Sports
TN e CI ac I camas P rint
______ i_
WEdNEsdAy, Appil 10, 2002
Softball defense stands strong
DAISY BAIN
A&E Editor
Cougar women’s softball
holds second place in the
Northwest Athletic Associa
tion of Community Colleges
conference so far this season
with an 8-2 record, losing only
to Lower Columbia Community
College, which is undefeated
with eight wins.
“We had two great days and
one day in the middle that
wasn’t so good,” said Coach
Paul Fiskum.
The women played a triple
header for the first time in Cou
gar history on Saturday, April
6. It was one of their best days
yet, according to Fiskum.
“We were very pleased,”
said Fiskum. All three games
were against Centralia Commu
nity College, a team Fiskum said
wasn’t as bad as the Cougars
made them out to look, it was a
complete shutout;
The total score for all three
games was 35-0. “We could do
no wrong,” he said.
All three pitchers gave an
awesome performance allowing
only five hits the entire day.
“Our pitching is very strong.
I don’t think anybody who has
the three-deep quality of pitch
ers that we have,” said Fiskum.
“It was a great recovery from
Friday’s games.”
Friday was a tough day for
Cougar softball. Lower Colum
bia, defending league champi
ons, took control, winning both
games 2-0 and 5-1.
“We lost a tough game,” said
Fiskum. “She was able to shut
us out, leaving nine runners on
base in game one. We just
couldn’t get the base hits when
we needed it.”
Game two really showed an
example of losing focus at the
plate, said Fiskum. Lower Co
lumbia threw at a slower speed
and the Cougars were swing
ing at junk pitches.
“We didn’t throw our best ei
ther,” said Fiskum. “We talked
at length about what we did
wrong, and we are learning from
our experience.”
Tuesday, April 2, was a good
day for the Cougars as well.
Game one against Chemeketa
Community College was a 4-0
victory for Clackamas.
“We had a great pitching per
formance by Vanessa (Holm),”
said Fiskum.
Holm allowed
six singles and one walk, and
threw six strikeouts for the
shutout.
In game two the women kept
it going, said Fiskum. Miranda
Gillaspie threw a one hit shut
out, allowing only one walk and
also throwing six strikeouts.
“Our defense could be the
key for us this year,” said
Fiskum. “We also took care of
them with our bats.”
In the third inning, with two
runs on base, Nikki Staley hit
her first collegiate home run
over the left-field fence, and the
Cougars won 8-0. “It was a
great day for the Cougars,”
said Fiskum.
During spring break, the la
dies played in Arizona. A
doubleheader against Pima
Community College was a split:
8-0 for Pima and a 3-0 win for
Clackamas.
“The first game was horrible.
We came out not ready to play,”
said Fiskum. Clackamas had
four errors.
“We hit the ball hard and
right at them,” Fiskum said.
Another doubleheader was
played against Chandler-Gil
bert Community College, end
ing with another split, an 8-4
loss and a 3-1 win.
The Cougars played Mt.
Hood for the league opener on
Monday, March 29, leading the
season off with a 5-4 victory.
They went on to play South
Puget Sound on March 30, win
ning both games with a com
bined game score of 12-1.
Casey Lapp threw her best
game of the year that day, ac
cording to Fiskum. Lapp
pitched five innings allowing
two hits, one walk and threw
seven strikeouts.
To reach Daisy Bain e-mail
Daisypower2@yahoo.com or
drop by B-104.
SALENA DE LA CRUZ / Clackamas Print ’
The Cougars played a tripleheader against Centralia at home on Saturday, April 6. It was
the first tripleheader in Cougar history and the Cougars came out on top of all three games
with a total of 35-0.