The Clackamas print., May 25, 2005, Page 6, Image 6

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Champs: Marlow named MVP for tourne
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In the semis on Sunday,
Clackamas took on the sur­
Game two on Friday had the prise team of the tourney, the
Cougars come out a little flat in a Warriors from Walla Walla CC.
back-and-forth game. Koch start­ The Warriors, who qualified for
ed the game, but didn’t get out of the tournament on the regular
the first inning as Bellevue took season’s last day, had defeated
a quick 2-0 lead. The Cougars, Chemeketa CC and Columbia
down 2-1, rallied in the third. Basin College earlier in the
Cijay Koanui singled vas sacri­ tourney. But the Cougars had
ficed to second and scored on an their own ideas in this semifinal
RBI single by Middagh. Snyder matchup.
“The girls were very intense,
singled with two outs, then Nikki
Winkley singled in Middagh to but also very loose before and
take the lead. Alcala singled in during the game,” said Fiskum.
Snyder and Laura Hyland singled “We continued with our strong
in Winkley to give CCC a 5-2 hitting and Marlow pitched a
lead. Caitlin Storisson smacked solid game. She may have had a
a home run in the third to pull bit of a letdown from the Lower
Columbia game, but
Bellevue within 5-3,
she pitched well.”
but the Cougars got
Snyder
got
RBI singles from
“The best
the offense mov­
Snyder and Alcala
ing with a home
to get Clackamas
team won
run leading off the
the 7-4 win.
this week­
second inning and
Holly Marlow
Roberti had an RBI
relieved Koch in
end, and
single to give the
the first and allowed
it was
Cougars a 2-0 lead.
only two more runs
Clackamas.”
CCC picked up four
and struck out 10
runs in the fifth
to gain the victory.
and a single run in
Snyder finished the
the sixth en route
game 4-4 atthe plate,
to the 8-3 victory.
while
Middagh
Koanui, Winkley,
was 3-3 and scored
Paul Fiskum
Alcala, Roberti and
three times for the
Head Coach for
BriannaMondragon
Cougars.
the Cougars
each had two hits
The game of the
in the win, while
tournament
took
Marlow gave up
place on Saturday
three hits in five
as Clackamas took on six-time
defending champion Lower innings and Koch tossed the final
Columbia and behind a master­ two innings to pick up the save.
The NWAACC champion­
ful one-hitter by Marlow, the
Cougars got an RBI single from ship was theirs for the taking
Winkley in the seventh to defeat by the Cougars, but Columbia
Basin came out strong, taking a
the Red Devils 1-0.
“A fantastic ball game, both 4-0 lead in the fifth. Clackamas
teams played their hearts out and bats woke up just in time, as
we were solid in all facets of the Ooley and Middagh singled,
game,” said Fiskum. “LCC’s then Hyland smacked a three-run
pitcher, Jennifer Pass, had not homer to get Clackamas within
lost a game all season. But we 4-3. CCC took the lead in the
came out and hit the ball very sixth as Alcala singled, Roberti
well against her.”
sacrificed Alcala to second,
Marlow walked three and Mondragon singled in Alcala and
struck out eight in her gem, giv­ Ooley doubled in Mondragon for
ing up only a sixth-inning single the 5-4 lead.
Columbia Basin used two hits
to Misty Britt of LCC. Hyland
opened the seventh by singling and an untimely error in the bot­
off the pitcher’s glove, then Ernst tom of the seventh to grab a 6-5
pinch-ran for Hyland. Snyder win and force a winner-take-all
sacrificed Ernst to second, then game for the NWAACC title.
“The girls were devastated
Winkley hit a clean single to
center, easily scoring Ernst, who after the game, some tears were
was running all the way. Marlow flowing from the players,” said
mowed down the Red Devils in Fiskum. “But the team held
the seventh to get the Cougars a players-only meeting on the
field during the 30-minute break
into the semifinals.
Continued from, Page 1
May 25, 2005
between games, and they pulled
themselves together. It really
was a defining moment for this
team and this season.”
The second game with
Columbia Basin turned with two
outs in the second inning, as
Alcala singled, Roberti walked
and "Mondragon singled to load
the bases. Koanui doubled to
left-center to drive in two runs,
and Ooley singled in Mondragon
for a 3-0 lead. Middagh picked
up an RBI as the Hawks’ third
baseman had a throwing error,
scoring Koanui for the 4-0 lead.
The Hawks came back for
a single run in the second to
get within 4-1, but Clackamas
came back with four runs in the
fourth as Mondragon singled,
Koanui singled, Ooley had an
RBI groundout, Middagh had
an RBI single, Hyland doubled
home Middagh on a hit-and-run
and Nikki Winkley drove in the
final run of the season with a
single up the middle to give the
Cougars an 8-1 lead.
Marlow struck out Heidi
Dilger of Columbia Basin to give
the Cougars the title. She pitched
a complete game, striking out
eight and walking five, while
giving up four base hits. Koanui
and Ooley led the hit parade,
each going 3-5 with two RBI,
while Mondragon was 3-4. The
Cougar team pulled off a rarity
for a Clackamas team, hitting
better in the tournament than in
the regular season. They hit .369
as a team in the tourney, seven
points better than in the regular
season.
“A fantastic showing by this
team throughout the whole week­
end. I have never been more
proud of a group of girls than
I am of this team. They pulled
together as a team after the loss
to Columbia Basin and had a
great time,” said Fiskum. “Erin
[Snyder] told me that she had
never played on a team that had
bonded as well as this team did.
And that is the most important
lesson that this team took away
from this experience. They are
the NWAACC champions and
nobody can ever take that away
from them.”
Marlow was named as the
tournament Most Valuable Player
for her four-win performance in
the tourney. Alcala, Middagh,
Snyder and Koch were named
to the all-tournament team and
Fiskum won Coach of the Year
The Cougars’ championship season was a memorable one for these sophomores. (Left to
right) Kayce Ernst, Chelsea Koch, Holly Marlow, Cijay Koanui, Laura Kudrna and Nikki
Winkley all pose after the NWAACC championship game. Koanui and Koch were named to the
all-tournament team, while Marlow was awarded as the Most Valuable Player for the tourney.
honors. The championship is the
eighth title for Clackamas and
the first since the last of three
in a row won by the Cougars in
1997.
“Tim Mackin, the Lower
Columbia head coach, told me
that although his team didn’t win,
he was very happy for us and our
program and that he wJ
that the championship 1
would be staying in the Sod
Division,” said Fiskum, “j
that he was disappointed]
fact that they could not
seventh straight title, but tu
team won this weekend!
was Clackamas.”
All photos courtesy of Denise
Cougar sophomore Cijay Koanui hit .318 and stole three
bases in six games for the Cougars this postseason. She
also named to the South Division first-team all-conferenl