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Wednesday, June 7, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Outlaws softball squad earns a ‘B-minus’
By Tom Mauldin
Correspondent
When asked to give his
Sisters High School varsity
softball team a grade, Coach
Dave Smith paused, took
a deep breathe and said, “a
B-minus.”
But the second-year coach
was quick to add that late-sea-
son injuries prevented a higher
mark.
“The Outlaws went from
the beginning of the season
as a C to mid-season C-plus
to a finish of a B-plus,” said
Smith. “The reason I give a
B-minus is because towards
the end (of the season) we lost
four players, three players due
to concussions and one had
an injured knee, so we did not
finish as a whole team.
“On a second note, if we
were to grade each individual
player by themselves, I saw
vast improvements in all and
we would rate the players
as B.”
Smith said he based
his evaluation on what he
and Assistant Coach Kerry
Mooers saw during the course
of the season, as well on com-
ments of coaches SHS played
against.
Smith said due to ill-
ness, required attendance at
school functions, and “Snow-
mageddon,” practices rarely
were attended by a full team.
“We did not see the field
until the first week of our first
game,” said Smith.
Despite the obstacles, the
Outlaws went 4-11 in Sky-Em
League and 6-14 overall to
double their 2016 records of
2-13 league and 2-16 overall.
In 2015, SHS won two games.
“I am learning each season.
Part of me wants to say we
met the expectations given the
amount of time we were per-
mitted, but then again I think
these girls have a lot more in
them and they have not hit
their peaks of what they are
capable to do on the field,”
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said Smith. “They know that
in order to get better they need
to do simple things in the off-
season such as playing catch,
get involved in some type of
workout program, join a travel
team or play another sport.”
The 2017 Outlaws are
graduating four seniors —
Savannah Ryan, Kylie Steiner,
Brenda Isarraraz and Amanda
Smith. Ryan played two years
with the Outlaws and is plan-
ning on attending COCC for
general education, then she
will pursue a career in nurs-
ing to be a nurse-practitioner.
Steiner has played for the
Outlaws for four years and
will attend the University of
Montana to study Psychology.
Isarraraz will attend COCC
and study fire science. And
Amanda Smith will be headed
to Walla Wall Community
College where she will join
the Warrior softball team in
the fall.
Coach Smith notes the
seniors will be hard to replace.
“These girls were pivotal
both on and off the field,” he
said. “They supported their
teammates in so many ways. “
But the future is bright for
Outlaw softball. Smith wants
to get back to the “glory days”
of 2010 when the Outlaws
were co-champions of the
Sky-Em.
The 2018 Outlaw ros-
ter will be full of returnees,
including Mya St. Clair and
Cassidy Ling-Scott, who were
two of the Outlaws’ most con-
sistent players after not play-
ing in 2016. St. Clair returned
from a year in Texas and Ling-
Scott took 2016 off.
With all-league pitcher
Amanda Smith graduating,
the Outlaws will hand the ball
to Ling-Scott, St. Clair and
Hartford.
“These players can take it
to that next level,” said Smith.
In addition to a dozen
returning players, Smith
expects at least seven girls
coming up from Sisters
Middle School.
Also expected to return
in 2018 are Sophia Affatati,
Hartford, Emma Ransom,
Denise Tapia, Graciela
Isarraraz, Nancy Montecinos,
Grace Maiden, Beth Anne
Yount, Rylee Funk and Haley
Andrews.
“The biggest thing I have
learned coaching high school
softball and getting a pro-
gram going is you can’t build
it overnight,” said Smith. “It
takes time, effort, enthusiasm,
a love for the game and being
able to be an effective com-
municator with these young
girls. I enjoy every minute
of it ... there is no greater joy
than to see these girls build
confidence in themselves.”
But before Smith moves
on to the future, he said there
were several surprises this
season.
“We had several indi-
vidual surprises. From girls
playing softball for the first
time, to girls playing for
their second year to walk-ons
and returning players,” said
Smith, who praised first-time
players Brenda and Graciela
Isarraraz, Denise Tapia, and
Emma Ransom. “Ransom had
some experience from previ-
ous years, but what caught
my eye is her ability to hustle
and work hard. These girls
were determined to get the
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sport down. They stayed after
practice to work on throwing,
hitting and catching. We saw
improvement every week.”
The Outlaw coach praised
the work ethic and improve-
ment of second-year players
Maiden, Yount, Montecinos,
Hartford and Affatati.
Looking to the future, with
numbers expected to grow
from next year’s freshman
class and a dozen returning
players, optimism is high for
Smith and his crew. Among his
main goals include improve
on “our skills, to become more
competitive and the most
important thing is to have fun.
“I also want to do more
fundraisers so we can acquire
some needed equipment.”
That and more time on the
field, he said.
“Another goal I have is to
work with the girls as much
as I legally can. To put on
some camps and to hope-
fully have some type of travel
team so these girls can get
the experience they need on
the field,” continued Smith,
who coached a summer travel
team in California. “The other
teams in our league have at
least three to four girls play-
ing year-round, so that puts
us at a disadvantage. I know
a lot of the girls want to play
more, but they are just busy.
A lot of the girls work during
school and more so during the
summer. We will work around
their schedule if they want to
practice more.”
Smith’s additional goal is
to see more Outlaws attend the
Fastpitch Northwest’s College
Exposure Tournament in
Centralia, Washington. He said
he has nominated five local
players for the Fastpitch NW
Prospect Evaluation Camp to
be held at Sisters High School
on June 23. Players who per-
form well there are invited to
a college exposure event in
mid-July.
“The future of Sisters
Softball is looking brighter
every year, especially if we
get the up-and-coming fresh-
men,” said Smith. A few he
said he hoped to see in Outlaw
uniforms next year are Anessa
Stotts, Tatum Sitz, Hannah
Maiden, Madi Larrabee,
Jordan Foley and Lala Debari.
“There’s a lot of work that
needs to be done,” said Smith.
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