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Former North softball pitcher Anders blossoms By GREG STILES The difference between playing in the Pacific West Conference playoffs this weekend and staying home was a fine line drawn very early for Taysha Anderson and her Hawaii Hilo softball teammates. Doubleheader losses to Hawaii Pacific on Feb. 18 and March 3 proved the Vulcans' undoing despite a 28-18 overall record and a second-place finish in their division. So instead of mixing it up with defending NCAA Division II champion Humboldt State, Western Washington and Western New Mexico in Bellingham, Wash., the Vulcans are looking forward to finals week and summer vacation. "They were beating us early and then we started beating them later on," said Anderson, a former all-state pitcher for North Medford. "The difference was they beat us five out of eight." Nonetheless, it was hard to take the luster off Anderson's junior season as she earned second-team PacWest honors and was named Hilo's outstanding player. "I got a lot more chances to prove myself this year," says Anderson, hinting at frustration in her first couple of seasons. "In college, all the hitters were No. 4 hitters in high school. You can't throw down the middle because it'll go over the fence. I had to make the ball move more and develop a better change-up. It took two years to learn exactly what I needed to do. "This year, I've thrown every other game. I got more chances and learned more. It was a combination of experience and thinking more about what I was doing." Anderson won her final 10 decisions, compiling a 13-4 record, including a 1-0 loss in 11 innings to Brigham Young University. In 22 games, she pitched 123� innings, struck out 58, walked 14 and compiled a 1.42 ERA that was sixth best in the 12-team conference. Anderson had the third fewest walks (0.79) per game. The 22 games Anderson threw was about half of the 45 pitched by former Illinois Valley star Jessame Kendall, who earned pitcher of the year honors for the third straight year as a member of the Humboldt State team. Kendall was 29-9 with an 0.90 ERA with 168 strikeouts and 43 walks in 265� innings. But instead of facing Kendall, Anderson is gearing up for her four remaining finals and thinking about what it will take to get into veterinarian school a year from now. "I've got two animal science classes, physics and micro-biology to go," she says. "If I can keep my grades where they're at, I'll have a 3.8 for this term." After that, she's headed back to the Rogue Valley and a summer of work at Medford Animal Hospital. "It's a big deal not making the playoffs, but nobody's crying about it," Anderson says. "This was definitely our best year in the three years I've been here." And maybe the Vulcans will catch fire earlier next season. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.