softball
Ducks’ Knox boasts versatility
in both her offense and defense
By CHRISTY BODE
Of the Emerald
Oregon softball coach Becky
Sisley believes that a good player
must be versatile. Shortstop Kim
Knox fits that bill perfectly. “You:
can’t just be a strong hitter, you
must have good offensive and de
fensive skills,” said Sisley. “Kim
has good game sense. She is an
excellent shortstop and has ex
tremely quick fielding.”
Knox who has a current bat
ting average of .304, can attribute
her consistency to eight years of
summer league experience in her
hometown of Lake Oswego.
She became interested in soft
ball as a sixth grader. At that time
her sister coached her grade
school team. “It was exciting to be
on a winning team,” Knox admit
ted.
She joined the Lake Oswego
Lakettes at the right time — when
the team was young — and con
tinued to win. Knox remembers
playing against people like
Shawna Baxter and Vicki Lesh,
who both are Duck team mem
bers, when she was a Lakette.
Knox describes the transition of
going from summer league to col
lege competition as a learning ex
perience.
“In college ball, you practice
five days a week. But in summer
league you never practice, you
play two games a week and the
coach tries to get you out of
slumps,” she said.
Team unity is one more learning
experience of concern to Knox.
"There is a tendency for players to
perform on an individual basis
lather than forming a cohesive
unit,” she stated. “The important
aspect in softball," she added, "is
learning to work together.”
Another experience the Duck
shortstop has encountered con
cerns the different coaching
strategies of Lakette coach Irv
Hefford and Sisley, the Duck
coach. Knox explained it is a mat
ter of learning to adapt on her part.
Presently, Knox is having diffi
culty adapting to her new position
— pitcher. Sisley started training
her to pitch last year as a fresh
man.
“We’re working on the consis
tency part of her pitching and also
on varying the pitches,” Sisley
said.
Knox said although pitching is
her main concern, “It is a new as
pect that is fun.”
i
Ptioto Courtesy of S.I.D.
Kim Knox got most of her softball training in Lake Oswego, and now
she's putting it to use for the women’s softball team.
“I’m less sure of myself in pitch
ing since there is more responsi
bility than in playing shortstop,”
she confessed. “Sometimes I get
psyched out.”
In softball, playing an aggres
sive game could end up in suffer
ing broken bones and pulled mus
cles. However, Knox has re
mained relatively injury free ex
cept for bruises from sliding.
“To slide correctly, there are
lots of techniques and you’ve got
to get your confidence up,” she
said.
Knox related that during sum
mer league competition, teams
from Utah and Washington sport
knickers. Whether they are fash
ionable or not is another question,
but they would surely serve more
protection against painful bruises
and skin burns.
If she is pitching or playing
shortstop, Kim Knox works hard to
be good, and she is good. She will
certainly be worth watching at the
upcoming home games to be held
at Amazon Field April 26, May 3
and 8.
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