Oakland Looks for Success With Young Team
.jpg) A new season brings new goals and the Golden Grizzlies are already one step ahead
of the game. After finishing 18-34-1, 6-15 in the Mid-Continent Conference last season
head coach Steve Ogg thinks this years squad has what it takes
to make it to the conference tournament. The Golden Grizzlies have been picked third
in the preseason Mid-Continent poll and received one first-place vote.
"I think we should make into the top four," said
Ogg. "I would be disappointed if we didn’t qualify for our region
tournament."
In order to make it to the post season Oakland will have an
uphill battle against teams like Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Mississippi State, Central
Michigan and Michigan State.
"Our first major goal this year was to improve our
level of competition," said Ogg. "We upgraded our schedule so we are playing
almost all Division I schools. We attempted to play the highest quality of
competition. We know that if we play the best teams we may not come out with a super
record, so it’s not our record that matters as much. We want to play the best
teams so we can develop mentally and physically."
Ogg hopes this year the team will use the dimension of the
OU Softball Field to its advantage. The Grizzlies' field is 220 feet all around. The NCAA
allows a maximum 225 feet and most fields are 200 feet.
"We have an unique facility. Our field resembles
Comerica Park," said Ogg. "It’s a pitchers park and it’s also a speed
park because if you hit a double it could turn into a triple if your fast. This year
I have brought in four or five players that are super fast, not only for stretching
doubles to triples, but for defense so the other team can’t stretch a triple."
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Keri Sedgley |
One of this year's weaknesses the Golden Grizzlies with
have to overcome is the lack of upperclassmen experience, leadership and mental toughness.
"Keri Sedgley is the
only true established leader on this years team," Ogg said. "Keri is our
team leader because she is our best defensive player and one of our top hitters. Our
weakness for this team is they are not mentally tough yet, but they are mentally tougher
than last year. With only one senior, there is no better way to achieve mental
toughness than playing competition at the highest level. We are going to take our
hits and pay our dues when we play the Alabama’s, Southern Mississippi’s and the
Michigan State’s. After we play those tough teams, we will be mentally tougher, so
that’s a weakness that will turn into a positive."
Oakland brings many strengths to the diamond this year that
were missing last year.
"The area I hope to be strong in is speed and this
year we've brought in a lot of quick freshman," said Ogg. "Last year we
didn’t have a lot of speed so that’s another weakness that will turn into a
strength down the line."
The Golden Grizzlies have changed their look a little with
sophomore Megan Piar doing the catching. Piar caught in a
quarter of the games for OU last season and Ogg that this will be the biggest change
defensively.
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Ericka Burns |
"I predict Megan to have the biggest breakout
season," said Ogg. "Megan works as hard as anybody on the team and she'll prove
herself this season. She’s a 4.0 student. She comes early to practices
and works extremely hard and she has the strongest arm on the team. She can hit for power
and can run for speed. She just needed to learn how to be a Division I catcher and
last year was a learning experience for her."
Leading the Grizzlies again this is will be sophomore short
stop Ericka Burns.
"Ericka is either a coaches dream or a coaches
nightmare," said Ogg. "If she plays for you then you realize that the opposing
coach is probably having nightmares. Ericka led our league as a freshman in hitting and
also was second in the nation with 10 triples. I think she will be a fine player, not only
for our team and our conference, but maybe in a year or two she could be an all-American
canidate."
Another bright spot for the Golden Grizzlies is the
addition of freshman pitcher Jaymie Voss.
"The biggest surprise for us this year is freshman
pitcher Jaymie Voss," said Ogg. "Jaymie had a very unique situation where her
high school team won the state championship five years in a row. A month and a half later
her traveling team won the national tournament and three weeks later she played in the
little league softball world series (18 and under) and her team won it. So in three months
she won the triple crown.
"Not only is she a great pitcher she is also a great
hitter. She led her high school team in career home runs. She’s gonna be
playing even when she’s not pitching, so she's one to watch for."
The Golden Grizzlies begin their second season competing in
the Mid-Continent Conference in 2001 and look to improve on last year's limited success.
Going 6-15 in the conference OU was the only team that defeated the Conference
Champions, Western Illinois 1-0 in Rochester.
Last year the Grizzlies finished a 6-15 in the conference
which put them in sixth place.
"Last year I thought we competed well with all the
teams in our conference," said Ogg. "We were the only team that beat Western
Illinois and they were the team that won the championship last year. None of the
other Mid-Con teams beat WIU. They were a very strong team and they had a wonderful
All-American pitcher (Holly Killion) who they lost to graduation. WIU lost several players
to graduation and we have almost everyone back."
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Julie Anderson |
Pitching
Linnea Utecht (So.,RHP, Oshkosh, Wisconsin),
Voss (Fr., RHP, Kalamazoo, Michigan), Julie Anderson (So.,
LHP, Portland, Michigan) and Tiffany Evans (So., RHP, Larue,
Ohio) will handle the bulk of the pitching duties in the 2001 season.
Utecht should be the go-to pitcher for the Golden Grizzlies
in 2001. Last season Utecht led OU with 37 appearances, 130 innings pitched and 66
strikeouts. Utecht racked up a 3.02 ERA with a 6-15 record. She threw nine complete
games and recorded one shutout.
Anderson started 12 games last season for OU and had a 2.80
ERA. She recorded a 6-7 record and had 27 appearances and was second on the team with 107
innings pitched. Anderson was second with 53 strikeouts.
Voss handled most of the closing duties for the Grizzlies
in the fall. She recorded two saves in the last weekend of the fall season. Her first save
was against the Warriors of Wayne State and the second came against the Chippewas of
Central Michigan. The Grizzlies beat CMU 5-3 to win the Central Michigan Fall Invitational
Tournament.
Evans made 17 appearances last season for Oakland. She had
a 1-3 record with a 2.35 ERA, pitched one complete game in 44.2 innings and was fourth on
the team with 15 strikeouts.
Catching
Piar (So., Lancaster, Ohio) will be the starting catcher for OU in the 2001
season. Piar was the backup catcher last season and compiled a .163 batting average in 123
at-bats. She played in 49 games and started 44 of them tallying 20 hits, and nine RBI.
Sophomore transfer Nicole
Schulte (So., Rochester, Michigan) from Oakland Community College will also see time
behind the plate.
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Jenny Granger |
First Base
Jenny Granger (So., Troy, Michigan) and Evans
will be competing for time at first base for the 2001 season. Granger played in 43 games
and started in 32 of them. Granger recorded a .143 batting average with 102 at-bats. She
led the team with 172 putouts. Evans played in 34 games last season and hit .158 with nine
hits and four RBI.
Second Base
Schulte, Erica Judge (Fr., Fort Collins,
Colorado) and Nina Catanzaro (Shelby Township, MI) will
battle for the second base spot. Once Bozenna Johnson (So.,
Louisville, Ohio) returns for a shouder injury, she will provide some tough competition to
go along with her strong stick. Judge is an incoming freshman with a strong arm and solid
bat and Catanzaro is a transfer from Macomb Community College with good speed and a solid
arm. Johnson returns to Oakland after a one-year stint with the Grizzlies.
Last year she hit .191 in 94 appearances at the plate. Johnson also had 45 assists
and 80 putouts.
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Tiffany Evans and
Bozenna Johnson |
Shortstop
Burns will man the shortstop position again this season. Judge will also
push for time to help solidify this Grizzly team. Burns is strong candidate for a repeat
all-conference pick. Last season she was second in the nation in triples (10), and
had a team-high .391 batting average.
Third Base
Senior Sedgley (Sr., Napa Valley, California), one of the teams
tri-captains, will start at third base this season for the Golden Grizzlies. Sedgley
played in all 49 games with a .288 batting average in 153 at-bats last season. Last season
she led the team with 118 assists along with 82 putouts (5th).
Outfield
Lauren Seffens (So., Ortonville, Michigan), Donna McCoy (Fr., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio), Jennifer Neiderquill (Fr., Saginaw, Michigan), Kristin Kosuda (Fr., Rochester Hills), Kara Sayger, Christina Schulte (Fr., Rochester, Michigan) and Cantanzaro
will all vy for playing time in the OU outfield in 2001.
 Seffens is the only returning outfielder for the
Grizzlies in the 2001 campaign. The Ortonville native played in all 49 games for OU last
year and started 48 of them hitting a .240 in 146 at-bats. She batted in 16 runs and nine
RBI.
McCoy, one of five freshman competing for time in the
outfield, hit .411 and recorded 16 RBI for Cuyahoga Falls High School.
Neiderquill, a freshman from Saginaw, Michigan was elected
all-state all four years for Swan Valley. She will be competeing for a spot in right or
left field.
Christina Schulte a freshman from Marian High School hit a
.423 batting average, 52 hits and 17 RBI her senior year. Besides competeing for an
outfield postion she also posses the abilty to play the middle infield.
Cantanzaro, a freshman from Shelby Twp. Michigan broke
Macomb Community Colleges steal steal record as she collected 40 steals. She also led the
Monarchs with four home runs her freshman season.
Walk-on freshman Kosuda and Sayger will also compete for
time in the outfield. Besides competing for an outfield spot Sayger will try to gain
experience as a backup third baseman. Kosuda, a walk-on from Rochester Hills played
second base in high school and is in the transition of learning the outfield and catching
positions. |
