As the Spring Semester comes upon us, that means that Boxer Softball season is right around the corner. The Boxers are very excited about the start to the season, as they are looking to build off of a strong season last year that included a trip to the Northwest Conference Tournament.
Liz Yandall will take the helm as head coach for her fifth season here at Pacific University. Yandall is a Pacific Alum and has a very good coaching staff behind her. This staff includes Assistant Coach Hailey Decker, who plays for the Philippines National Team for Softball and played college softball at the University of Nebraska and University of Oregon.
The Boxers started spring practice for the upcoming season right at midnight on Jan. 7 because they are that excited to start this upcoming season. They have brought in a very strong freshman class, which consists of nine students, after losing nine last year.
The Boxers are carrying two seniors, Amanda Machado and Kaitlynn Donaca, who also serve as captains.
Softball has been practicing six days a week since their midnight practice on Jan. 7. Their practices are consisting of fielding, hitting, defense work, baserunning and conditioning. They also have classroom once a week talking about ideals and team philosophies. The two meetings so far
have been offense and defense based.
Overall, the Boxers feel as if they are in a very strong spot compared to last year, as they have a lot of returners. They also have a very young team, which is great for the future of the program, as 18 out of the 24 players on the roster are freshman and sophomores.
This includes a majority of the pitching, with five out of the six pitchers on the staff being freshman and sophomores. There will be a lot of experience on the field as the entire starting infield and outfield are returners.
The Boxers will open their season here in Forest Grove on Feb. 2 against Oregon Institute of Technology. They also travel to Texas to play as well as Hawaii.
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