Queen of the hill
Clackamas CC’s Renee Santos is a strikeout machine
July 10, 2007 - By Jason Vondersmith - Portland Tribune
It's an awesome stat: 408 strikeouts in 196 1/3 innings, or an average of 14.6 every seven innings, that pitcher Renee Santos had in her rookie year with the Clackamas Community College softball team.
Count her among the best in the nation.
Tracy Cheesebrough of Hudson Valley Community College (N.Y.) had 380 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings – or 13.7 per seven innings.
Softball’s strikeout queen, Monica Abbott of Tennessee, had 724 punchouts in 358 1/3 innings – 14.1 per. She was one of five NCAA Division I pitchers to record more than 450 strikeouts.
Jennifer Martinez of Division III St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) averaged 14.6 strikeouts every regulation game as well.
Santos crushed the Clackamas record for strikeouts in one season, and almost eclipsed the two-year record. A Portland native, Santos starred at St. Mary’s Academy for four years, consistently racking up megastrikeout games. But, obviously, she has put herself on the map by leaving many, many college hitters in her wake. >> Read More...
Softball Recruiting is off to a Great Start
June 08, 2007
Oregon City, Ore. - The Cougars have several talented players departing this season and are working hard to fill the tremendous gaps left by sophomore stars Janelle Cristofaro - P, Jessica Schell - 2B, Heather Rightley - CF, Sam Daline - SS, Katie King - C/DH and Cotie Howard - C.
Head Coach Jessica Farnsworth and her staff have inked contracts with hot prospects from both Washington and Oregon thus far. Brianne Rowley will arrive to the 2008 squad from Hood River Valley High School were she played 2B, earning 6A first team all-league honors in 2007 and was the conference player of the year in 2006. The Cougs also picked up Kendra Vallance from Brewster High School in Washington. Kendra is a shortstop and led her team in most hitting categories, earning all-league honors in 2005, 2006 & 2007. >> read more...
Cougars Take 2nd Place at NWAACC Championships
Defeat Wenatchee & Mt. Hood - Lose Heartbreaker to LCC
May 21, 2007 - by Tracy Swisher
Portland, Ore. - Clackamas needed four consecutive wins today to take home the Championship - If the weather could hold, a long, hard day was in store for the Cougs!
The Cougars opened the day with third-ranked Wenatchee Valley in a quarterfinal game to determine who would advance to play Mt. Hood in the semi-final match. Cougar pitching ace Renee Santos was definatley on her game, shutting-out the powerful Knight batters, allowing only two hits and notching 10 strikeouts. Lacey Forbito got the Cougars on the board in the 3rd inning with a solo home run and Katie King whacked another Ranzy York pitch for a three-run shot in the sixth inning to secure the Clackamas victory 4-0. Sophomore Heather Rightley was 4-5, scoring two runs and two stolen bases for the Cougs. [box score]
Clackamas then had to face Southern Region Champions and top-ranked Mt. Hood Saints for a shot at Lower Columbia for the Championship. Sophomore all-star pitcher Janelle Cristofaro started the game for the Cougars, but couldn't find her grove by the third inning, so Clackamas sent Santos in for relief. Once again, Santos brought the goods, totally dominating the Saints attack and tallied another 11 strikeouts on a quality hitting squad.
With Mt. Hood up 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Cougars got on the scoreboard to tie the contest at 1-1. Sophomore Katie King then stepped up to the plate with a runner on and cleared the fences for a two-run shot to put Clackamas on top 3-1. Sophomore Samantha Daline repeated the feat in the bottom of the fifth with another 2-run blast to give the Cougars the win 5-1. [boxscore]
Clackamas would now need two consecutive wins over the Lower Columbia Red Devils to win the 2007 Championships. The Cougars jumped out to a two-run lead against the Devils in the second inning when sophomore Jessica Slocum and freshman Lacey Forbito provided RBI doubles. The Devils answered in the 4th when Hayley Ridout hit a two-run homer to tie the contest at 2-2.
Clackamas nearly scored huge home runs by Samantha Daline in the fifth and Katie King in the seventh, but terrific fence-line catches by the Devil's Courtney Matthews and Tiffany Coates disappointed Cougar fans.
The score remained tied until the Devils manufactured a run in the bottom of the seventh to end that game 3-2. [boxscore]
Even though it was her third game in less than seven hours, Santos had another great game in the loss, holding the Devils to just 4 hits and striking-out 12 batters.
The Cougars now have eight titles and five second place finishes in the NWAACC Softball Tournament during the last 19 years dating back to 1989.
Cougars Advance to Tournament Third Day
Lose to Red Devils in Nail-Biter - Defeat Walla Walla
May 19, 2007 - by Tracy Swisher
Portland, Ore. - Lower Columbia didn't waste time building a quick lead over the Cougars as three Devils hit three homers to put Clackamas in an early 4-1 hole after the first inning. The contest was a stalemate until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Cougars rallied to manufacture three runs to tie the game at 4-4.
In the top of the seventh, LCC's Ashlea Strode belted a grand slam and the Devils added another run to take a 9-5 lead.
With their backs to the wall, the Cougars went to work in the bottom of the seventh, getting two runners on base when sophomore Cotie Howard launched a three-run rocket to get the Cougars within one run of tying.
Clackamas managed to get two more runners on base, but fell short of an amazing playoff comeback.
Janelle Cristofaro pitched a great game for the Cougars in relief of starter Renee Santos, who showed fatigue from yesterday's action. Cristofaro tallied nine strikeouts against a talented Devil line-up. [box score]
The loss dropped the Cougars into the loser bracket and a match-up with East Region Walla Walla Warriors (39-18).
The Warriors carried a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third when Clackamas tied the game. Redshirt freshman Jessica Slocum ended the tie in the fourth with a solo shot that put the Cougars up 2-1. Walla Walla retaliated with a score of their own in the top of the fifth, but Katie King ended the Warriors championship hopes with a rocket in the bottom of the fifth to give the Cougars a 3-2 win.
Renee Santos was on her game in the afternoon match-up with 14 strikeouts and held the very powerful Warrior batters to just six hits. [box score]
The second-ranked Cougars will take on fourth-ranked Wenatchee Valley on Sunday at 10am. Clackamas previously defeated the Knights on day one of the tournament in a 1-0 win. The winner will meet Mt. Hood at noon for a chance to play Lower Columbia for the NWAACC Championship at 2pm. [tournamnet bracket]
South Region Goes Undefeated in Day One of Tourney
Cougars topple Highline and third-ranked Wenatchee
May 18, 2007 - by Tracy Swisher
Portland, Ore. - The Southern Region showed it's superiority in day one of the NWAACC Softball Tournament as the Cougars, Mt. Hood, Lower Columbia and Chemeketa were the only teams to advance to the quarterfinals in the winners bracket [bracket] of the tourney.
Clackamas opened with Highline of the Western Region and didn't take long in establishing a 5-1 lead in the second after a 1-1 first inning tie. As the home team in the contest, the Lady Cougs only needed six innings of at-bats to decide the game in a 7-1 win.
All-American pitcher Renee Santos lead the defense with 11 strikeouts in her 21st victory of the season. The win tied Santos with former Coug Holly Marlow for most Clackamas pitching victories in a season, equaling Marlow's 2004 season record of 21-6.
Santos got plenty of offensive support by Heather Rightley (3-4 hitting, double), Jessica Schell (2-3 hitting, HR), Janelle Cristofaro (2-4, triple) and Jessica Slocum (2-2, double). [box score]
The second game of the day proved to more of a challenge as the Cougars took on third-ranked Wenatchee Valley (36-13) of the Eastern Region. The contest was a pitching duel between Santos and Wenatchee's Eastern Region First team All-Star Ranzy York.
With the game knotted 0-0 in the bottom of the sixth, sophomore all-star Cotie Howard blasted a leadoff triple to provide the Cougs with an excellent opportunity to score. Howard, who suffered a mild concussion in a game on May 11th, was replaced by pinch runner Jessica Calderon who scored the winning run to propel Clackamas into the a quarterfinal match with Southern rival Lower Columbia on Saturday at 11:30am. [box score]
The Clackamas - Lower Columbia match-up in the NWAACC Championship tournament is a classic. Over the past 18 seasons, the Cougars and Lower Columbia have claimed eight of those titles apiece with Spokane winning the other two. Four of the last five NWAACC Championship contests have featured these two squads. Clackamas last won the title in 2005.
[see game-by-game coverage at the NWAACC web site]
Post Season Honors Awarded Thursday
Seven Cougars make all-star team; Santos All-American
May 17, 2007 - by Tracy Swisher
Portland, Ore. - The annual NWAACC softball banquet was held at the Airport Embassy Suites Thursday evening. Seven Cougars were selected to the Southern Region All-Star Team. Catcher/1B Katie King (Glencoe HS), Catcher/1B Cotie Howard (Thurston HS) and SS Samantha Daline (Grant HS, Western Oregon University) were selected to the first team.
Pitcher/OF Janelle Cristofaro (Crater HS), OF Heather Rightly (St. Helens HS) and OF Lacey Forbito (Oregon City HS) were second team selections.
Pitcher Renee Santos (St. Mary's Academy) was named Southern Region Pitcher of the Year and was one of twelve NWAACC players selected to the 2007 Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American Team. (See NWAACC Region All-Stars)
Cougars Second in the Final NWAACC Rankings
May 15, 2007
Vancouver, Wa - The Mt. Hood Saints (40-5) top the final poll in fast pitch softball. The Saints only losses this season have come at the hands of second-ranked Clackamas Cougars (35-10) and fourth-ranked Lower Columbia (33-11). Wentachee Valley (35-12), on a nine-game win streak in the tough Eastern Region, moves up four spots to number three. Walla Walla (36-16), Everett (44-10), Bellevue (36-10) and Chemeketa (27-20) round out the top eight. (Final Poll)
