Document text
Raiders looking for first CCC title By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings They've been the best two softball teams in the Cascade Conference for the past two years, play for schools that are archrivals in virtually every intercollegiate sport and on Saturday, they'll square off with the league title hanging in the balance. So you can believe Southern Oregon University senior shortstop Latisha Inget when she says, as she did prior to Thursday's practice, that "it doesn't get any better than this." Southern Oregon University all-star pitcher Brandi Brown shows why she's also one of the best power hitters in the Raider lineup during batting practice Thursday at University Field in Ashland. Ashland Daily Tidings/CHRIS MILLER Game 1 of the Cascade Conference regular-season-capping doubleheader between 19th-ranked SOU (26-9 overall, 10-4 CCC) and unranked Oregon Tech (22-20, 9-5) will begin at noon at University Field in Ashland. The Raiders need only a split to win the conference title outright. The Owls, on the other hand, must sweep Southern for the second time this season to leapfrog the Raiders and leave Ashland with the conference crown. Both teams have the potential to explode Saturday and run away with two huge wins. Southern Oregon outscored opponents 52-2 during the seven-game winning streak that came to an abrupt end Sunday vs. Albertson and is batting .327 as a group. The Raiders have already broken team records set just last season in hits (316), home runs (21) and RBIs (168). Oregon Tech, meanwhile, used a game-winning, bottom-of-the-eighth RBI double by sophomore Grace Fagan to beat Raider senior ace Brandi Brown 2-1 in the opener of the April 12 doubleheader between the schools, then throttled SOU 14-3 in the nightcap. The two conference powers were in opposite positions a year ago, when OIT garnered a split in the regular season finale to wrap up its second straight CCC championship. But that near miss is not on the Raiders' collective mind, says SOU coach James Gravelle. Playing well is. "It's something that at this point in our season, we're just looking to win softball games," said Gravelle, who's spearheaded the program's rise since it returned to the intercollegiate circuit three years ago. "National rankings are nice, No. 1 in the league is nice, but if we just go play the way we're capable of playing and win softball games, the Cascade Conference Championship is going to take care of itself. "The main thing is, we just have to worry about ourselves. We just take care of ourselves and we play the way we're capable of playing, we're going to win softball games against anybody." Brown, who along with Inget and senior third baseman Angie Chaplin will be making her final University field appearance, couldn't agree more. "I'm just treating it as another game, another weekend, another doubleheader," she said. "Our goal is to play our best and just see the ball at the plate and, me personally, it's to hit my pitches. It would be nice of course to win the conference, that's our goal, but if we don't we still have more games left. It's not the end of the season." Brown speaks the truth. Regardless of Saturday's outcomes, SOU has clinched one of the league's automatic berths to next month's four-team, double-elimination NAIA Region I tournament, which yields a trip to Alabama and nationals for the winner. But that doesn't mean the Raiders aren't giddy about the opportunity to clinch the league title at the expense of their chief rival. "I think it's kind of what my career has come down to," Inget said. "It's all just kind of built up to this moment and it's going to be an amazing (doubleheader). I'm really excited for it." Leading the Raiders individually are Brown, Chaplin, junior first baseman Lisa Aitchison and sophomore second baseman Haley Varley. Chaplin and Brown are the first Raiders to hit six home runs in a season and Brown already broke Chaplin's 2002 RBI record by driving in 36. Aitchison has walked a record 25 times and is in position to obliterate SOU's on-base percentage record (currently .537), while Varley is one hit (50) and one run (29) shy of equaling top season marks. For the Owls, senior all-star shortstop Lindy Schneider (.338 batting average), junior outfielder Lois Shoemaker (team-best .369 batting average) and senior pitcher Jen Harris (10-8, 2.88 earned run average) are holdovers from last year's 37-9 squad, while juniors Nikki Staley (.336, three home runs) and Kelsey Madsen (9-6, 1.57 earned run average) are key additions. Gravelle says no matter what happens Saturday, he's proud of how far his team has come since re-starting the program in 2001. "To put us in the situation that we're in, a third-year program ranked 19th in the country and playing for a conference championship, I don't know any other team across the country at any level that can say that," Gravelle said. "So, I'm impressed with the way these ladies have handled themselves throughout the year. We were inconsistent at times but we bounced right back. We had a loss last weekend and I believe we're going to start a new winning streak here." Gravelle credited his seniors with the program's meteoric rise and says they've set the tone for the Raiders down the stretch. "Brandi Brown, Latisha Inget, Angie Chaplin, my three seniors, have been with me since day one and I've been saying that since day one, as they're the ones that got us here," Gravelle said. "That's why I'm so proud. Those three girls have put us in the national spotlight, have put us in the position to win a conference championship the last two years and their work ethic and dedication over these last five years has really showed at the end of the season. "I owe it all to them and the young girls owe it all to them, and what they pass on this year to next year is going to say a lot about their legacy here." 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 -