By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
PORTLAND, Ore.– West Salem’s Courtney Gills has really bounced back from her ankle surgery that sidelined her to start her Junior season with the Titans.
Gills finished out the High School season, earning Central Valley Conference First Team Outfielder and jumped right into summer softball season where she’s contributing behind the dish for the NW Dirtbags 16U squad.
“It was really cool to know that I overcame that and that I was able to keep pushing and help everyone,” said Gills. “(Softball) has meant a lot. I’ve put a lot of effort into this, so just to be able to come back out with my teammates, it just means everything.
“This Summer has been awesome. It’s good to keep building and getting better.”
Gills hit two home runs and drove in six runs on the day for the Dirtbags, who finished Runner-Up at the TC World Series on Sunday at Delta Park.
The Dirtbags defense was spot on, allowing just 23 runs in nine games. In those nine games, the squad went 8-1 on the weekend.
For Cascade’s Cassidy Crabtree, she made some nice plays at Shortstop in the tournament semifinals to keep the NW Dirtbags squad ahead as they reached the Finals. It was just some of those defensive plays that the squad had in their final tournament of the Summer.
“I try my best to be a leader on the team, especially at Shortstop in the middle infield. I try to be everywhere that I can and always try to help my team,” said Crabtree, who was a second team All-State as an infielder at the 4A level. “Just sharpen everything up to the best to my abilities. “
Dayton’s Gabby Chupp came onto the team three tournaments ago as she looked to stay closer to home and had contributed off the bat with some size at first base with Sophie Jackson. On the last day of the tournament, Chupp also contributed two hits. I’m just putting in work going into her sophomore year at Dayton High School and becoming more of a leader for the Pirates.
“These girls gave me a lot of confidence, so confidence is a big thing,” said Chupp. “Just carrying last High School season into next year. I think we got some girls coming up, so bringing the older and more confidence for the younger girls, it’s going to be a big thing for next season. Having a big role with the team is going to be really big.”
Dallas’ Ruby Halligan also hit a home run on the three games played by the NW Dirtbags 16U squad. Dayton’s Charly Upmeyer struck out seven batters in eight innings on the final day of the tournament
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
