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Raiders make it official By RICH ROSENTHAL For The Tidings It's official. Southern Oregon University Athletic Director Phil Pifer on Tuesday announced Larry Binney has been chosen to coach the Raider fastpitch softball team. The move seemed destined since Binney was hired on an interim basis in early July. The five-time Oregon high school softball coach-of-the-year and 1998 national coach-of-the-year was named the school's interim softball coach July 2, five days after the resignation of his predecessor, James Gravelle, while a permanent position search was conducted. Binney didn't have to wait long to have the interim label removed. "I'm excited about the opportunity," Binney said, "and I'm hitting the ground running." Binney guided North Medford High School to 16 Southern Oregon Conference softball titles and to the 1984, '97, '98 and 2002 state championships. His Black Tornado teams accumulated a 471-103-1 overall record over 20 seasons. Binney graduated from SOU in 1970. He played four years on the Raider baseball team, was a member of the 1966 Oregon Collegiate Conference championship squad, and he earned conference and regional all-star honors as a junior and senior first baseman. The new coaching staff, like Binney, will have strong ties to the area. Binney indicated two of his former SOU teammates (Rod Rumrey and Harley Dickerson) and another longtime North Medford assistant (Dan Crippen) will join him on the Raider coaching staff next season. Rumrey, a Raider shortstop and all-star wide receiver in the late 1960s and the former North Medford head football coach, will serve as the team's first base coach, the same role he occupied for the Black Tornado starting in 1989. "Rod does an amazing job of getting the maximum out of players abilities," Binney said. "He put together a great speed development and weightlifting program (at North Medford) that we'll be using here (at SOU)." Dickerson, a retired high school instructor and administrator who will work with catchers and hitters, was a baseball utility player and football quarterback at SOU in the mid-1960s. His softball experience of over 30 years earned the former Eagle Point High coach recognition in the Medford and Oregon ASA Halls of Fame. Crippen, also a longtime ASA player, has assisted Binney's teams since 1990. Southern Oregon returns six starters and 10 letterwinners from the 2003 team that captured the Cascade Conference championship, posted an 29-11 record, advanced to the NAIA Region I championship game and finished with a No. 16 national ranking. While league MVP Haley Varley and regional all-star Lisa Aitchison are the key returners, Binney must replace the squad's top pitcher (three-time all-star Brandi Brown), top hitter (two-time all-star Angie Chaplin), as well as three-time Academic All-American shortstop Latisha Inget. "We expect about 30 returners, recruits or walk-ons on the first day of tryouts in October," Binney said. "Our goal is to repeat as Cascade Conference champions and qualify for nationals, and I think we have the ingredients to accomplish both right away." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | 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 -