Eagles aiming for a little payback
Oak Park softbalteam set a school record with 21 wins
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

The trailer for the upcoming film "Ocean's 13" asks the question: What are the chances of getting even? The Oak Park High softball team is asking themselves the same thing, and they're hoping the odds are on their side.

When the Eagles begin the postseason Friday at home, they will be playing against Rancho Alamitos High, a team Oak Park lost to earlier this year. Although the game was two months ago, OPHS believes it now knows more about its firstround opponent.

"They are a very good team," Oak Park head coach Roger Newell said. "The one advantage we have by playing them earlier in the year is that we know what to expect. Both us and them have very good pitchers, and it just so happens that earlier in the year we threw our best pitchers against each other like we will in the first round."

Oak Park will start its ace, sophomore Julia Rice, who went 16-3 on the year and had an ERA of .439 while striking out 261 batters and throwing 12 shutouts.

Rancho Alamitos will counter with its ace, Karie Gutierrez, who went 12-6 with an ERA of 1.57 while striking out 120 batters and completing five shutouts. In the early-season matchup against Oak Park, Gutierrez threw a complete game, giving up two earned runs.

"During our game earlier in the year, we really got to know their best pitcher," Oak Park senior Kylie Abrams said. "In practice all week we've been trying to adjust to hitting off the type of pitcher that she is. She throws a lot of drop curveballs and rising balls. She has pretty good speed as well."

Although Oak Park lost 5-3 to the Vaqueros earlier in the season, Newell believes the game was close, and if the Eagles can avoid being down early in the rematch, they have a good chance of evening the score. Newell also said that Rice can rise to the occasion in big games.

"The one thing about Julia is that she'll throw even better to the tougher hitters on a team," Newell said. "When she can sense the end of a game or a big moment in a game, she can shift gears and bring her pitching to a higher level. I think she is a better pitcher as the game moves into the sixth and seventh innings."

Oak Park comes into the postseason having won nine of its last 10 games, losing only to Oaks Christian last week. During that period the Eagles outscored their opponents 53-8. According to Newell, a reason for the increased run production has been contributions from the bottom of the OPHS lineup.

"We haven't really had one outstanding slugger all year," Newell said. "It has instead been a total team effort.

"I've been especially impressed with our seven, eight and nine hitters in our lineup. For whatever reason, those hitters seem to not feel as much pressure when they come up to the plate, and they have been doing a good job of getting on base and setting the table for the top of the lineup," he said.

The hitting for Oak Park has been led by Aly Skene, who's batting .405 on the year. Senior Michelle Tabone has also been a main contributor with an average of .343 while hitting one home run and knocking in 11 RBI. According to Newell, hitters like Rose Zeolla, Jenny Liepman, Kathryn Klamecki and Sarah Rosenberg have swung the bat well this year.

Tabone said she wants to go far in the postseason after an early exit last year in the first round.

"This team is hungrier this year to win after the loss in the first round last season," Tabone said. "That loss has hung over our shoulders a little bit, and we don't want that to happen again. Everyone has pulled together since that loss, and it has been a total team effort."

Newell has coached at OPHS for 23 years, but the thing that jumps out at him this year wasn't setting a school record with 21 wins, but the team's camaraderie.

"When I look back on this year I will remember just how well this team got along," Newell said. "I put up a challenge for them at the start of the year by telling them it was going to be very tough for us by moving up two divisions from Division V to Division III. They have responded very well."

Although Oak Park finished second in the Tri-Valley League to Oaks Christian, Newell said his first-round opponent is very tough.

"We are seeded where we should be seeded, but we are facing a very good club, and it's unfortunate that one good club is going to go home on Friday," Newell said. "We're just hoping it won't be us."

Elsewhere in the Division III bracket, Oaks Christian has earned the No. 1 overall seed. The Lions will open up at home on Friday and will play the winner of a wild-card game between Lancaster and Burroughs high schools. Both games are slated to begin at 3:15 p.m.