A rollercoaster of an Eagle softball season ended with awards and signings to play at the next level.
Numerous weather postponements created a scheduling backlog and a lot more travel than usual late in the season. On the way to going 14-23 overall and 7-13 in conference, the Eagles had an 8-game winning streak and a 6-game losing streak, back-to-back.
Coach Jon Cox praised his players for their effort from start to finish. "They're not only hard workers on the field and in the classroom, but in the community, too," he said. "They're overall great people."
Sophomore centerfielder Halliday Hubbard and freshman infielder/outfielder Shyla Mead made the All-GVC 1st Team, while sophomore shortstop Alexis Figueroa was named All-GVC 2nd Team.
Hubbard, who had a .987 fielding percentage, was also nominated for a California Rawlings Gold Glove Award. She is one of six Eagles earning recognition on the California Academic All-State Team, along with Breanne Cox, Hannah Stone, Alicia Chavez, Elyse Benson, and Leea Brown.
The coach said all nine sophomores on this year's roster are scholar-athletes with a combined classroom GPA above 3.5. "We want to win," he said, "but we also want to help young women become quality people and be a positive part of their community."
Halliday Hubbard has signed to continue her education and athletic career at Bushnell University in Eugene, OR. She's one of five sophomores moving on to play softball at a four-year school.
Alexis Figueroa and catcher Alicia Chavez are moving on to Corban College in Salem, OR.
Outfielder Elyse Benson has signed with Simpson University.
Hannah Stone, a pitcher/infielder, has signed with Warner Pacific University in Portland.
And infielder Eva Versloot is returning to the Netherlands to play in a softball federation there.
The other three sophomores are moving on to continue their educations. Coach Cox said Breanne Cox is headed to Boise State, Leea Brown has been accepted into the nursing program at Oregon Institute of Technology, and Kristina Lesher will be going to school in Arizona.
The coach said he is "really pleased with the sophomore class" and described them as "all-around good people. We're just a part of their journey, but they're leaving in a better place than when they came in." The sophomores were celebrated between games of a season-ending home doubleheader against Butte on April 22nd.
The Eagles lost those games to Butte, one of the top teams in the state. One highlight from the finale was Hubbard's RBI double in her last at-bat for the team.
Hubbard made the All-GVC 1st Team after posting a .379 overall batting average that ranked 10th among GVC players. In conference games, she hit .380 with a .413 on-base percentage and led the Eagles with 27 hits and 5 doubles. She had a .987 fielding percentage and was second on the team in put-outs.
Shyla Mead made the All-GVC 1st Team after leading the Eagles with a .426 batting average, .462 on-base percentage, and 15 RBIs in conference games. She ranked 7th, 8th and tied for 10th, respectively, in those categories in the GVC. She was 2nd in the GVC with 9 stolen bases.
Alexis Figueroa made All-GVC 2nd Team after hitting .314 in conference games with a .386 on-base percentage. A "tremendous defender," according to Cox, she made only 2 errors in 20 GVC games at shortstop. For the season overall, she made just 8 errors in 37 games while handling 137 total chances, a fielding percentage of .942.
The Eagles finished the season by winning 7 of their last 10 games. Cox believes their record could have been better if not for all the weather issues that kept them off the field for a significant part of the season and all the postponed games. They didn't play their first home game until April 11th, just 11 days before the season ended.
He said he's excited about the future with a good nucleus of players returning, including Shyla Mead, infielder Maddalyn Fullenwider, catcher Abigail Wolf, and pitchers Kaitlin Estes, Gracie Copeland, and Abigail Marines.
Cox said he's been doing more in-depth recruiting since the season ended and is feeling good about next year's incoming group of freshmen. That group includes Grace Hubbard of Etna who, like her sister Halliday, is a basketball and softball player.
By Steve Gerace
