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Appeal Tribune, www.silvertonappeal.com
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
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ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL
Kennedy's Molly Jaeger bats in the Monroe vs. Kennedy softball game in the first round of the OSAA Class 2A/1A state playoffs at John F. Kennedy High School in Mt. Angel. Kennedy won the
game 5-0.
Young Kennedy softball team expects bright future
LUIS RAMIREZ
STATESMAN JOURNAL
MOUNT ANGEL - The Kennedy High
softball team fielded one of the youngest
teams in Class 2A/1A this season and the
Trojans proved they belonged amongst
the elite as they made it to the semifinals
of the state tournament.
Despite losing to top-seeded Pilot
Rock/Nixyaawii 14-4 in the semis on May
31, the experience proved invaluable for
such a young team.
“I think Pilot Rock is a really good
team as their pitching was solid, their
fielding was solid and they could hit the
ball,” coach Walt Simmons said. “We
seemed to be off just a little bit (and) we
probably made more throwing errors
than quite a few games combined.”
With no departures in the offseason,
the Trojans return their whole squad, in-
cluding the sophomore trio of Tressa
Reidman, Molly Jaeger and Hannah Ar-
ritola. Reidman was the league pitcher of
the year and both Jaeger and Arritola
were first team all-league players.
“We’re still kind of a young team with
no seniors and quite a few sophomores,”
Simmons said. “My first baseman (Jae-
ger) and my shortstop (Arritola) hit two
and three in the batting order and made a
big difference for us as far as getting
runners on and being able to move them
around.”
The Trojans finished the regular sea-
son 18-6 and had a 10-0 record in Special
District 2. Simmons, in his 13 th year at the
helm, was named coach of the year in the
league and the team also featured first-
team all-league utility player Emily Frey
and catcher Abby Frey.
“I’ve been there quite awhile and each
year you get a few new players and you
wonder how they’re going to fit,” Sim-
mons said. “This year, the four new
freshmen that came in were eager to
play (and) eager to learn and for me it
was a really enjoyable season with all
those players really wanting to get bet-
ter.”
They performed well enough to be
considered one of the favorites to win the
state championship next year as the fu-
ture continues to look bright for Kenne-
Kennedy's Emily Frey (8) makes a catch for the final out in the Monroe vs. Kennedy softball game.
dy.
“I told them that you can’t teach expe-
rience and for them to go through it and
Kennedy's Tressa Reidman (12) celebrates with teammates after her three-run home run.
REACH US: Cliff Kirkpatrick, ckirkpatr@Salem.gannett.com
have the pressure of the game along with
the travel, I think it will carry on to next
season and be really helpful,” Simmons
said.
lramirez@StatesmanJournal.com or
Twitter.com/@LuisRamirez10
Kennedy teammates congratulate Tressa Reidman (12) as she celebrates after her three-run
home run.