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60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, May 6, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 2, 2005 Southern Oregon University�s Leann Foster has hit five home runs this season, sharing the team lead with Tanisha Burch. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Packing a wallop Former Crater star Foster has been a force as SOU surges toward the postseason By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune ASHLAND — She monitors it. She frets over it. She cares for it. Ever since Southern Oregon University softball player Leann Foster learned several years ago that she has a neuro-cardio disorder, she’s been keenly aware of what her body is up to. But even the most devoted caretakers need a vacation. That’s where home runs come into play for the Raider slugger. "Every time it happens," says Foster, a former Crater all-star, "it’s really such an out-of-body experience for me because I never, ever swing for home runs. If it happens, it’s a mistake. But I’ll take mistakes with those kinds of results all the time." Advertisement The junior center fielder has made five of those "mistakes," sharing the team home run lead with Tanisha Burch, and is a big reason why SOU is among the hottest teams in the country. The Raiders have climbed back into the NAIA rankings at No. 25, thanks to a 15-game winning streak. They also have taken command of the Cascade Conference race, jumping to a three-game lead with six to play. If SOU (32-15, 15-4 Cascade) wins its third straight conference title, it’ll host the four-team Region I Tournament in two weeks. The Raiders entertain Oregon Tech in a 2 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday. Foster isn’t your typical power hitter, her slender build belying the pop she wields. But her ability to crush foes with big hits gained credence in recent twin-bill sweeps of Eastern Oregon and Oregon Tech. In Game 1 against Eastern, her two-run, fifth-inning double resulted in a 3-2 victory, then her two-run homer in Game 2 helped SOU dig out of a 4-0 rut en route to a 6-5 win. Three days later versus OIT, Foster’s two-run homer in the ninth inning led to a 10-9 triumph. "She does not look like she’d generate a lot of pop at all," says coach Larry Binney, "but she generates tremendous bat speed. She can turn on the ball and hit a double down the line or hit it out of the park." Indeed, Foster’s hands speed through the hitting zone like race cars on a straightaway, her strong wrists accelerating the bat through the ball. She occupies the No. 3 hole for the Raiders, a position that generally goes to the most well-rounded of hitters. They are called on for power and to hit for average, drive in runs and make things happen on the basepaths with their speed. She’s batting .297, leads the team in RBIs with 32 and is second in doubles (seven) and stolen bases (10). Foster, who transferred to SOU after a year at Linfield, embraces the role of coming through in the clutch. "Usually," she says, "I really like the pressure. It’s like I’m up there and I’m mad and I hit better when I’m mad. I feel like my role is to get people in when they’re on base. Focusing is a big part of it." Ironically, one of Foster’s best seasons came during a period when it was difficult to focus on softball. As a junior at Crater, she fell ill and had periods when her blood pressure would drop suddenly and she’d become disoriented. She was thought to have a brain tumor, then misdiagnosed as having epilepsy. When medication for the latter didn’t work and further complicated matters, she was sent to a top neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. For five days, Foster was monitored with electrodes and a video camera in the event of a seizure while being weaned off the epilepsy medication. Eventually, she was found to have a bad connection between her heart and brain. Stress, too much exercise and heat are among the things that trigger the symptoms, and Foster has learned to recognize them and back off. Doctors are hopeful, she says, that the condition will correct itself in the near future through hormonal changes. Through it all, softball was never far from her thoughts. While in Minnesota, she pleaded with her father: "Dad, I’ve got to hit!" So they went to a store, bought whiffle balls and headed to the park. "Back then," says Foster, "the biggest problem for me was missing a week of softball. I could have been dying, and here I am worried about softball." When she returned for her junior year with the Comets, she batted .519 and made the Southern Oregon Conference all-star first team. She was a repeat selection the following year, then moved on to Linfield. Although she enjoyed the McMinnville school and program, she transferred in order to ease the financial burden. Now she’s a burden to SOU foes. The Raiders started slowly this season, going 2-7 in part because of stiff competition in a couple of California tournaments. "We weren’t hitting well," says Foster. "It came a lot earlier for us last year, but this year we kept going, ‘When is it going to happen? When is it going to happen?’ All of us were frustrated; the pitching was really good. But it did so much for us later in the season." The Raiders’ team batting average has risen 120 points in the past 20-some games. Kara Ray, a high school teammate of Foster’s, and Amy Williams are hitting .364 to lead SOU, and Burch is at .354. Two others, Carla Lillis (.323) and Megan Rock (.308) are also above .300. "We just have amazing athletes on this team," says Foster. "Every batter that comes, you have confidence in." With most of the key players in their senior seasons and Binney on the verge of retirement, Foster allows, "That’s why this year is really big." And she’s doing big things to keep it going. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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