Sisters softball player competes against the best

How did you spend your summer? Working? Rafting? Inventing a new video game? Sleeping? That might be the norm for a lot of area teenagers, but not for Sisters' Jenna Sneva.

Sneva spent her summer playing fastpitch softball against some of the best teenagers in the United States and Canada. Softball took Jenna to 15 states with more than 15,000 miles of traveling. She can't remember the number of nights she slept in a hotel bed, but she does remember a few 14-hour airplane trips.

As a member of the Eugene Thunder U-16 Amateur Softball Association team, Sneva played from June 1 through August 3 in tournaments in Washington, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Nevada. She also played in "local" tournaments in Medford, Portland, Hillsboro and Forest Grove.

During that timespan, there was only one weekend that did not include a softball tournament. And that was during the Fourth of July, when the Sneva family participated in a family softball game during a Fourth of July festival in Eastern Oregon.

"That one was slowpitch and that didn't count," said Jenna, a senior at Sisters High School and three-year member of the Outlaws softball team.

The other tournaments, however, counted and in a serious way. Because of the caliber of the Thunder team - considered one of the top two under-16 teams in Oregon and one of the top three in the Northwest - college scouts were on hand for every Thunder game.

The last tournament was the Junior Olympic Nationals in Kentucky where the Thunder won six of eight games and placed 17th out of 144 teams.

Sneva said her top two moments were turning a bunt single into a homerun when the catcher overthrew first in a one-run victory in Las Vegas, and scoring the winning run in the Oklahoma Hall of Fame tournament in a game that qualified the Thunder for a national tournament berth.

"We were in extra innings and went to the international tiebreaker with me on second base," said Sneva. "Nyree (White, the Oregon high school 4A co-player of the Year) was bunting me to third and I scored on the play for the winning run."

The win was against one of the tournament favorites.

While there were a lot of highlights, Jenna said the hardest part was "getting to know the girls and earning their respect. I learned a lot. When I started to relax and started being myself is when I got to know the girls well."

The 2008 version of the Thunder was made up of players from Eugene, Grants Pass, Portland, Newport, Coos Bay and British Columbia, Canada. And, of course, Sisters.

The Thunder was organized in 1995 and since then has proved to be a national power, twice finishing among the top 10 in the country. Of the 12-player roster this season, six players have been offered college scholarships, including Kayla Braud (Alabama), Megan Harvey (Boise State), Shannon Morgan (Nevada-Reno), Lauren Watson (South Dakota State) and Shauna Collins, who is being recruited by Texas.

"I improved my skills and learned a lot about accepting constructive criticism in a positive way," said Sneva.

While Sneva has been an all-league infielder for the high school team, she played predominantly in the outfield for the Thunder, which is coached by Marist High School head coach Bob Hammit.

"Jenna's story is unusual in that it is rare that a player makes the roster of a 16A team that plays games and tournaments at the National level against the best teams in the USA," said Hammit. "Several of the players on this team have already played at the "A" level for nine years and many of the teams we play consist mostly of players with that much experience. Almost all players that play at 16A began playing ASA by the time they are 10-12 years old."

Hammit said that Jenna faced a difficult challenge from the time she tried out.

"We decided to have her join the team, as we saw an individual with determination, strong work ethic, and being very coachable. She is the first player that I have ever had with this minimal amount of experience at the 16A level. She met the challenge and was a solid contributor throughout the season," Hammit said.

Her .232 batting average was far from her high school success level, but her on base percentage of .422 was fourth highest on the Thunder.

Hammit praised Jenna's fielding, but mentioned the thing he noticed most often was her commitment to the team. She was "a complete team player," he said.

Sneva, who holds many Outlaw softball school records - most notably batting average (.479 as a junior) - was invited to try out for the Thunder after Outlaws head coach Tom Mauldin conferred with Hammit and after Mauldin spoke with Jenna's mother about the commitment of playing on such a high-caliber team.

"It is a huge commitment, far beyond what most people think," said Mauldin. "Calculators are used to figure out the costs and not for batting and fielding averages. And it takes a well-kept calendar to stay on top of the schedule."

In addition to the 42-game schedule, the Thunder practiced twice a week in Eugene. And players are expected to make the majority of practices regardless of how far they live from Eugene. When Sneva couldn't make a Tuesday or Thursday Thunder practiced, she worked out with fellow Outlaws players and coaches at SHS.

"We were required to keep a diary of our practices," said Sneva, who when not playing, practicing or traveling for softball, spent her spare time fund-raising.

Jenna's mom, Ronda Sneva, said she's surprised her daughter isn't worn out from all the travel and games. She played two dozen high school games and then added 42 with the Thunder ... 66 games from mid-March through the first week of August.

"But what a wonderful opportunity for her to be able to do this," said Ronda. "It was very time-consuming and the effort took a great deal of commitment, but Jenna managed and did very well. I'm proud of her. I know she sure learned a lot."

And the day after she returned from the Nationals in Kentucky, Jenna was on the Outlaws softball field for a week at Outlaw Softball Summer Camp. Then culminated her summer of softball by playing 25 innings in the Outlaws' summer-ending marathon fund-raiser.

Sneva is used to a busy schedule. In the fall, she plays soccer for the Outlaws, is a back-to-back state high school top-10 finisher in downhill skiing in the winter, and softball takes up her spring. And summer.

Would she do anything different?

"It was demanding, but I wouldn't change a thing," said Jenna.