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Gravelle secures Raiders' future By Rich Rosenthal For The Tidings His Raiders play for the 2003 Cascade Conference championship Saturday afternoon, but Southern Oregon University head softball coach James Gravelle is already solidifying the 2004 battery. The third-year coach on Tuesday announced right-handed pitcher Miranda Gillaspie and catcher Carla Lillis of Redmond, along with North Medford High senior all-state hurler Keri Sevano, are slated to don Raider jerseys next season. Gillaspie is currently 9-2 as a sophomore with a 1.19 ERA for playoff-bound Clackamas Community College. In addition to whiffing 51 batters in 58 innings of action, she is batting .365 with two home runs and 17 RBI in 52 plate appearances. In 2002, Gillaspie went 15-6 in the pitching circle and earned Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges all-tournament honors. As a prep standout, Gillaspie, the 2001 Intermountain Conference player-of-the-year and second-team all-state selection, played a key role in Redmond High's run to the Class 4A tournament semifinals her junior and senior years. "Miranda is a power pitcher a lot like (current Raider ace) Brandi Brown," Gravelle said. "She has velocity with control, and she places the ball very well. She can also hit the ball extremely well." Lillis, who has caught for Gillaspie throughout their middle school, high school and college careers, is batting .402 as the Clackamas clean-up hitter. She compiled a .345 clip with three home runs and 23 RBI last season, and was a first-team all-state performer at Redmond High. "Carla is a power source at the plate and she has the ability to fill one of the 3-4-5 spots in our batting order," Gravelle said. "Carla and Miranda work extremely well together, and that's an important aspect in fastpitch softball." Sevano, who committed to SOU last fall, is 6-0 and has yielded only two earned runs in 54 innings this season for the defending state champion Black Tornado, which currently is atop the Southern Oregon Conference standings and ranked No. 2 in the Class 4A poll. Sevano is 41-3 with an 0.53 ERA over the past four seasons at NMHS. "Keri is a very versatile pitcher," Gravelle said. "She continually surprises batters with a variety of pitches, and she changes speeds drastically and effectively." The pitching duo will help fill the void that will be created when all-star workhorse Brown, who is 70-31 the past three years, graduates in June. "I feel we've recruited the top high school and junior college pitcher in the state," Gravelle said. SOU, which leads second-place Oregon Tech by a game in the five-team conference title chase, caps the regular season with two games against the Owls Saturday at University Field starting at noon. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -