The Clackamas print., April 22, 1998, Page 6, Image 6

Wednesday,
April 22, 1998
Cougars reach .500 despite inconsistent play
JOHN THORBURN
Sports Editor
Consistency.
It has been the trademark of the softball program for nearly the
last decade.
For a team with five sophomores, the Cougars are struggling to
be a steady force that so many Clackamas teams have enjoyed in
the past.
Last Wednesday, the team traveled to Erv Lind Stadium to take
on the Mt Hood faints. The last time the Cougars [6-6, 13-8]
stepped onto that field, they captured their third straight North­
west Athletic Association of Community Colleges [NWAACC]
title.
On a rain-filled night the two teams played near midnight
In the opening game, freshman Cortney DuPree [4-2] started
on the mound and quickly allowed runners on first and second
base. The game was then delayed for nearly 20 minutes as the rain
began to fall.
'We were lucky that the field now has a tarp," noted Clackamas
Head Coach Denise Nasuta. "Otherwise, the field just would have
been drenched.
"The break didn't help us out much. I think Cortney might have
gotten a little cold waiting."
When the game resumed, the Saints scored three runs in the
first inning on only one hit DuPree walked one and hit two batters
in a row.
Mt. Hood scored runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh
innings despite Coach Nasuta's move of putting freshman Megan
Smythe into the game to replace DuPree in the fourth.
The Cougars managed to score two runs in the fifth inning and
began to rally in the bottom of the seventh scori ng three runs be­
fore falling to the Saints 7-5.
Freshman Billie Williams [.423] went 2-4 with two runs batted
in while sophomore Stacey Peacock went 2-2 with a double.
In the second game, Clackamas stepped up and played an out­
standing game behind the pitching of sophomore right hander
Kelley Comstock [5-2].
"Kelley pitched very well," noted Nasuta. 'We hit the ball well
and we played good defense behind her."
The Cougars jumped on the Saints early scoring five runs in the
JOHN THORBURN / Clackamas Print
Sophomore Dani Soldani is one of the team
leaders in RBI's and is batting .413
first three innings.
In the third, freshamn Marissa Smith continued to
crush the ball this spring with a solo home run.
"It went over the fence," said Nasuta. "That field is
petty big. I think we figured it to be about 225 feet
That's pretty impressive."
Mt Hood then scored two runs in the fourth before
Clackamas added another run in the bottom half of
thatinning.
The Cougars nailed the 6-2 victory behind the hit-
ting of Smith who went 3-4 with two runs scored and
onerun batted in. Freshman Erin Stapish also went 2-
3 for the game.
On Thursday, Pierce College visited the Cougars
for a doubleheader.
In the opening game, the Clackamas hitters were
hot scoring four runs in the first inning.
The Cougars then scored two in the second, one in
the fifth and one in the sixth before the game was called
on the league's eight run rule.
With the opening 8-0 victory, the Cougars won their
first, first game of a doubleheader all season.
"It's been something that's been frustrating all year,"
-said Nasuta. "[Thecoaches] neverknowwhois going
to show up. It always seems that we need that first
game to get us into our rhythm. It was nice to win that
firstone."
Smythe started on the mound against the Raiders
and allowed only five hits in the shutout
In the second game, Pierce hitters jumped all over
starting pitcher Comstock early with a three-run
homerun and another run in the second.
"That first inning really shook Kelley up," noted
Nasuta. "She looked pretty out of it for a minute but
she collected herself and pitched a great game."
Comstock recovered to strike out eight Pierce bat­
ters and didn't allow a run to score past the second Freshman Marissa Smith leads the team with a .464 batting
inning in the team's 7-4 win.
average and is on pace to set a school record in
Smith hit her fifth homerun of the year and is on homeruns. She currently has five on the year.
pace to beat the school record as she was 2-3 at the
plate with two runs batted and double. Williams was also 2-3 and pitching, we're inconsistent in our fielding. Our hitting is doing
scored twice.
well.
Shortly after the Cougars completed the two-game sweep of
'We've got so much talent on this team. We just need to have
Pierce, they traveled to Spokane for the NWAACC Crossover every player show up and play their game, play to their potential."
Tournament
The Cougars have their toughest week of competition as first
The tournament features teams from both the Southwestern and place Lower Columbia comes to Clackamas tomorrow. The Red
Northeastern Divisions —schools which rarely face each other Devils have been the only team to sweep the Cougars this spring.
until the NWAACC tournament.
On Saturday, Centralia visits for a doubleheader.
Against Wenatchee Valley, the Cougars once again faltered in
Both doubleheaders are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
the opening game and committed seven errors.
Freshman
"Any time you commit seven errors," said Nasuta, "you had
right-hander
better score seven runs and we didn't"
Megan Smythe
Comstock and the Cougars took the 4-2 loss despite a triple by
is 4-4 in 601/3
Smith.
innings and
Against Green River, DuPree only allowed three hits and the
has a 1.63
Cougars put 10 runs on the scoreboard for the 10-1 victory.
earned run
Smith was 2-3 with two runs batted in and a triple, freshman
average.
Cecily Burton was 2-3 withtworuns batted inand two runs scored
and Comstock, playing in the field, was 2-3 with three runs batted
in.
Against Bellevue, the Helmswomen 0-15 going into the game,
tagged Smythe for 13 hits while the Cougars could only produce
three hits in the 3-2 loss.
"Bellevue isabetter team than their record shows," said Nasuta.
"They were tied with Spokane 9-9 on Saturday in the seventh
inning before losing."
Clackamas defeated Spokane in the last year’s NWAACC title
game.
'We need to show up every game and play with the same inten­
sity every day/' said Nasuta. “We haven't done that yet I just wish
we would start playing to our potential. We're inconsistent in our
JOHN THORBURN / Clackamas Print
Kiser retires as winningest coach in school history
ADAM CRUM
Staff Writer
It’s the end of an era for Clackamas Com­
munity College basketball,
Royce Kiser retired from coaching last
month after 19 seasons with Clackamas.
Kiser, who coached at the high school level
for 11 years, compiled arecord of325-149
in his 19 years at Clackamas. This record
Wednesday, April 22, 1998
excludes the 1982-83 and 1983-84seasons,
when Clackamas was part of the National
Junior College Athletic Association
[NJCAA].
Since Clackamas became part of the
Northwest Athletic Association of Com­
munity Colleges [NWAACC] in 1984-85,
Kiser led the Cougars to a remarkable297-
121 record, a winning percentage of .711.
In the 14 seasons since joining the
NWAACC, Kiser led Clackamas to tyro
NWAACC titles and four Southern Divi­
sion titles, including three third-place fin­
ishes in the NWAACC.
As successful as he was at both levels,
Kiser feels the collegiate level is more de­
manding.
‘It’s much harder to win titles [at toe col­
legiate level] than in high school," said
Kiser. “[In college], you can have a good
team and somebody can recruit a better
team.”
Kiser knew he could get the job done if
given a chance and he acknowledges the
college for toe opportunity.
“More than any thing else, the best thing
about this school is that I never felt pres­
sure by the administration to win,” said
Kiser.
With the departure of Kiser, CliffWagner
has been named the new head coach of toe
Cougars. Wagner coached Mt. Hood to
the Southern Division playoffs this year. -
i ¿
Ì never felt
pressure by
the,v" ' ’
admbiistratton
to win. Jf J
Royce Kiser