The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Sisters High School softball Coach Ben Miller is feeling pretty good these days.

And why shouldn't he? Nearing the 2013 season's midway point, Miller finds his squad 8-2 overall, tied with three other teams for the Sky-Em League lead, and is seeing success from both his older players and his younger players.

"I feel real good about our chances and potential success," said first-year head Coach Miller. "As for the standings, I'm not focusing too much energy on it because I believe it is too early to put a lot of stock in it. I use it as a tool more than anything. Our plan is to take it one game at a time."

The Outlaws saw their six-game winning streak end on April 3 (7-5 to Sweet Home), but bounced back to beat Elmira, 3-0, on April 5. Prior to the loss to Sweet Home, they routed Cottage Grove, 15-0.

The 8-2 Outlaws are 2-1 in the Sky-Em League and tied with Sweet Home (9-3), Junction City (7-5) and Elmira (5-4). The Outlaws played Junction City on Monday.

"We will make adjustments where needed while maintaining a positive and winning approach and try to do it with dignity and sportsmanship," said Miller. "I know it sounds like flubber, but I now believe this team can do exactly that."

Miller said seniors Harley Rowe and Cassidy Edwards have been leading on and off the field and the play of youngsters Boston Moore, Maddie Edwards, Ashlie Smith, Chawnie Craig and Shayla Curtis has him smiling.

Though the Outlaws committed nine errors in the loss to Sweet Home, Miller found a silver lining.

"Well, a silver lining would be that the girls are learning that they can get back up after getting knocked down," said Miller. "We just got up a little too late in this one. I credit our loss to defensive errors, but our regular hitters were out-performed today by our younger and less experienced players."

The Outlaws trailed 7-0 after four innings, but ran out of innings.

Craig and Curtis each had two hits and senior Cassidy Edwards struck out nine and scattered eight hits doing her best to overcome the errors. Sweet Home's Emily Marchbanks struck out 11 Outlaws in earning the win.

The Outlaws gave Edwards better support in the shutout win over Elmira. Edwards allowed only a fourth-inning single and struck out 14. She also had three base hits, and senior Taylor Nieri had a pair of base hits.

The Outlaws opened Sky-Em League play with a 15-0 win over Cottage Grove as Moore doubled twice and drove in six runs. Senior Lauren Cantwell had three hits, including two doubles, and Nieri, Smith, and the Edwards sisters each had two base hits as the Outlaws totaled 13 for the five-inning game.

Cassidy Edwards also limited Cottage Grove to a single hit and struck out 13. The senior transfer from Redmond is hitting .579 and has scored 20 runs. Rowe with 11 and Nieri with 10, lead the Outlaws in runs batted in.

The Outlaws host win-less La Pine (0-8) on April 10 and visit Cottage Grove April 12.