The Southern Oregon Coast Softball 18-and-under A team traveled to Waldport for three games over the weekend for its official summer season-opener, but SOCS didn’t find much competition as the squad outscored its opponents 50-5, tallying 43 hits while allowing just six.

“It was not pretty,” said SOCS coach Floyd Montiel, who coaches Marshfield’s team during the school year.

SOCS played one game against Nestucca and a doubleheader versus Waldport, putting the Amateur Softball Association’s 15-after-2, 12-after-4 and 8-after-5 game-ending runs rules to good use.

SOCS started the day by hammering Nestucca 14-1 in three innings. Nestucca’s only score came on a series of walks and a struck batter.

Brittney Young had a triple in the game, while Jessica Ott, Lauryn Lesina, Tiffany Wiley and Alyssa Bergquist all had doubles in the blowout.

In the first game of the Waldport doubleheader, SOCS scored 11 runs in the first inning and won the ball game 20-0, again after three innings. Kirsten Emigh had a pair of doubles, while Wiley and Ott each had doubles of their own.

The final game of the day — the second matchup against Waldport — was the closest at 16-4, as it took SOCS six whole innings to win by home-run rule.

Amanda Volgarino smacked a home run over the fence, and Ott earned an in-the-park homer as well. Katherine Zuber nailed a triple, Deirdra Stuart had two doubles and Natalie Caffey hit one double in the win.

The 3-0 start for SOCS led to some outrageous batting averages and statistics: Lesina went .833 with six runs and five RBIs; Bergquist batted .714 with two runs scored and two RBIs; Ott was .833 with three runs and four RBIs; Wiley batted .625 with five runs scored and five RBIs; Zuber went .700 on the day with seven runs and four RBIs. Young and Emigh had six runs scored apiece.

But Montiel said the wins just weren’t satisfying, since the SOCS team’s opponents were just so clearly overmatched. It did work was a solid warmup for the eight-team ASA Red Hots Open Invitational at Earv Lind Field at Portland State University this weekend.

“Everybody there will be an A-level team,” said Montiel. “It’s very competitive.”

The SOCS ball club is comprised primarily of some of the best softball players on the South Coast of Oregon and the northern part of California.

Montiel’s pitching staff consists of starter Emigh of Southwestern Oregon Community College, Gold Beach standout Molly Hockema, Jessie Goergen of Brookings and Bergquist, who hails from Crescent City, Calif. The team’s best hitters are from the region as well: Ott from Coos Bay and Marshfield High School; Dawn Wilkerson of SOCC; Lesina of Crescent City; Zuber from Gold Beach; and Wiley and Young from Marshfield.

Volgarnino, a North Medford graduate planning to attend Southwestern this fall, may just turn out to be the SOCS team’s secret weapon.

“She’s just getting going — she’ll probably be our best hitter,” said team manager Jeri Young.

Plenty of North Bend talent will be found on the roster as well, as Bulldogs Amelia Liggett, Katherine Nicholls, Katie Banta and Melissa Swagerty will suit up as well. Marshfield grad Mackenzie Marineau and North Bend alum Ashley Canup are expected to join the fray as well.

The nature of ASA ball means that players who might be the stars of their regular-season teams may not necessarily be the best player at their position on the ASA team, and Montiel said there will probably be some shakeups, with South Coast players taking on unfamiliar roles. Young, for example, is coming off a year in which she was Marshfield’s ace pitcher for Montiel. For SOCS, Montiel plans to have her in the outfield.

“We need to do what’s best for the whole team and gives the best chemistry,” said Montiel.

The squad has 17 players total, and plenty of depth, two facts  that have Montiel feeling good about the summer season.

“I think we have some potential. It’s nice to have a lot of bodies,” he said. “And it’s great having a full pitching staff too.”

SOCS 14-and-under

The SOCS 14-and-under team endured a rough three-game stretch over the weekend, as the team lost three games and its starting pitcher to a broken tooth. With three losses, the SOCS team dropped to 2-6 on the season.

“Offensively, we just couldn’t get anything to roll,” said coach Jenny Howland. “This is a young team, and they just weren’t ready to play.”

The first loss came came as the SOCS “C” team was playing up against Junction City’s “B” team. The final score was 15-2 in favor of Junction City.

SOCS was competing well in the second game of the tournament, trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, when disaster struck. Starting pitcher Samantha Sundet was covering home, when a teammate lobbed the ball to her. At that moment, the opposing club’s runner blocked Sundet’s line of sight to the ball, which hit her in the mouth, knocked a tooth loose and ending her weekend.

The SOCS team couldn’t recover.

“Things just went downhill from that point. When you lose your starting pitcher, it’s touch to bounce back,” said Howland.

 SOCS dropped the game 10-2 and went on to lose a heartbreaker in the third game to the Eugene Storm, as Kara Young stepped in admirably to pitch, even though she hadn’t done so in more than a year.

Sports Writer Joe Hansen can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 237, or by e-mailing jhansen@theworldlink.com.