After a dismal 2001, which featured a 1-20 Pacific-10 Conference record and the resignation of the head coach, the Oregon softball team will begin the 2002 season today in Texas.
First-year head coach Brent Rincon leads the Ducks to the B&G Properties Tournament hosted by Southwest Texas State in San Marcos, Texas. Oregon will face Houston and Texas Tech on Friday, Texas A&M Corpus Christi and No. 17 Southwest Texas State on Saturday and Texas Tech again on Sunday.
Rincon took over the job as interim head coach after Rick Gamez resigned in October after an audit revealed discrepancies of more than $5,700 in the team’s travel budget.
Last season’s team (28-40 overall) was marked with poor team chemistry, and midway through the year, senior catcher Kelly Planche quit for personal reasons. This year, the team will be without three starters who were expected to return.
Juniors Missy Coe and Lisa Wangler, last year’s Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, and sophomore Kate Peterson all have decided not to play this year for the Ducks.
Oregon is returning 11 letterwinners and five starters, including pitcher Connie McMurren, who pitched 160.1 innings last year, and junior infielder Alyssa Laux, who hit .353 last season and was named to the all-region team. Laux’s batting average was second only to Wangler’s .367.
Rincon is beginning his first year of collegiate coaching after working as the athletic director at Tempe High in Arizona. He also coached Corona Del Sol and McClintock high schools. Rincon will have the aid of first-year assistants Jennifer Jaime, who won a Big 12 Championship as a player at Oklahoma, and Holly Smith, who played three years at Arizona State (1998-2000).