Sisters Junior Little League kicks off season after one-year absence

After a one-year hiatus, thanks to the efforts of Brett Hudson and Rochell Curti, Sisters will have a Junior Little League team (13- to 14-year-olds) competing against teams from Madras, Prineville, Redmond, Bend, Warm Springs and La Pine.

"I could see a need for development of the program with the high school only able to field a varsity team this year," said Hudson. "I talked with my daughter (Haylie) and asked her to go out and recruit her friends so that Sisters Little League could field a junior (division) team this year. I was pleased to see that the response was positive, with 13 girls on the roster and two younger teams to follow."

Hudson has spent the three previous softball seasons helping coach his daughter's travel team and has a dozen years of involvement with son Hayden's varied sports adventures. Hayden is a freshman athlete at Pacific University in Forest Grove.

The team is managed by Curti and coached by Hudson. The squad includes: Margo Bruguier, Chawndra Craig, Shayla Curtis, Anja Gnos, Emily Hartford, Haylie Hudson, Laken Kindsfather, Leah McIntosh, Zoey Nason, Alexis Ogilvie, Cheyenne Sproat, Samantha Wavrin and Angela Williams.

"They are a very athletic group, all having multi-sport experience which allows them to have better field awareness," Curti said. "These girls are eager to play and are very coachable."

The locals will open the Junior Little League season on Thursday, April 14 by traveling to Crook County for a 6 p.m. game, then host Jefferson County in a doubleheader on April 16, starting at 10 a.m. at Sisters High School.

Hudson noted that most of the girls on the 2011 Juniors had previous softball experience, while many others have played other sports. Two are sisters of former Outlaws players.

"This is key for me that, with a community of our size, the kids are allowed to be multi-sport athletes to support the strong traditions of SHS athletics," said Hudson. "Without this commitment we just don't have the athletes to go around."

As for expectations, Curti said it was to fine-tune fundamentals with a focus on "patience, precision and power so that these girls feel empowered at bat or in any position on the field."

Though there was no 2010 squad, the 2009 Sisters Little League team was the most successful in Sisters history as it won the District 2 title, then placed fifth in state with a 3-2 record. Two members from that team - Taylor Nieri and Harley Rowe - are sophomores on the Sisters High School varsity squad. Four others from that team also are playing high school softball: Quincy Mate (Mountain View), Katie Bellew (Creswell), and Amanda Kane and Ralyn Williams (Redmond).