Lady Outlaws open league with win

Pitching and hitting has been the name of the game for the Sisters High School varsity softball team in recent weeks as a trio of recent wins earned the Outlaws a 4A state ranking and a Sky-Em League-opening victory.

Since winning three straight at their own tournament, the Outlaws have defeated Sky-Em rival Junction City 11-0 and took a pair from future Sky-Em League opponent Sweet Home, winning 8-2 and 10-2.

The three wins improved the Outlaws to 9-2 on the season and earned them a No. 6 ranking in the polls.

About the team's first-ever Top 10 rating, coach Tom Mauldin said, "We enjoy anything positive, but coaches and players know ratings don't mean much until the end of the season. The team knows the goal is one pitch, one play and nothing else matters. It's one step at a time. And in between is a lot of hard work and focus."

In opening league with a victory, the Outlaws got two-hit pitching from senior Dara Kosanke in a game ended in 6 innings by the 10-run mercy rule. Kosanke, who fanned nine, also had three hits in the victory.

In addition, Marisa Calavan added three singles and Amber Milliman and Carly Kreminski delivered run-scoring doubles. Calavan and Kosanke also stole three bases each.

"Nice way to open league play," said Mauldin. "We've been looking forward to that game since they (Junction City) ended our season in 2009. We hit the ball very hard from top to bottom of the lineup."

The Outlaws threatened in every inning, scoring twice in the first and three times each in the second, third and sixth. Junction City entered the game ranked 12th.

Against non-league foe Sweet Home, the Outlaws collected 23 hits on the day - 11 in the first game and a dozen in the second. In each game, eight Outlaws contributed base hits.

The big hitters in the first game were Brooklyn Walker with a pair of doubles and a single and Amber Milliman with a double and single. Kosanke also drove in two runs and Calavan had a pair of stolen bases.

The Outlaws continued their consistent plate attack, scoring one each in the second and fourth, three in the third and three in the fifth.

Kosanke limited the Huskies to a pair of base hits and struck out 13 in the opener.

In the second game, Brooklyn Walker added two more run-scoring base hits and Milliman drove in three with two hits and a sacrifice fly. Calavan and Cassie Hernandez added run-scoring base hits and two hits each.

"Some of the things that don't show up in the box score were key sacrifice bunts from Harley Rowe, Zoe Wavrin and M.J. Schulte. Each lead to a run," said Mauldin. "On the day, we had five sac bunts. That's a sign of good teamwork and few things make coaches prouder."

Kosanke struck out eight in the second game and scattered five hits. Only one of the four Sweet Home runs was earned and that came in the second game when the Huskies managed a pair of doubles to tie the game at 1-1.

That didn't last long as Calavan was hit by a pitch and Milliman blasted a pitch within a foot of clearing the center field fence. Kreminski walked and Brooklyn Walker followed with a run-scoring double.

The Outlaws were to host No. 1-ranked Marist (winner of 54-straight Sky-Em League games) on April 12, then travel to Pleasant Hill April 13, before hosting Cottage Grove at SHS on April 15. Saturday the 17th takes the Outlaws to No. 7 Gladstone for a non-league double header.

While the varsity was rolling, the junior varsity Outlaws won three of four, including their first Sky-Em League games. They drilled Junction City 23-4 and beat Marist 10-2, then split a pair of close games with Sweet Home. Coach Rusty Bellew praised the pitching of Tiffani Milliman and Katie Bellew and the catching of Lauryn Chauncey.