Outlaws in Fastpitch Northwest

Two Sisters High School softball players were members of a pair of Oregon-select teams that competed in Fastpitch Northwest's Championship Series, held July 25-28 in Centralia, WA.

Junior-to-be Taylor Nieri played for the Oregon Elite Gold team, and incoming SHS freshman Haylie Hudson for the Oregon Elite Junior team during the 4-day event.

Hudson's team won the tournament, defeating Seattle Metro, 5-3, in the championship game.

Hudson's team included a trio of other Central Oregon players - Kiahna Brown (Redmond) and Lisa Sylvester and Kendall Kramer of Bend High. Two other Bend athletes (Mountain View's Hannah Wicklund and Bend's Awbrey Kincade) were selected for the junior team, but were unable to participate due to prior commitments.

Hudson's team was co-coached by her father, Brett Hudson, who also co-coaches the 14U Redmond Wildfire and the Sisters Little League Junior team. The younger Hudson plays infield, pitches and catches. She is a switch-hitter.

"I was simply amazed with all the athletes," said Brett Hudson. "Each one of them were always ready to play any position and share responsibility throughout the week. The 'put self on shelf' value was never an issue and automatic for these ladies.

"I was extremely proud of our Central Oregon girls, and applaud their hard work and successes," added the coach.

Players were selected to play in the tournament after their efforts in one of Fastpitch Northwest's regional Prospect Evaluation Camps and SPARQ (speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness) testing clinics. Players were nominated by their high-school coaches to participate in the PECs.

Fastpitch Northwest is the sister of Baseball Northwest, and designed to showcase athletes who have interest in playing collegiately. Alumni of Baseball Northwest include Major League Baseball all-stars Jacoby Elsbury (Boston Red Sox) and Tim Lincecum (San Francisco Giants) to name a few.

The Championship Series featured 24 teams - 16 in the Senior bracket and eight in the Junior bracket. 

"It's an all-stars' all-star tournament," said Ken Olson, director of FPNW, a division of Sports Capitol Northwest. "Our mission is to bring the best fastpitch players forward in their pursuit to play beyond high school.

"We are excited to provide this unique opportunity to young women athletes throughout the Northwest."

Many college scouts were in attendance during the championship event, said Olson. "That's the goal - to give exposure to our athletes."

States included in FPNW's "territory" are Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska and Hawaii. A pair of Hawaiian teams competed in Centralia, as did a dozen players from Canada.

"Fastpitch NW has hit a home-run with this program for softball and athlete development and visibility," added Hudson. "To have nearly 300 athletes come together for a week of competition playing with girls they just met and at the championship caliber they did it in exemplifies the character and skills of these athletes."

Nieri's team was made up of players who will graduate in 2012 and 2013, and also featured four other Central Oregon softball players -Ashley Pesek and Cassidy Edwards of Redmond High School, Mountain View of Bend's Shelbee Wells and Miranda Smith of Crook County High School. All were first-team all-league high school softball players in 2011.

Nieri, a catcher/outfielder, was first-team all-Sky-Em League as a sophomore in both softball and basketball. She was third-team 4A All-State in softball and has played 16U this summer for the Central Oregon VooDoo.

She was able to showcase her versatility as she played third and second, in addition to catching and playing center field.

Nieri's team was coached by former Sisters High School coach Tom Mauldin, who is a pitching consultant and prospect evaluator for FPNW.

"We didn't play in the championship, but we did play the two teams that did. However, it's about player exposure and our players got just that," said Mauldin. "The reviews from the college coaches were very good."