SOU NOTES

ASHLAND – The 2012 softball season opens this weekend as Southern Oregon University travels to Redding, Calif., to take part in the Simpson Tournament on Friday and Saturday.

Southern Oregon will look to improve on last season's 18-19 overall mark and exceed the expectations of the Cascade Collegiate Conference coaches, who picked SOU to finish fifth in the preseason poll.

The Raiders will rely on a group of three seniors to provide leadership early in the season as the team looks to establish its identity. Outfielder Katie Moy (Oceanside, Calif./Vista) and pitcher Jordyn Kurtz (Tacoma, Wash./Stadium) each earned all-conference recognition in 2011, and outfielder Brooke Springer (Omak, Wash./Omak) started 35 games as a junior.

“Having Katie, Brooke and Jordyn returning is a huge key for us,” SOU head coach Kim Fritts said. “They've been with us for four seasons so they understand exactly what we need to do to be successful for the season.”

Southern Oregon also returns a pair of top performers at the corner infield slots, with gold glove-winner Melissa Corn (Danville, Calif./Monte Vista) coming back at first base and all-conference junior Irene Barrantes (Dos Palos, Calif./Dos Palos) returning at third. Barrantes will look to build on a breakout sophomore campaign that featured nine home runs and a program-record .791 slugging percentage.

Fritts brought in seven newcomers to fill the holes in the roster as 11 players departed from the 2011 squad. The newcomers include a pair of freshmen and five transfer students, and the SOU coach expects them to play an important role in the success of the team this season.

“We do have several junior college transfers that have come in that will make a key difference for us,” Fritts said. “We definitely need to figure out position-wise where they're at. Obviously we have the next three tournaments to figure that out before we get going for conference play, but we definitely have some pretty strong individuals that have filled in for some key losses that we've had.”

The Raiders' season opens with a bang on Friday, as SOU will face both 11th-ranked Azusa Pacific and No. 8 Concordia (Calif.) on its first day of play.

“We get to play some pretty tough competition, so that will be a true test for us,” Fritts said.

Overall, the Raiders are scheduled to play six games over the weekend, three each on Friday and Saturday. After that they will take a break next weekend before hosting the SOU Tournament at Medford's US Cellular Field from Feb. 23-25. For Fritts and her players, it's time to get out on the field and test themselves against some top competition.

“It's going to be fun,” Fritts said. “These young ladies are all on the same page with their expectations. They've been working very hard in the offseason and preseason and they're definitely fired up and ready to get started on Friday.”