The Dalles High Riverhawks softball team concluded last year’s COVID shortened, 16-game season by winning two of their last four Class 5A Intermountain Conference regular season match-ups. The Hawks are hoping that the momentum they established then will carry over into the 2022 season.
The Hawks started practice Feb. 28 in preparation for their season opener on St. Patrick’s Day. First-year head Coach Danielle Sayres will make her debut when the Hawks play the Class 6A Bend High Lava Bears Thursday at 5 p.m. at 16th Street Ballpark. Their first road game of a 25-game schedule follows on Friday when the Hawks meet the 6A Liberty High Falcons at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
“We’ve had a lot of young talent coming into our program the last couple of years, so we’re mostly a team with juniors, sophomores and freshmen and we don’t have any seniors, but it’s definitely going to be a fun season and I’m excited about that,” said Sayres, who was an assistant coach to former Coach Katherine Kramer the past three years. “We have some juniors that will help provide us with leadership, such as pitchers Kennedy Abbas and Ella Smith.”
Abbas earned an IMC second team all-league award as a pitcher/first baseman last season and is expected to fulfill the role as the Hawks’ top pitcher again this season. Sophomore Zoe LeBreton, a second team infielder a year ago, will also help lead the Hawks along with Smith, who earned an IMC honorable mention award as an outfielder last season. Sophomore Jeilane Stewart will also help lead the Hawk offense with her solid hitting and defense at shortstop.
“We’ll have a good pitching rotation, which also includes freshman Despina Seufalemua,” said Sayres. “There’s also quite a few girls on our team that can hit pretty well to help lead our offense. We’ll have a lot of big hitters this year, so that should be a lot of fun for us.”
The Hawks will have couple of different players in the starting lineup to replace departed graduated seniors Madison Trout and Courtney Hert, who were the Hawks’ top two hitters last year.
The Hawks finished fourth in the six-team IMC last year with a 4-6 record and were 6-10 overall. This year marks the Hawks’ first full season in the IMC since 2019. The 2020 season was canceled because of COVID and last year’s unofficial short season was non-sanctioned by the OSAA — with no state playoffs.
The Hawks begin their 15-game IMC schedule April 15 versus the Pendleton High Buckaroos at Pendleton High School. Pendleton and the Ridgeview High Ravens are expected to be the top two IMC contenders this year. Sayres says she’s hoping that the Hawks will be a contender for the third-place spot, which would earn them a state playoff berth for the first time since 2016.
This year marks The Dalles’ final season in the IMC. With the OSAA’s new reclassification, The Dalles will be in the Class 4A Tri Valley Conference next season.
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