competitive volleyball? It simply was out of the question for the immediate future.

“Brooke is a very goal-oriented person,” Todd said. “She had goals this summer, and she hasn’t been able to meet those goals.”

So while Brooke was, and likely still is, eager to make amends for what was a frustrating day, she would listen to dad and resist temptation. She gave the protective boot, which was lying by the front door of her family’s home, a playful shake. And that’s the only contact she ever wants to have with it again.

“I’ll never take being able to work out or my health for granted,” Brooke said. “Something like this (injury) really makes you appreciate what you have.”

Playing catch-up

The photocopier in the main office at Black River Falls High School hums on the Monday morning following the Fourth of July weekend. Brooke is copying selected pages of Western Illinois’ preseason workout guide. It’s 58 pages of inspirational quotes, nutritional guidelines and workouts meant to make one’s muscles ache.

Brooke was cleared to walk without the protective boot on June 27, and she went for a run over the weekend. But this is the first day Brooke has been allowed to return to her pre-injury workout regimen, albeit at a slower pace. She got out of bed at 7:15 a.m., went for a bike ride and lifted weights for 45 minutes. She would do the workout, which included sprinting and plyometrics, designated for that day a little later.

According to Western Illinois’ workout guide, Brooke should have been entering her ninth week of preseason conditioning. But injuries like the one she had to deal with can force a change of plans in a hurry.

She remembers her trail leg clipping the final hurdle during the preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles at the regional meet. She fell to the track and crawled to the finish line when she was unable to get up.

Brooke has had her fair share of sprained ankles over her athletic career, but the longest she ever had to sit out was a couple days. The initial adrenaline rush that allowed her to temporarily block the pain disappeared by the time she competed in the finals and finished last.

At first Brooke was upset about not having the opportunity to earn her third consecutive trip to the state meet. But then the obvious, and scary, question popped into her head: “What about volleyball?”

“My whole summer faded away in my head,” Brooke said.

If not for her mother, Kathy, and father, Todd, Brooke admits it probably would have taken her a long time to calm down. She called Western Illinois assistant coach Steve Williams to let him know what had happened. She e-mailed both Williams and Western Illinois coach Kym McKay on a regular basis to let them know how she was doing. They, in turn, assured her everything would be OK. If she still was hurting and needed treatment when she arrived in Macomb, Ill., in August, she would be taken care of.

Brooke hoped that wouldn’t be necessary. Her goal was to “crank it up a notch” with her training by the end of the week. She felt good physically — “about 85 percent” — but rusty when it came to the jumping, speed and explosiveness that makes her such a quality right-side hitter.

Western Illinois was holding a preseason camp the following week, and Brooke was a little concerned. It would be the first time she would be going as close to full-tilt as her body would allow on a volleyball court since her injury. The last thing she wanted to do was make a bad first impression for her new teammates and coaches.

“The competitor in me never wants to be last,” Brooke said. “I don’t want to come in last in anything I do.”

Feeling better

It’s Monday night, and Brooke is talking via cell phone about her first day at camp. All in all, it had gone pretty well. She and her teammates had spent time on footwork and technique. They also had run — a lot.

It was the kind of day that left Brooke feeling tired and eager for the day she’s back in tiptop physical condition. Her left foot was a little sore, but she added “it’s nothing ice and ibuprofen can’t fix.”

There still were five more days of intense workouts ahead, and Western Illinois’ first practice on Aug. 11 loomed on the horizon. But it was a challenge Brooke couldn’t wait to tackle.

“I’ll be a tired girl by the end of the week, but it’s going to be fun,” she said.

Eye-opener

They had been given a homework assignment by their parents, and they weren’t having an easy time with it.

Just how could Morgan, Grant and Remington put into words what they’ll miss about their big sister, Brooke? And did they have to be put on the spot and tell her their deepest, most personal feelings as she sat inches away at the kitchen table?

Todd and Kathy believe in getting things out in the open. It was Tuesday night. In less than four days they would be taking Brooke to her new home in Macomb, Ill., and her new life as a NCAA Division I volleyball player at Western Illinois University.

The days of the Stittleburgs watching Brooke play at Black River Falls High School were over. They’ll have to watch a majority of her matches at Western Illinois via the Internet. The next time they’ll get to spend extended time with her likely will be during Christmas break.

So Remington, who will be in eighth grade this fall, pulled out his list of things he’ll miss about Brooke. The way she helps him with his homework, and believe it or not, the way she teases him.

Grant was next. He’ll miss the way Brooke keeps going and going “like the Energizer Bunny.” He’ll miss bowling with her at Colonial Lanes in nearby Sparta.

There once was a time Morgan, a junior-to-be, didn’t think she’d miss Brooke. The two have had their fair share of tussles, as siblings are wont to do. But Kathy told her that one day they would be best friends. And this was the moment that Morgan truly realized they were.

“It’s tough to see her go,” Morgan said as she tried unsuccessfully to fight back tears. “I couldn’t have asked for a better sister.”

Three hundred and twenty miles will separate Brooke from her family, something that wasn’t lost on Kathy. She admitted she might cry a decent portion of the six-hour ride home. For Brooke, the homesickness might vanish after only two days, or perhaps two months. She didn’t know.

Brooke will have some familiar faces close by. Alison Gilbert, a West Salem graduate, will be one of her teammates. And her boyfriend, John Murphy, will be a little more than two hours away at St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa.

Still, Brooke and her family know separation anxiety is inevitable. And they’re all bracing for it.

“(Brooke) can’t be our little girl forever,” Todd said.

Stepping into adulthood

Brooke was 14 years old when she got her first taste of extended freedom from her family. She spent a week in Austin, Texas, playing in the USA Junior Olympic National Invitational. She thought having a sense of independence, even if it was only temporary, “was kind of fun.” But she also knew when she would return home.

Her new home, at least for the 2008-09 school year, will be a dorm room that she’ll have to herself. Her life will consist of going to class — she plans to pursue a degree in physical therapy — and playing volleyball. Nights like Tuesday, which included eating dinner with her family and watching the movie “Enchanted,” will be nonexistent.

Until this point, the best part of being an adult for Brooke, who turns 19 on Aug. 23, was earning the right to vote and being able to rent a movie by herself. But now she’ll get to see how well she can function so far away from home. And she admits, there likely will be days that will be challenging.

“I know I can make it on my own. But being on my own will be an eye-opener,” Brooke said. “There will probably be nights I’ll call home crying.”

A bittersweet farewell

Those will be the times Brooke, who composed her own list of the things she’ll miss about Black River Falls, will start thinking about the special times and people in her life.

She’ll smile when she thinks about autumn Friday nights watching the Black River Falls football team. She’ll fondly remember the deer, woodchucks and occasional bear that shows up in her family’s yard.

She’ll think about the summer days fishing with her family on Lake Arbutus in Hatfield. She’ll remember delicious home-cooked meals, especially anything that came off Todd’s grill and Kathy’s chocolate chip cookies.

And of course Brooke will think about the people she loves.

Her new Sony Vaio laptop, complete with a webcam, will go a long way toward helping her stay connected with what’s going on back home. She’ll be able to see her brothers’ faces when they talk about their latest football game. She’ll be able to see Morgan if she gets a new haircut.

But Brooke knows it won’t be the same. As thrilled as she is about playing Division I volleyball, her family means more to her than she could ever tell them.

“I’m really going to miss them. ... I can’t believe I’m actually moving out,” Brooke said. “I know it’s not like I’m never coming back here. But a lot of things change when you move out. It’s a really big step.”

Kirk Bey can be reached at (608) 791-8414, or at kbey@lacrossetribune.com.