June 8, 2004

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A frustrating midseason stretch book-ended by a hot start and strong finish summarized the up and down 2004 season for the Western Washington University softball team.

With a team comprised of just seven upperclassmen and an all-freshman pitching staff, the Vikings posted a 22-23 record, placing fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 11-13.

Western began the season winning 11 of its first 15 games including a 4-1 win over National Fastpitch Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Preseason No.1-ranked North Dakota State at the Central Washington Invitational Tournament.

Fortunes quickly turned for the inexperienced Vikings, who won just six of their next 24 games. But Western rolled and closed out the season with five wins in its final six contests.

"I was very impressed with the team's resiliency," said Western head coach Lonnie Hicks (3 years, 75-60). "Through all of the adversity we went through, they never quit on each other and never got down."

Western was outstanding in its two tournament appearances, tying for second at the Central Washington Invitational in March and placing third in the gold bracket of the Cal State Stanislaus Tournament of Champions in April, the highest finish of any GNAC school at that tourney.

"During our tournament games, we were able to get the key base hit that we were unable to get during our regular-season games," said Hicks. "We didn't make a lot of defensive mistakes and our pitchers did remarkably well. The team certainly seemed more focused."

Travel was tough on the young Vikings, who played 29 of their first 31 games on the road. That included three consecutive trips to northern California.

"The three straight weeks of going back and forth to California really took its toll on us," said Hicks. "The inability to practice caused little bad habits to jump into our hitting and we never had the opportunity to work on correcting them."

Western's offensive woes began midway through the first trip to California. During the final four games of that junket, the Vikings had a 26-inning scoreless string - the third longest in school history - and recorded just nine hits.

"Our freshman pitchers did a great job to keep us in games, but when you're not scoring runs for them, it's tough to win games," Hicks said. "I think the team got weary of travel and was trying too hard to fix everything. That's the kind of thing that happens with a young team."

The Vikings wrapped up the campaign by winning five of their last six games, scoring 35 runs on 59 hits during that stretch. They scored 19 runs in a doubleheader sweep at Northwest Nazarene.

Western's offense was led by junior right fielder Megan McPhee (Anacortes), who earned first-team all-GNAC honors for the second straight season. McPhee, who has a .348 career batting average, led the Vikings in hitting for the second consecutive year with a .349 batting average. She scored 24 runs, drove in 19 and had nine doubles.

Joining McPhee on the all-conference first-team was senior shortstop/catcher Dani Deyette (Olympia), who hit .322 with 19 runs batted in and 17 runs scored. Deyette, who had 13 multiple-hit games, tied a school record for the second time with four hits in the Vikings one game.

Three Viking players earned second-team all-league honors - senior centerfielder Jodie Rock (Anacortes), sophomore second baseman Mandy Kaestner (Coeur d'Alene/Lake City) and freshman pitcher Nicole Walker (Kenmore/Juanita).

Rock, who belted the fifth grand slam in school history in a game at San Francisco State, batted .277 with 24 RBI, 19 runs scored, six triples and a team-high .489 slugging percentage. She completed her four-years at Western as the career record holder in triples (15) and walks (53).

Kaestner, who led the team with 16 multiple-hit games, finished with a .333 batting average, a team-best 31 runs scored and was successful on 21 of 23 stolen base tries.

Walker led the young pitching staff, posting an 11-6 record with a 1.97 earned run average, and striking out 64 in 103 innings.

Junior third baseman Adrienne Moore (Lake Forest Park/Shorecrest) and sophomore outfielder Ashley Barber (Camas) earned all-conference honorable mention. Moore, who helped the Vikings to a come-from-behind 6-5 win over Western Oregon with a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh, broke the season record with seven triples and tied single-game marks with two triples and four hits against Northwest Nazarene. Moore hit .273 with 15 runs, 10 doubles and led the team with 25 RBI.

Barber, who had Western's two longest hitting streaks of the season at 10 and nine games, batted .303 with 23 runs scored and stole nine bases in as many attempts.

Deyette, Rock, Kaestner and Moore were also named GNAC academic all-stars.

"The players - especially the younger kids - realized we played strong in the beginning and strong in the end, but just fell on some tough times in the middle and didn't make adjustments," said Hicks. "This season helped us realize that with a little work we can be more consistent over the course of the whole season."