By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
EUGENE, Ore.– It wasn’t the ending that they hoped for, but man, the journey for the Regis Softball team from having no Varsity program five years ago to 2A/1A State Runner-Up.
For their seniors: Hadley Foster, Sophie Wagner and Mayla Manning, they were freshmen on that team that went 9-12 that started this ride.
Through the years, the Rams went from those humble beginnings, and developed into a Playoff Team last year as they reached the 2A/1A State Quaterfinals.
Then. This year. They exploded onto the scene.
They took the 2A/1A Special District 3 District Title. Broke the Single-season State Record, finished with 439 runs on the year. They got to the State Title Game for the first time since 2011. A meteoric rise over the last five years.
And despite losing those three seniors, they return a core with a deep playoff run and the knowledge of what needs to be done to get back here and to possibly win it.
“We’ve all been playing together since we were on T-Ball. Jeff (Bohnke) has been my coach since T-Ball, same wirh Tim (Manning) and I just love them all,” said Foster. “I’m so proud. If you would’ve told me that we would’ve been here (today) four years ago, I wouldn’t believe you. I’m so proud of everyone. We’ve worked so hard everyday.
“I’m jusr so excited for them next year, they’re going to go so far. My sister’s on the team, so I’ll be back watching all these girls. I love all of them forever.”
They showed heart down the stretch in their 16-4 defeat to Heppner/Ione. The Rams and Mustangs traded shutout innings to start, it was scoreless after two innings before Heppner/Ione began to apply the pressure on Regis.
That pressure resulted in two early errors by the Rams, mixed in with a Khloe Rodriguez single, loaded up the bases with no outs and the Mustangs went to work. They led 5-0 going into the third inning and Heppner/Ione’s pitcher, Maya Payne, kept the Regis bats at bay as eventually the Mustangs added to their lead.
The lead reached 16-0 going into the bottom half of the sixth before the Rams were able to string together their hits and plated four runs.
But it wasn’t enough to extend the game as Regis fell to Heppner/Ione 16-4 in the 2A/1A Stata Title Game in Friday afternoon at The Jane.
The Rams have the blueprint however. The blueprint on how to get to this point, and now it’s just a matter of executing it and learning from it moving forward into next season.
“The kids know what to do. It’s a long season, you’re gonna have to grind it out and you’re gonna see better and better teams. Looking at scouting reports, doing your homework, figuring out what you need to work on to be successful against the better teams. I think it’s going to help us a lot,” said Regis Head Coach Kathy Bonhke.
“It’s amazing going from not having a team to not being a .500 team to the playoffs and now here. You can see that we’re on our way up. “
Foster drove in two runs, had a hit and drew two walks to lead Regis in the State Title Game. The Rams finished the year 28-4.
Cici Stefani led the Mustangs with 5RBIs, Delaney Steffani and Sarah Estes led Heppner/Ione with three hits each. The Mustangs finished the year 20-5.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
