Lady Outlaws go 3-2 in Orlando

The Sisters High School varsity girls softball team certainly made the most of what their coaches are calling the "ultimate bonding" trip by winning three of five games last week at the Walt Disney Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla.

The Lady Outlaws defeated teams from Illinois, Kentucky and New Hampshire in improving their pre-league record to 5-6. They lost to South Park of Pennsylvania and Hancock County, Kentucky.

During the week-long stay at Disney's Spring Training Resort, the local team practiced on seven other occasions and spent six hours in battle tunnels. They also were rushed off one of Disney's 30 practice fields on Friday, April 3 by a tornado warning.

In addition, the 13 girls who made the trip were able to spend parts of three days at Disney World's theme parks.

"We told the players and families ahead of time that this was a softball enhancement trip and that Disney World was simply a backdrop, but I think the coaches had as much fun at the theme parks as the players," said coach Tom Mauldin. "From a softball point of view, the team grew a lot ... a couple of players came of age, so to speak, and with a young team like ours that is important."

The Outlaws opened play March 30 against South Park of Pittsburgh and lost 9-1. The Pennsylvania team was "about as good a hitting team as we expect to see in 2009," said the coach.

They followed that with an impressive 8-2 win over Clinton County (KY) as senior pitcher Hillary Renz struck out a dozen and scattered five hits. Jenna Sneva collected four hits and MJ Schulte added three for the Outlaws.

The locals followed that with a 7-0 loss to Hancock (KY) in a game the coaches called much closer than the final score.

"Both pitchers (Renz and Zoey Wavrin) did well despite the final score. They only had five hits, but two were triples accounting for five runs, both late in the game," said Mauldin.

The Outlaws bounced back with wins over Grayslake (IL) 12-4 with Sneva, Jenny Kaiser and Cassie Hernandez collecting two hits each and Paige Bruguire, McKenzie Cooper and Becca Pelham delivering run-scoring base hits.

The Sisters nine closed out play on April 3 with a 7-2 win over Goffstown (NH) as Sneva, Marisa Calavan and Hernandez collected three hits. In all, the Lady Outlaws collected a season-high 15 base hits. Kaiser and Cooper added two each.

Several Outlaws turned in very impressive performances. Sneva collected 14 base hits in 15 official at-bats. She also walked three times and during one stretch had 12 straight base hits. Hernandez had only one pass ball in four games, catching and collected eight base hits, Schulte and Kaiser had six hits each during the week.

Renz picked up all three of the Outlaw pitching wins.

"The best part of the trip was seeing the improvement from day one through day six," said Mauldin. "This team grew a great deal, not just on the field, but off as well."

The Lady Outlaws presented each of their opponents with baseball-card sized team photos and on the back of each photo was information about Sisters and Sisters High School.

"One of the neatest moments of the week was when the South Park team came over after our game with them and told the girls they 'were the classiest team they ever played.' That sure made the Outlaw coaches proud," said Mauldin.

The trip to Florida is 100 percent funded by player parents and team fund-raisers. The Outlaws were one of 48 teams from around the country at Disney's Wide World of Sports March 30 through April 4.

The Outlaws open Sky-Em League play on April 7 at La Pine.