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March 19-22, 2009 -- MICHELLE WRIGLEY DIARY @ WOU March 22 -- Back In The Win Column!After a disappointing Saturday we came out with a chip on our shoulder on Sunday! Scoring in the very first inning we kept our foot on the gas as we continued to score throughout the game making the final score 10-0 in 5 innings, some serious pay back from the day before! Within these 10 runs we had a GRAND SLAM from Krista - absolutely AMAZING! But the fun didn't stop there, after a short lunch break we just kept on pressing. The second game started out a little slower and was very close for a long time, but a home run from Jordan definately helped out and the momentum was back in our favor again! We ended up taking that game 4-2 in the full seven innings. It was a great day for us, making for a fun bus ride home! We have some exhibition games this wednesday and then on to our big games with CWU and the tourny in Cali, we're all super excited and can't wait to get back on the field! - Michelle March 21 -- Disappointment Today we came out excited and ready to play. But even with Mac on the mound throwing a great game we couldn't get it done at the plate. Cait made a great play at short getting the runner caught between second and third. However, we still lost 2-1 with the Wolves showing some serious respect for Meg by throwing her 12 straight balls in 3 at bats, and walking her the fourth time as well. The second game started out with a bang, as Meg hit a solo homerun proving that they should've just stuck with walking her like in game one. A little later in the game Andi homered as well, but unfortunately that was the extent of our run scoring... It was a disappointing day for us offensively but we did have some good at bats especially steph fox and morgan and we're looking forward to getting another go at it tomorrow! - Michelle March 20 -- Road Trip! Today we all met at the bus at 2:45 and were on the road by three. We hit some serious traffic in seattle and in a short EIGHT hours we arrived at the hotel. We watched a total of four movies on the way down: Role Models, Major League I and II and Dazed and Confused. We also stopped off at our typical dinner spot in centralia. On any other trip down to WOU this dinner spot is perfect seeing as a personal favorite, tacobell, is close by. However, Karli and I gave up all Bellingham exit 255 restaurants (which includes tacobell, jbox, applebees, panda express, and KFC) for lent and it was a terrible temptation. Coach Dan sampled all the local restaurants and did not hesitate to constantly remind us that we couldn't enjoy any of it... Also at the dinner stop we saw a boy that attends WWU (Hil recognized him, but had never actually met him) so naturally Coach Lonnie called him onto the bus because he thought that someone actually knew him...it was a little awkward. haha. But we're all glad to finally be at the hotel and in our beds! Its about time to pass out for the evening! After a casual game of sword fighting with the body length pillows that is :) Can't wait for tomorrow! Time to take two! - Michelle March 19 -- Finally... The anticipation has been building since the tough weekend against MSUB. With the Saint Martin's games rained out the team has been practicing hard for two weeks straight and we're ready to prove ourselves once and for all. After an exhausting week of finals what better than the first bus trip of the year! Everyone is getting their gear all packed, and deciding which movie to bring for the long drive to Western Oregon. At the end of practice today we decided to burn off a little steam and played a quick game of MAFIA! Where we found out that Katy seemed to have "9 lives" and Anna just can't be trusted...poor Mac. It ended in a draw with the Mafia and the Doctor in an endless showdown. As you can tell we're all quite excited and no one is getting much sleep tonight, since it is 11:51 as i'm writing this! can't wait for a great weekend of ball!!! - Michelle March 19, 2009 -- BACK ON THE DIAMOND? Will the weather cooperate? Thats the question on everyone's mind as we prepare to head south for a four-game series versus Western Oregon. It should be a great series as the leagues top two offenses collide in Monmouth! This weekend's match up also features the last two GNAC regular-season champions. Both championships were clinched on the season's final day, as the Vikings knocked off the Wolves on the last day of the 2007 campaign and WOU returned the favor in 2008.You can get the inside story on Western's weekend in Oregon when Michelle Wrigley takes over Outside the Lines. The sophomore, outfielder will be checking in live from Monmouth in this week's player diary... March 15, 2009 -- WASHED OUT This weekend's four-game series with Saint Martin's has been completely washed away by rain. Such is life for the Pacific Northwest softball player! I guess we're looking at another week in the cages before getting back on the field next week at Western Oregon.March 10, 2009 -- MSUB RECAP & A LOOK AHEAD Well - certainly not our finest weekend! We will have to play much better if we want to reach our team and individual goals! The team is committed to learning from last weekend and leaving it in the past. A new season starts this Saturday when we host Saint Martin's and we are all excited to get back on the field!We have had two good practices to start the week, including a couple rowdy games of dodgeball after practice today to eliminate any lingering stress and anxiety! The seniors and frosh faced off against the sophs and juniors and the teams split a post-practice twinbill. Again, not a lot to like about the series against Montana St. Billings - but a few players did stand out as Vikings of the Week...
Pitcher of the Week - Sarah McEnroe (1-1) March 2, 2009 -- VIKINGS OF THE WEEK I forgot to post last week's Vikings of the week - but the plan this season is to nominate an offensive, defensive and pitching Viking of the week to give the kids the recognition they deserve should they happen to be passed over by the GNAC. Last week's winners were Meghan Flem (Offensive - also the GNAC POW), Kelsey Anderson (Defensive) and Sarah McEnroe (Pitching - GNAC Pitching Honorable Mention)...Meanwhile, in week two...
Offensive Player of the Week - Caitlin Dotlich, SS
Defensive Player of the Week - Hilary Cosentino, OF
Pitcher of the Week - Sarah McEnroe March 1, 2009 -- PACK THE PARK What a great result on Pack the Park day! The Vikings swept a doubleheader from Central Washington in front of a school record crowd of 349. It really was a great atmosphere and the team appreciates everyone's support! Everyone involved seemed to have a terrific time, inspite of the cool temps and wet weather.
February 27, 2009 -- RIVALRY WEEK Not even Wednesday's surprise snowstorm can stop the Vikings and Wildcats from PACKING THE PARK!! The field has been cleared and should be in great shape by tomorrow for the home opener! Western Washington vs. Central Washington - a rivalry renewed - tomorrow at noon... February 18-21, 2009 -- JESSICA ROSENCRANTS DIARY @ NNU February 21 -- Back on Track...There was a huge lift in our spirits and everyone came ready to play. The only way we were going to leave Idaho happy was if we won both our games today. We jumped on NNU's pitcher early and continued to add-on runs throughout both games. The bats stayed alive all throughout the day and we scored 18 runs. Megan hit back to back homeruns, one of them a grand slam that cleared the fence beyond the field`s homerun fence. We also hit 4 legitimate triples as a team today, which made five triples for the weekend. The defense shut down the NNU lineup once again and they were not able to string many hits together. One play in particular really showed us how strong our defense is. With no outs, Tobey caught a deep pop fly and threw it to her cut, Caitlin, who turned and fired it to Jordan at third to tag the girl out at third for the double play. Sweet! During the second game, an NNU player was spotted maliciously throwing a softball at a pair of ducks on the field!! Haha, a pair of ducks invaded the field and were intent on staying for the whole game - Kelsey and Mac joined the effort to chase the ducks off the field but had no luck... Bring on CWU! February 20 -- Season Opener... The first game against NNU didn't go as well as we wanted. We had "first-game jitters" and a couple bad breaks. Scoring two runs in the third got the monkey off our back, but that ended up working against us. Our defense played great and made no errors, but as a team we let up a little bit offensively. We ended up going into extra innings and lost 3-2 in the bottom of the 9th on a play at the plate. We were really disappointed that we let the game slip out of our hands. In the second game, we were able to turn it around. Sarah Mac threw a two-hit shut out and dominated NNU's lineup. We wanted to be relentless offensively and made it our goal to add-on runs every inning. We managed to score 13 runs in 5 innings. Caitlin hit a grandslam and Morgan hit a solo homerun. Michelle had a great day at the plate with 4 hits altogether. Our freshman got a taste of college ball today and they all proved they belong at this level. Our new goal: play every inning like the score is 0-0 and play every game like it's for a championship. February 18 -- The Night Before... Twas the night before the WWU Softball team left for Nampa, ID to play the first games of the 2009 season. We've packed our uniforms, made extra mouth guards, and shined our cleats all in the hope that we will actually get some sleep tonight. Everyone is really excited to finally play this weekend. The past week of practice was electrifying, you could feel the team's urgency to get on the field. Maybe it was Tobey's homerun off the scoreboard today in batting practice, or maybe it was Masa's uncanny ability to catch a blazing line drive with his bare hand. Either way, we know something great lies ahead of us and it's up to us to make it happen. It all starts this weekend. After all those early mornings runs on the football field, pumping iron at the crack of dawn, endless hours in Gym D, and a handful of terrible team pictures, we are ready to take on the Crusaders. We've got a lot to prove this season and definitely have the team to do it. We have a lot of high expectations and aren't going to settle for anything less! Go Viks!! February 12, 2009 -- ONE WEEK OUT!! One week from today the Western Washington Softball team will board the bus to SeaTac and eventually Nampa, Idaho for the season-opening series at Northwest Nazarene. We'll try to pick up the activity on Outside the Lines as we ramp up for the games - We're hoping to settle into some sort of posting schedule as the season progresses.We'll also turn OTL over to the kids from time to time, beginning next week when senior captain Jessica Rosencrants takes the reigns to give you an inside look at the Vikings first road trip of the year. There isn't much to do in Nampa, but between the games, the hotel (Best road hotel in the GNAC! GREAT POOL!) and all the studying it should be pretty entertaining...;) February 2, 2009 -- AND THEY'RE OFF!! Eighteen days remain before the Vikings take the field in Nampa, Idaho for a season-opening double header versus GNAC rival Northwest Nazarene, but a handful of teams kicked of the Division II West Region campaign yesterday...Cal State Stanislaus opened the year hosting Chico State and the Academy of Art in a triple-header at Warrior Field. CSUS shutout CCAA rival Chico State, 4-0, behind the pitching of ace right hander Jessica Gaumnitz and pounded out 10 hits in a 9-2 win over the Urban Knights. In the early game, Chico's Gwen Cox singled to right plating the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Wildcats knocked of the Academy of Art, 2-1. Notre Dame de Namur posted a 4-1 win over Cal State Monterey Bay in the season opener for both teams. In the nightcap, the two clubs settled for a 2-2 tie in 16 innings. CSUMB starter Jessica Boyle pitched all 16 innings and struck out 20, allowing only a pair of unearned runs in the seventh. Grand Canyon swept a three-game set with Western New Mexico with wins of 6-5, 15-2 and 5-1. The GNAC season kicks off Thursday when Central Washington travels to Chico State, before heading to Turlock, California for the Best of the West Invitational hosted by Cal State Stanislaus. Montana St. Billings will also compete in the Best of the West Tournament, which begins on February 6. JANUARY 29, 2009 -- WESTERN THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL The Great Northwest Athletic Conference released its 2009 Softball Preview Thursday afternoon, including the pre-season coaches poll. The Vikings (23 Pts.) were picked to finish third behind pre-season favorite Montana St. Billings (33) and Western Oregon (32). Central Washington (18) was fourth with Saint Martin's (13) and Northwest Nazarene (7) rounding out the field.JANUARY 26, 2009 -- INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS The Western Washington softball team has added a home double header with Simon Fraser (BC) to the 2009 schedule. The Vikings will host The Clan in a pair of international exhibitions on Wednesday, March 25 at 1:00 & 3:00 p.m.Simon Fraser is making the trip to Bellingham for the second straight season. Western posted a pair of high scoring victories in 2008, winning 9-6 and 7-6. The Vikings pounded out 27 hits in the two-game set. Michelle Wrigley led the way with a pair of three-hit outings. JANUARY 20, 2009 -- PRESIDENTS DAY CLINIC After a pair of successful Hitting Clinics at Bellingham's Extra Innings - WWU Softball has finalized plans for its annual President's Day Clinic. The Clinics will run on February 15 (8-12 year olds) and February 16 (13-18 year olds) from 10-4 at Carver Gymnasium on the campus of Western Washington University. More information, along with registration forms can be found here.JANUARY 20, 2009 -- POST SEASON SHAKE-UP Word out of the NCAA Offices is that the Division II Post-Season Playoffs will switch Regional formats from one eight-team regional to the Division I format featuring two four-team regionals. The two teams to emerge from the four-team regionals will meet in a best of three Super Regional at the home of the highest advancing seed. The winner of the Super Regionals will then advance to the National Championship Series. These changes are effective immediately and will be utilized during the 2009 season. In other Western Washington news - the weather has cooperated and we'll be outside for the second straight day today! Certainly a big help as we gear up for the season, which begins one month from today (February 20) at Northwest Nazarene! Also, the 2009 Western Softball Yearbook is off to print - just in time to miss the post-season schedule change - and should be available for purchase in the near future! The Media Guide will cost $20 and can be ordered by mail at:
WWU Softball JANUARY 10, 2009 -- ODDS AND ENDS Well - were one week into practice and the team is looking good. Hard to simulate a lot of game situations inside the gym, but if the weather cooperates we'll get out onto the field soon...Last chance to sign up for the WWU Hitting Clinics - the 8-12 group will be hitting at Extra Innings tomorrow from 9-2, while the 13-18 clinic will be next Sunday at 9 AM. The Vikings will be announcing plans for their annual Presidents Day Clinic shortly. Keep checking the Softball website for more information! Finally, and most importantly, plans are officially underway to PACK THE HOUSE for the 2009 season opener against Central Washington on February 28 at noon. Current plans include music, food, giveaways and much more. Your invited and so are all your friends and family! So make plans now to WEAR BLUE and BLUE OUT the Wildcats! You can learn more about PACK THE HOUSE DAY here or you can visit the WWU Softball Facebook page to learn more. JANUARY 7, 2009 -- READY, SET, GO! Happy New Year Viking fans! From a softball standpoint I think we're all really excited to put 2008 behind us and get ready for 2009. Its going to be a great season and it all starts today. First practice of the season begins at 3:00 PM. Unfortunately, today's practice will be closed to all media and fans - but we'll do our best to keep you updated on how the team progresses...DECEMBER 25, 2008 -- HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Today we asked the girls to share pictures and stories of their holiday trips home - I'll let you guess how that turned out! Its tough to pull the kids away from their new Christmas toys and get them to do any type of real work! If any information leaks in over the next few days we'll try to get that posted for you. In the meantime Happy Holidays from the Western Washington Softball Family!!
Holiday Updates!
DECEMBER 24, 2008 -- THE CLASS OF 2009!! Every family has their own holiday traditions - one of my families is to always open up one present on Christmas Eve! So this year I thought Id give a gift to the fans of Viking Softball in the form of a Class of 2009 preview. Coach Hicks announced the 2009 class on January 21 - but lets take a closer look at Erika and Rachelle!
ERIKA HENDRON, P
-- Erika Hendron
In the first five at bats we saw Rachelle, she was 4-for-5 while hitting for the cycle! While she is a consistent threat from the left side of the plate - with a lot of Michelle Wrigley and Jane Purdy in her - were most excited about the intangibles Rachelle brings to the table. One of the hardest working and most intelligent players you'll ever find, she is always in the right position to make the play. Berry is also incredibly coachable and likeable. She played ASA ball for Triple Threat Gold with current Vikings Kelsey Anderson and Alyssa Malland and played High School ball at Burlington-Edison with Caitlin Dotlich.
-- Rachelle Berry
DECEMBER 16, 2008 -- NEWCOMERS Sorry to keep everyone in suspense! Its been a busy few days for Western softball as we gear up for the start of spring practice in January - just 22 days away!! Before we hit the field (errr, gymnasium) lets take a moment and get to know the three sophomore transfers, the six incoming freshmen and the three redshirt freshmen joining the team in 2009...Sophomores
Class of 2009
Redshirt Freshmen
There you have it, the newbies! Welcome to the team! On paper it looks like a great group of kids primed for a great season. Lets hope the team stays focused and healthy! No matter how the season shakes out - its going to be a lot of fun! DECEMBER 12, 2008 -- WINTER HITTING CLINIC The Western Washington women's softball team will host a pair of Winter Hitting Clinics on January 11 & 18 from 9-1 PM at Bellingham's Extra-Innings Hitting Facility. Camps are open to players ages 8-18, with a camp for 8-12 year olds on January 11th and a camp for 13-18 year olds on January 18th.More information and registration forms can be found here. DECEMBER 12, 2008 -- SO MANY SOPHOMORES We have 10, count 'em 10 Sophomores! Thats way too much work for one day so were going to split them up for the sake of this preview. Afterall, I am only one man and there are only so many hours in a day! Today we'll welcome back our returning sophs and we'll get to the new kids tomorrow.
DECEMBER 10, 2008 -- ALUMNI NEWS From time to time we'll updates on former Vikings, giving you an idea of what they have been up to since graduating from Western. Today we'll feature a few of our more recent graduates!Katie Barker (Class of '08) graduates this weekend with her degree in recreation and community development and a minor in business administration! How exciting! Rumor mill says a trip to Spain is on the horizon. I know a lot of people who have gone to Spain and they have all had fantastic times. Congratulations Katie! Speaking of post-graduate travel, Lisa Pendergrast (Class of '08) has spent the past few months bouncing around the Austrailian outback. You can follow Lisa's journey via her official travel blog - G'Day Mate!. Its tough to watch the kids who have been such a big part of the program move on - but I think what we'll miss most with the departure of Katie and Lisa are the laughs! Lisa had a great sarcastic humor and Katie Barker was unintentional comedy gold! However, I feel that as a staff we've done a fantastic job recruiting a great group of young kids ready to step up and fill those roles! Michelle Wrigley is a pretty snarky character - always quick with a joke (She's not always funny, but she tries!). And while we'll miss Katie immensly, the unintentional laughs factory should be open for business 24/7 with the likes of Krista Bickar, Katy Kirschner, Alyssa Malland and Jordan Emmil running around campus. On a more somber note - I've learned that Class of '07 alumae Nicole Walker and Ashley Osman have recently been married. My condolences... DECEMBER 10, 2008 -- JUNIORS T-t-today (the) juniors (haha - Billy Madison is a great film)! Only two juniors, bringing our upperclass total to FOUR?! Yup, this will be a young Viking team - even younger than last year's club as hard as that may be to believe! However, as is the case with the senior class, we'll get plenty of production and leadership out of our pair of talented third year players!A lot of coaches will tell you that the junior year is the 'breakout year'. The year most players take that big step forward. If the fall season is any indication, it should be that type of season for both Meghan and Mac...
DECEMBER 8, 2009 -- SENIORS It's been at least a few weeks since we've had candy in the office candy jar and as a result much less player traffic on its way through Carver 181. While its been awfully lonely, it has given us a chance to really buckle down and get some work done! Its also a nice opportunity to update Outside the Lines! Today we'll take a look at the senior class - every successful team has great senior leadership and the 2009 Vikings will be no exception!
DECEMBER 4, 2008 -- DEAD WEEK Well its dead week on campus - which means the softball girls are hard at work studying for finals! I just ran into Sarah McEnroe in the hall way and her parents would be happy to know that she was off to the library to prepare for her exams. I'm sure she'll run into more than a few teammates over at Wilson, but they are such a determined group and I'm sure they wont let themselves be distracted!! :)While the team is gearing up for finals, I thought this would be a perfect time to take a quick look back at the 2008 fall season. In Coach Hicks' own words, this is one of the most exciting falls he has ever been a part of. What a difference a year has made for so many of our younger returning players! From the first practice of two-a-days, it was clear how hard the team had worked over the summer. The second half of last season was a dissapointment for all of us and the team is determined to learn from their mistakes and put 2008 behind them. The bats, which normally lag well behind the pitching in the fall, were jumping from day one. In the team's first fall competition, a double header at Seattle University against the Redhawks and Saint Martin's, the offense pounded out 24 hits in two games! At the University of Washington Fall Invitational, the Vikings posted big wins over Seattle U. and Lower Columbia CC. The next day, the Vikings played toe-to-toe with one of the PAC 10's best teams, the Washington Huskies. Krista Bickar doubled off of Canadian National Team pitcher Danielle Lawrie, while Jessica Rosencrants baffled the Husky hitters for five innings. The narrow loss was dissapointing, but it was a sign of great things to come in 2009. Knowing that they can play with teams like UW will give the team a great confidence boost heading into the spring. A lot of newcomers joined the team this fall - five freshman, four walk-ons and a pair of Division I transfers. In the next few days we'll preview the 2009 roster class by class to intorduce you to the newest Vikings and re-introduce our returnees. FYI - Spring practice, which begins January 8th, is just 35 days away! DECEMBER 1, 2008 -- PARKERSON SELECTED TO TEAM GREAT BRITAIN
Its an absolute travesty that Softball will not be a part of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. It would have been great to see Morgan earn the opportunity to play for her country on such a big stage - at home, no less! You can learn more about the reinstatement efforts for the 2016 Olympics here. The 2016 Olympic games will be held in either Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo or Rio de Janeiro - you'd have to think a Chicago or Tokyo bid would be good for Softball as the host country would have a legitmate shot at gold. DECEMBER 1, 2008 -- WELCOME!! Welcome to Outside The Lines! An inside look at Western Washington Softball designed to keep fans up to date on newsworthy items involving the Viking softball program. This is the place for in depth information including player profiles and interviews, in season previews and recaps, feature articles, sneak peeks behind the scenes of WWU Softball and much, much more! In the coming weeks, we'll kick things off by taking a look back at a successful fall season and a look ahead to the promise of 2009. In the meantime we'll be posting any other pertinent information we come across. So check back again soon to stay in the know!! |
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