Lady Devils head to Portland with eyes on the prize

Lady Shoes They don’t have that punishing, sledgehammer offense of past championship seasons. But Lower Columbia College softball coach Tim Mackin believes his Lady Devils have an excellent chance of a three-peat as conference champs.“We’re getting close to peaking, but I think this team has a lot more potential than it’s shown,” Mackin said. “The key for us is getting our fifth- through ninth-place batters on, so our first through fourth hitters can drive them in. We also have to make the plays in the field and not give up the big innings like we did against Clackamas, when they had a lot of push bunts.”Third-ranked LCC (39-8) will battle for its 10th conference title and ninth in the past 10 years when it takes on fifth-ranked Walla Walla (37-15) at 11:30 a.m. Friday in the opening round of the NWAACC Softball Championships at Portland’s Delta Park.Win or lose, the Lady Devils will meet either Pierce or Shoreline in the second round of the tournament at 3:30 p.m. Friday. The tournament continues through Sunday, with the championship game slated for 2 p.m.“The girls haven’t felt the pressure of having to repeat as champions,” Mackin said. “They’ve had a good time at practice this week, and no one seems to be tight or tense. We’ve seen about all of these teams at either the Central Washington or the NWAACC Crossover tournaments, so there’s really no surprises out there.”LCC lost its first game of the season to Walla Walla 6-2 on Feb. 29 in the Tri-Cities, but rebounded two days later to shut out the Warriors 9-0. The Lady Devils were without key players Jessi Hanna (basketball) and Kassandra Myers (transfer ineligible until the start of spring quarter).Sophomore BreAnn Jones (19-7, 1.43 earned run average, 144 strikeouts) and freshman Makenzie Marchbanks (15-8, 1.56, 173 strikeouts) provide the Warriors with a formidable pitching duo.Sophomore outfielder Caitlyn Bersing (.424 batting average, 14 home runs, 56 RBIs), freshman outfielder Liz Homer (.409, nine HRs, 77 RBIs) and second-year infielder Becky Jones (.311, eight HRs, 35 RBIs) have provided the bulk of the Walla Walla offense.“They’re a hitting team and you have to pitch them right or you’ll give up a lot of runs,” Mackin said of the Warriors. “Carri (O’Neil) will throw a lot of change-ups and try to jam them inside.”O’Neil (19-5, 1.71, 146 strikeouts) and Tasia Trochim (11-2, 3.05, 76 strikeouts) give LCC its own 1-2 pitching punch. Samantha Petrich (.510, 11 HRs, 50 RBIs, 20 stolen bases), Kayla Vickaryous (.468, 18 RBIs, 27 stolen bases), Hanna (.406, 12 HRs, 42 RBIs, 13 stolen bases) and O’Neil (.375, 10 HRs, 41 RBIs) have provided the top of the Devils’ batting order with stability.Camy Way (.469, eight HRs, 40 RBIs), Hayley Ridout (.401, 11 HRs, 56 RBIs) and Myers (.339, seven HRs, 31 RBIs) are the leaders at the bottom of the lineup.“We’ll need to play flawless defense, score runs and our pitchers have to be at the top of their games,” Mackin said. “Carri and Tasia had their best games late in the league season, and those are the outings that have to be repeated. We can’t show up and expect to win, and we’ll need to bring our hitting shoes. A little luck by having some balls drop in for us wouldn’t hurt, either.”Last season, LCC belted a team-record 123 home runs and knocked in 427 runs, culminating with a 3-2 victory over Clackamas in the tournament title game. This year, the Lady Devils’ numbers are down with 67 home runs and 326 RBIs.“Two years ago we won every game by the eight-run mercy rule because we hit the cover off the ball,” Mackin said. “Last year we hit some home runs, but we also got the key hits when we needed them. We’re a little behind our teams of the past in terms of power numbers.”Mackin believes Mount Hood, Clackamas, Spokane and Bellevue will be the major roadblocks for the Lady Devils if they want to repeat as conference champions again.“There are some teams, including Mount Hood and Clackamas, who aren’t really scared of us,” he said. “We’ve played most of the Eastern Division teams and won, but none of them will look at us and automatically think they’ll get beat. We’ll be fine because we’re not coming in cocky, and no one will fold like a cheap lawn chair when they see us come in.”