2015 District Softball Champions Return for a New Season

Last year’s season ended after South’s varsity softball team made it to the quarterfinals of the Oregon State Championships. The bar has been set high for this year’s softball team, but varsity coach Scott McCormick has high hopes for this season.
“We are returning some good players that got better as the season progressed last year, and they are definitely excited about playing this year,” McCormick said.
Last year’s players Maygen McGrath [‘18], a 2nd Team All Conference Pitcher, and Alison Gebhardt [‘16], an Honorable Mention All Conference Infielder, will be returning to the team this season.
McGrath said that some of her goals for this season included “Trying to be fair and trying to not leave anyone out or anything and letting everyone have their fair share of playing.”
McCormick hopes to make it into the state playoffs again this year, as well as helping the team become stronger by identifying each player’s strengths and basing the team’s strategies around them.
“Hopefully the experience our new and younger players gained in playing last year and reaching the state quarterfinals will make them better players. They will work hard in practice and we will go from there,” McCormick said.
In order to make the team this year, prospective players went through a variety of softball drills, including throwing, fielding, hitting, and running.
“All the coaches will see every kid and be making evaluations ranking them in each skill. Making what team and determining playing time will be dependent upon the player skill level compared to the players at her position, players work ethic, how coachable she is, the number of players at her position, and game situations. We try to put players in position to succeed,” McCormick said.
The varsity team’s first game is on Mar. 14 at Wallace park in West Salem.