They may not have made it to the Women’s College World Series this season, but for an Oregon program that went just 16-34 a year ago, the 2010 season was a welcomed relief.
In their first year under new head coach Mike White, the Ducks (36-21) put together a remarkable campaign overall, leaving the door wide open for a team that returns eight of its nine starters next season.
That youth, somewhat of a question mark back in early February, turned out to be the guiding force in Oregon’s success this season. Led by hard-throwing freshman Jessica Moore in the circle and freshmen outfielders Allie Burger and Samantha Pappas at the plate, Oregon found a winning combination at just the right time.
Making such a huge impact in their first year might not have been what was expected of the four freshmen — the fourth, Kaylan Howard, started 56 games at second base and was second on the team with nine home runs — but it was a role they were all ready and willing to take on to help revamp the program.
“We definitely wanted to,” Pappas said. “We didn’t expect that we’d make the impact that we did, but it was all from the coaches. They helped us a lot.
“We couldn’t have done it without them because our ability alone helps us, but their coaching is unbelievable.”
Pappas was one of a handful of Oregon players to receive postseason recognition. She was awarded the Pacific-10 Conference Freshman of the Year. Pappas ended the season as the Ducks leader in at-bats (167), hits (64), home runs (11), RBI (48), walks (27), and steals (11). Her counterpart, Burger, led the team in average (.387), runs (36), and triples (4).
On the other side of the ball, Moore tallied a 16-13 record in her 41 appearances, throwing 14 complete games with five shutouts and four saves. Moore also became Oregon’s all-time single-season leader in strikeouts with 238, smashing Amy Harris’ mark of 203 fanned batters from the 2005 season.
In a grueling conference schedule that featured no less than six teams in the top 20 nationally during any given week, the Ducks came out hot and looked ready to make a run into the postseason.
Picking up series wins over Oregon State (2-1) and California (3-0) to start off Pac-10 play atop the league leader board, the Ducks then had to match up with defending national champion powerhouse No. 1 Washington the following week. Oregon was able to steal the second game of the series as it shut out the Huskies and hammered out four runs against the nation’s best pitcher in Danielle Lawrie. Though Oregon lost the series, that one win proved it could compete with anyone in the country on any given day.
The physical ability, White said, has never been in short supply with the Oregon program.
“Well, you know it’s not up to me,” White said. “I mean, all I can do is direct and help and lead, but it’s really up to the ladies and I think they’ve proven that they had the capabilities; it just had to be put together.”
Those capabilities helped the Ducks to an 8-13 Pac-10 record, the same amount of conference wins they’ve had the past two seasons combined. And after being stationed in the top 25 throughout the final two months of the season, Oregon was awarded its first trip to a regional since 2007.
Regional play, arguably the best team softball Oregon played all year, saw the Ducks cruise through Atlanta with a perfect 3-0 mark after upsetting Auburn in the opener and beating host Georgia Tech twice over the next two days.
The celebration was short lived, however, as the Ducks made a quick turn-around and flew back to Columbia, Mo., for the first-ever Super Regional appearance in school history. But Oregon was no match for the No. 8-seeded Missouri Tigers, and saw an otherwise brilliant season come to a close.
“I think what I’m most proud about the team is that we didn’t give up all year,” senior first baseman Carlyn Re said. “If we were down in the seventh inning I knew we would make a comeback.”
Re is one of the five Oregon seniors — Hannah Barril, Neena Bryant, Shelley Deadmond and Blair Williamson — that played their final games in an Oregon uniform last weekend.
They will undoubtedly be sorely missed, but nevertheless, the future for Oregon softball looks extremely bright.
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