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May 28, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels March 15, 2004 Ashland softball hopes to sneak up on rest of SOC By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Recipe for surprise: Take the toughest Class 4A softball conference in Oregon, add a team with seven seniors, mix in a head coach entering his fourth year leading the program and sprinkle with great attitudes, lots of effort and a pinch of confidence. Leave it to bake outdoors in North Mountain Park until Southern Oregon Conference play opens in April and see what happens. Really, just about anything could happen when the Ashland High softball team takes the field against Klamath Union on April 3 in Klamath Falls. "This conference isn't easy, but we're going to do everything we can to win," said fourth-year Grizz head coach Rich Beugli. "There are some very strong programs down here." Ashland's season-opener is 4 p.m. Tuesday at home against Phoenix. Last season, the Grizzlies couldn't have been counted as one of those strong programs. Ashland and Eagle Point held down the bottom of the SOC in 2003 with their identical 1-13 finishes. However, that single winner didn't define the season for the Grizzlies. Ashland mounted impressive assaults against the big guns in the SOC before coming up just shy. All together, the Grizzlies lost five one-run conference games in 2003, including a 14-inning two-day nail-biter against eventual conference co-champion South Medford. "Last year we were so close," said senior Grizz infielder Liz Clason about the loss to the Panthers. Senior Ashland utility player Jackie Renteria agreed. "We've played against these girls (the SOC) our whole lives," she said of the SOC. "We want to go to the playoffs." Something to start from While the Grizzlies didn't fare as well as they would have liked in 2003, the season did give the team a point to build from. "We've pretty much picked up from where we left off last year," Renteria said. "We've improved so much already. It's two completely different teams." Following an inter-squad scrimmage on Saturday morning at North Mountain Park, the Grizzly coaching staff boasted about the batting abilities of the girls, while noting the team needs to focus more on defensive play-making. "Every day a different person could step up and make the difference," Beugli said. "It just takes everybody doing their job to do as well as we'd like." A lot of that comes down to confidence and how mentally in-tune the players are with one another. "All the girls have great attitudes," Beugli said. "They show up every day and they want to get better. We don't have any superstars, we just have a lot of people who try really hard." The girls see the shift in the team's feel as well. "I think attitude is a big thing, just because we've known each other for a long time," said junior infielder Alysse Carlson. "It goes along with experience. This year we're focusing on executing and I think we're improving at a good rate." Seven seniors One of the best things about this year's Ashland High softball team is the investment each player has made in the program. This season marks the first where Beugli has guided the seniors since they first donned AHS uniforms as freshmen. Six of the seven seniors have two or three years of varsity experience with the Grizzly squad. The seventh, pitcher Amanda Bolsinger, transferred to Ashland this year with three years of varsity play behind her. "We've never had a lot of seniors," Beugli said, counting off each season's veterans on his fingers. "Except for the freshmen and Amanda, everybody has played for me." But following her quick introduction to the Grizz program, Bolsinger feels like a veteran and has good grasp on the capabilities of the squad. "This year, offensively, we'll be really strong," she said. "I think it's all mental on defense. We need to play every pitch with our heads in the game. We need to stay focused all game." Why it'll be tough The SOC is a challenging place to be a softball player. The North Medford softball dynasty has pushed other programs in the region to new heights, as the Black Tornado have appeared in the state championship softball game four times since 1996 and won three Class 4A titles. Meanwhile, the rest of the conference has risen to the challenge. Last season South tied North for the league crown with a 12-2 regular-season mark. The Panthers fell 5-0 to Forest Grove in the first round of the state tournament while the Black Tornado advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated 1-0 by Sprague High. But the biggest SOC surprise came when Grants Pass, the fourth-place seed out of the conference with a 9-5 regular-season effort, made it to a semifinal match-up against Sprague. Sprague ousted the Cavers 6-2 to move into the final event and win the state championship. That's a lot for Ashland to compete with. And there's more. "Crater's going to be right there," Beugli said. "They have a very strong team and Roseburg's Roseburg." Last season, Crater finished third in the SOC and Roseburg was fifth. But don't count the Grizzlies out before the first pitch has been thrown. "We all know how to play the game," said Bolsinger. "We need to play and trust one another." Just wait to see how the recipe heats up on the field at North Mountain Park. "We're going to hold our own and we'll surprise some teams," Beugli said. "If things go well, we'll get some Ws. If things don't, we won't." 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