• • •
In an effort to bolster an injured pitching crew
Sowa steps to the mound
Hand Reggie Jackson a rosin
bag and tell him to take to the
mound and pitch. Make Johnny
Bench toss aside his catcher’s
glove and mount the hill.
That is exactly what hap
pened to Marcy Sowa, a fresh
man member of Oregon's
women’s softball team.
Sowa, who was the backup
first baseman when the season
got under way, is now pitching
for the Ducks in an unusual at
tempt to bolster their depleted
staff.
It became a game of numbers
as the Oregon pitching staff
shrank to one.
After the Ducks took seventh
in last year’s AIAW champion
ship, their pitching staff has
never looked the same. The two
expected main hurlers — fresh
men Tami Caldwell and Ste
phanie Heisler — went down
with knee injuries early in the
season and were never able to
show their stuff.
Krista Parent, who originally
played second base for the
mm
Freshman Marcy Sowa hadn't pitched before she arrived at
Oregon, but as injuries decimated the Duck softball squad she
stepped to the mound.
Ducks, had done some pitching
in high school, and when the
casualties began to mount,
coach John Feeney asked his
second baseman to help out
with pitching.
But soon Parent became a
member of the casualty list and
Duck newcomer Terri Ander
son, a transfer from Southern
Oregon State College, became
the nucleus of the Oregon
pitching staff. Then Sowa got
into the act.
"She got into pitching by ac
cident,” Feeney says. “She
volunteered to get ready for
next season. We put her on a
program to get ready for next
year, but we have had to pitch
her this year because of the
injuries.”
“I was doing some pitching
drills gven me by coach Feeney
because I had sort of volun
teered to pitch if the injuries
kept up," says Sowa.
The neophyte pitcher gained
her initial exposure to the
mound in California when An
derson developed a sore arm
"On our last trip to California
we were down by 10 runs in a
game in the fourth inning,” she
says. “Coach Feeny told me to
warm up.
“I couldn’t believe it, I had
never pitched before and here I
was in some real good competi
tion.”
With the loss of Parent,
Oregon's pitching staff was
down to just Sowa and starter
Anderson. With only two
pitchers, it was inevitable that
Sowa would eventually start.
On April 28, Sowa earned her
first start on the mound against
Oregon College of Education.
And again, it was a semi-sur
prise to her.
"The coach didn’t even tell
me I was going to pitch until
about a half-hour before the
game even started,” Sowa says.
"I was kind of nervous, but once
I got in there and got going, I felt
pretty comfortable."
Sowa, a graduate of Sunset
High School in Beaverton, is
only one of four Duck freshman
from Sunset — Ruth House,
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Tami Caldwell and Karen
Vipond round out the list.
"I think it's real neat that we
are all down here," says Sowa.
"We have all been good friends
since the eighth grade. We all
wanted to go to school together
and here we are."
Ever since her first trip to the
mound, she has been enthu
siastic abofff the job, Sowa says.
"But when I began pitching, it
was really a matter of trying to
help the team. I really feel bad
when I have an off day because I
feel that I have let the team
down.
"But I really shouldn’t worry
about it all that much because I
am really just starting to pitch."
Sowa’s willingness to step in
and pitch has been a boon, says
Feeney. "We didn’t want her to
pitch very much — but Terri An
derson has been hurting.
"It’s been a tough situation
for Marcy but she has done a
good job.”
A good job this year will
probably translate into a relief
pitching spot next season when
the Duck pitching crew returns
to full force, Sowa says.
“I would like to keep pitching,
even with the pitchers we have
coming back," she says. "I will
probably be just be a reliever,
but that's okay.”
Sowa as a relief pitcher would
be an another plus for the team,
Feeney says. "We would like her
to continue on with her pitching
even with the others coming
back
"We may have to move her to
the outfield. I can see her as a
right fielder because of her
throwing arm. But we would still
want her for relief purposes."
Relief purposes or not, Sowa
is enthused about the prospect.
"I really enjoy pitching," she
says
With that attitude it could be
hard to keep her off the mound
By Steve Turcotte
Photo by Jody Murray
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