Lady Outlaws go 3-2 on week

Members of the Sisters High School varsity softball team had a little bit of everything last week, winning three games and losing two games.

They battled Canby, one of the state's top-ranked 6A teams, for 11 innings before losing 8-7; they handily defeated three 4A teams in their own tournament and were shut out by another 6A powerhouse squad in losing to Tigard.

And if there wasn't enough excitement on the fields, the Outlaws played in weather that ranged from the mid-70s in Canby on March 24, to the low 30s on March 26, before returning to blue skies at Sisters High School on March 27.

In losing to Canby, the 4A Outlaws outhit the host Cougars 10-9, but lost in the bottom of the 11th when the hosts scored three unearned runs with two outs.

"It was a tough one to lose, but we got in a lot of softball against a high-quality team," said Coach Tom Mauldin. "Although it was far from a flawless game (each team made six errors), we saw a lot of positives ... the biggest being that the girls continued to battle back."

Prior to the strong showing against Canby, the Outlaws lost 10-0 to Tigard, a team the Lady Outlaws felt was far inferior to Canby.

"Things just didn't go our way against Tigard. It was 3-0 'til late in the game," said Mauldin.

Against Astoria in the first game of the Outlaw Tournament, Cassie Hernandez drove in five runs with a bases-loaded double and a two-run single, and Taylor Walker tripled and singled twice to lead SHS at the plate. Dara Kosanke added three singles, pitched a four-hitter and struck out 13. The five RBI tied the school record set two weeks ago by Carly Kreminski against Mountain View.

The first day of the tournament was moved to

Bowlby Fields in Redmond when Mother Nature dropped four inches of snow on the high school fields.

Sunnier days prevailed for day two, however. During the second day of the tournament, the Outlaws remained hot, thumping Taft of Lincoln City 11-0 in five innings, and outscored La Pine 15-5 later in the day.

Kosanke allowed three hits and struck out 13 in the 5-inning win over Taft. She also had three hits and scored a trio of runs to assist Marisa Calavan, Amber Milliman and Hernandez, who drove in two runs each. All totaled, all nine Outlaws starters collected base hits in the win over Taft. Kreminski had a shutout until two out in the fifth with the Outlaws up 10-0 when

La Pine scored five unearned runs.

The Outlaws won by the mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five times.

"I've got to give La Pine credit," said Mauldin. "We're cruising 10-0 and need one out to end the game (via the 10-run rule) and we made an error to give them another chance. La Pine responded. It was a good lesson from two points of view: stay focused and never give up.

In the win over La Pine, Brooklyn Walker drove in four runs, and her sister Taylor had a pair of base hits and two runs batted in.

The Outlaws have one pre-league game remaining, when they travel to Beaverton on March 31 to take on defending 3A champion Valley Catholic. Mauldin said he was pleased with a 7-2 record entering their final Sky-Em League tune-up game.

"We've accomplished a lot, but are very aware we have a lot of work to do. It's given us a chance to discover a lot of things and see who does what where," said Mauldin. "Coach Dawn (Cooper) and I are unanimous with what we see. And we like what we see. We have five practices and one game to shore up a few things before our league opener on April 6." The Outlaws' junior varsity team won two of three games in the Outlaw Tournament with strong pitching performances from Katie Bellew and Tiffani Milliman and big hitting from Taylor Nieri, Bellew and Milliman.