EUGENE — Before each game, the Marist High School softball team gathered at the mound to hold hands and pray. At times, they invited opponents to join in. Several players are leaders in Marist retreat programs.
The girls pray well, but they’ve also played well, winning the 4A state championship this year with a record of 29-1. To top it off, the players had the highest grade-point average of any other team in the state at 3.71.
“One of the things that stands out about the whole group is the quality of women that they are,” says Bob Hammitt, who has coached the Spartans since 1997.
The victory is sweet for Marist, which has been knocking on the door each year since its last state title in 2000.
Hammitt credits his staff and parents for helping the players make the season great.
“We have been like family this year,” Hammitt says. Parents and players raised money, went on trips and provided needed transport when the school budget fell short.
After a big game in eastern Oregon, the athletic director from Baker City sent a note to Marist, lauding the quality of the team and the fans.
In the batter’s box, the team was charged by junior shortstop Kayla Braud, who has set a national record with a 76-game hitting streak. She carried the streak over from last season, quickly breaking the old record of 46 games.
Braud is a pain to pitchers, a left-handed batter who can drag bunt as well as drive the ball to the fence. Her average for the year was a cool .660.
“We have a great group of girls,” says Braud, whose mother Kelli is principal of St. Paul School in Eugene and a former softballer. “We players are really close and have good relationships with each other and bonded really well. We were really driven to state. We worked well together and supported each other.”
Kayla Braud, it happens, is Hammitt’s granddaughter. For years, he has led her summer softball teams, along with her father and an uncle. This summer, in addition to playing ball, Kayla will spend time babysitting her brothers, who are ages 4 and 5.
During the season, Spartan glove-work was sharp when it needed to be, but freshman pitcher Nyree White made sure her fielders were not overly busy. She struck out a phenomenal 353 on the year, more than doubling the old Marist record of 171. She pitched 18 shutouts.
At 5-foot-10, White has developed four pitches: drop, curve, change and rise. It’s that consistent and accurate riser that sets White apart from the crowd.
Hammitt says he has never had so young a player who could pitch so well.
Marist had a year of power, with 27 home runs. The previous team record was six. The boost in long balls was not the work of just a few; six players contributed. That included 12 home runs from White.
Marist loses six seniors.
The softball win was the fifth state title for Marist this school year. The Spartans also took top honors in football, boys golf, girls swimming and boys basketball.
