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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2018)
20 Wednesday, May 16, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon SOFTBALL: Outlaws alumni have had an impact in college Continued from page 8 pair of saves. “She was put in tough sit- uations against tough hitters and has had success in the situations,” said Mendiola. “The more experience she gets, the better she will be.” It’s taken Hudson a couple of seasons to get “experi- ence.” As a freshman, she batted once, but did not pitch. As a sophomore, she played in three games and had a base hit in two at-bats, but again did not pitch. “The main difference for me this year would have to be me coming to terms with the role I play for the team,” said Hudson, the daughter of Brett and Cara Hudson of Sisters. “I enjoy being a go-to pitcher in tough scenarios as well as a gap pitcher to break speed.” As for life after COI, Hudson says. “I’m not too sure what I will be wanting to do after COI. Continuing onto grad school is on the agenda, but so is having a break from school to work and find out what I really want to do.” But first, Hudson plans to finish the 2018 COI school year on a high note, then make the most of her final collegiate season in 2019. “Though primarily a drop ball pitcher, I will spend this summer on my other spins because I think they are just as important,” she said. Hudson and Smith faced one another in a fall ball game. The two teams split a pair of 5-3 games during the twin bill. Overall the biggest tran- sition for Smith was figur- ing out how to be a student athlete in a college setting, and developing better habits to become successful in the classroom and on the field. Smith said after WWCC she plans to transfer to a four- year school and continue playing softball. She said her teammates have played a major role in helping her “push through it.” “I have not decided on a specific major yet, but I have a few options in mind,” said Smith, the daughter of Outlaw Head Softball Coach Dave Smith. “I’m truly keep- ing my options open and just living life as it comes my way.” Smith, like Hudson, plans on plenty of summer softball practice. “I plan on going home, and filling my summer with work and training. My big- gest goal is to truly develop in the off season and raise the bar for my sophomore year,” said Smith. “I would like to become more consistent, both offensively and defensively. I want to focus on my pitches and work on my spins. As a hitter, I want to work on being able to square up more balls in my weak spots.” Smith and Hudson join a half-dozen former Outlaws as collegiate softball players. The others include NWAC All-Americans Dara Kosanke and Cassidy Edwards, Cassie Hernandez, Brooklyn Walker and Maddy Edwards. Gabe’s Adventure On Location: FivePine Conference Center Date: Saturday, May 19 at 2 p.m. Family and friends are invited to celebrate a life lived full of kindness and adventure. Please join us as we remember Gabe Willitts. Please feel free to dress in bright colors in his memory. The family asks in lieu of flowers you make a donation to a sport club, science program or IEE in Gabe’s honor. Parking is limited, so please park at the elementary school and take shuttle over to the conference center. Appetizers will be served. Students win programming award The Dead Programmers Society, a team of four teen- agers from Sisters, won the coveted Judges Choice Award for the middle school division at the Oregon Game Project Challenge (OGPC) competi- tion held at Western Oregon University on May 12. OGPC is an annual state- wide competition of mid- dle school and high school students that compete for designing an original video game. This year 59 teams competed. OGPC promotes digital literacy, computer science, and collaboration through game development. Sisters residents of the Dead Programmers Society include Ashton King (8th grade, Sisters Middle School), Grey Louvar (7th grade, Redmond Proficiency Academy), Bodie Dachtler (7th grade, Redmond Proficiency Academy), Matthew Riehle (7th grade, Sisters Middle School), Tricia Louvar (coach), and Stephen King (mentor). Teams have six months to develop and perfect their game. At the competition, each team has 30 minutes to present their game to a panel of real-world gaming pro- fessionals. They judge each game on the merits of com- puter programming, game design, art, story, and man- agement systems. Game development comes with challenges. Dead Programmers Society ran into significant development hurdles with technical and conceptual issues. “I came to the boys at the beginning of April with an itemized list of gaming rubrics they needed to get done,” Coach Louvar said. “They had only 25 percent complete of a 26-page docu- ment. I told them they had six weeks until the competition. I asked if this was their best effort.” Instead of giving up, they pivoted and started a new game more in alignment with their wheelhouse. The team used professional soft- ware systems, such as Unity, Blender, Slack, and Real- Time Board. Dead Programmers Society competed with a full- fledged working game called “West of the Wild.” It is a choose-your-own- adventure game with twists and adventures spawned from Bodie Dachtler’s creative storytelling imagination. Grey Louvar programmed it in C#, a computer language he taught himself. Ashton King composed the original soundtrack with his musi- cal prowess. Matthew Riehle designed the art assets and became the joyful Beta tester. “The Judges Choice is a bittersweet award because the squad almost disbanded but instead showed extreme grit and resilience,” Coach Louvar said. “It felt like an Oscars moment for the team.” The OGPC judges agreed. “It’s very apparent that an immense amount of time and effort went into this. Each PHOTO PROVIDED The Dead Programmers Society received the Judges Choice award at the statewide Oregon Game Project Challenge competition. completed project, no matter how small, greatly improves your chances of success in the future. Keep up the good work,” the judges said. Dead Programmers Society would like to thank Ray’s Food Place and Sisters High School for allowing it to use their meeting spaces during the gaming season. To learn more about the Dead Programmers Society and OGPC, go to tms.ogpc.info.
