In a perfect world, I could take credit for Cambria Miranda’s softball success with Oregon State. Who can doubt it really, when we played together on the same T-ball team years ago?
Miranda’s play this season consists of 14 home runs, six straight games with at least one homer at one point, and a .327 average, 30 RBIs, 10 doubles and two triples. She’s already broken Oregon State’s single season record for runs scored with 46, breaking Adrienne Alo’s standard of 45 that she set in 2004.
Miranda’s true impact can be felt with her powerful bat. Batting two weeks ago against Washington, she crushed a pitch only to have it nullified by a runner leaving first base early.
Miranda returned to the plate and two pitches later slugged another home run.
Hold off, Oregon fans who may be asking why I’m focusing on an Oregon State softball player – a bitter rival – when Oregon’s softball program enjoyed wins last weekend against Stanford and California.
The Camarillo connection is why.
Miranda, a 2004 Camarillo High graduate and a former classmate from a city of 57,000 in Camarillo, Calif., is one of three Scorpions in the Oregon State-Oregon rivalry, which already features Oregon first baseman Beth Boskovich and Oregon State’s DeAnn Young (sister of MLB’s Dmitri and Delmon Young).
All three remain within a 45-minute drive, but only four years ago, Boskovich teamed with Miranda and Young to form the core of a talented Camarillo lineup. They played on a softball field backed against Highway 101 and without luxuries of Howe Field or the OSU Softball Complex.
Considering all that talent it still surprises me that they never won a CIF-Division I championship. They always came up short.
I’ve followed the trio since then, and when I transferred to Oregon last fall, it made this season all the more memorable. Miranda’s start coincides with freshman Young’s emergence (.348 average, seven home runs, 24 RBIs) and, of course, the cornerstone Boskovich (.300 average, seven doubles, 19 RBIs through Tuesday).
An anterior cruciate ligament injury to Boskovich almost ruined this trio. Making her return three weeks later almost seemed natural, coming, coincidentally, against Oregon State. She stroked an RBI single in her first at-bat.
Right knee brace notwithstanding, Boskovich continued her strong play with a double and single in Oregon’s 9-0 win over Stanford. She never hesitated, even when she slid into second base on her double. She completed physical plays at first base.
The Camarillo High School softball program has developed numerous college athletes under head coach Jack Willard. To be here now, seeing three alumni wreaking havoc on the Pacific-10 Conference, makes the softball season – win or lose – worthwhile.

[email protected]