Youth softball players, coaches learn from Portland's professional team

Photo courtesy of Josh Terry##The Northwest Vandals 16U team pose for a photograph with their Valley Invite trophy on Sunday, June 21 in Hillsboro. The club team includes Mac seniors Taylor Terry and Alex Bates and Dayton junior Sophie Sweeney.

Photo courtesy of Josh Terry##Cascade catcher Mia Davidson instructs youth players on the proper ways of how to receive a pitch.

Photo courtesy of Josh Terry##Members of the AUSL Portland Cascade speak to youth players during a camp that took place between high school and professional games.

Professional softball players and the youth athletes they’re inspiring met for the first time in Hillsboro last weekend.

The newly-founded Portland Cascade of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League played their home opener versus the Oklahoma City Blaze, winning the first game 3-0 on June 18, but dropping the next two of a three-game set.

Outside of the professional outings, a club softball tournament — the Valley Invite — saw talent from across the region play their own games at the Hillsboro complex. Included in the flood of softball festivities were the Northwest Vandals Premier 16U team, a squad coached by McMinnville Head Coach Josh Terry.

The Vandals also sport familiar faces, like incoming McMinnville seniors Alex Bates and Taylor Terry, and incoming Dayton junior Sophie Sweeney.

Many others from the Pacific Conference play for the Vandals, including Sherwood’s Presley Sarono-Ramos and Glencoe’s Lexi Brester. West Linn’s Max Preps Player of the Year, Avery Wolf, also throws for Terry’s team.

Terry and several coaches from the Vandals partnered with members of the Cascade to run a youth clinic over the weekend as well, to which Terry was overjoyed to offer their services hitting ground balls to the campers.

“It was a lot of fun being around those athletes and it’s cool watching the little kids, how they’re reacting to being around those girls. It was a busy week, but it’s pretty special,” Terry said.

In their own games, Terry’s Vandals took home the crown of their bracket, going 7-0 over three days of play.

In those games, the Vandals hit .482 as a team, smashed eight home runs, stole 31 bases and scored 78 runs. Taylor Terry nabbed 10 bags on her own while hitting .571 in 17 plate appearances. She also secured five RBIs, scored 10 runs and walked twice.

Bates hit .455 in 11 plate appearances, aiding her team with two RBIs and four runs scored. Sweeney saw 10 at-bats, hitting to the tune of a .400 batting average to go along with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored.

While preparing for his club team for another tournament in Colorado during the weekend of July 4, Terry took a moment to embrace the occasion of professional softball being played in Oregon for the first time.

More than anything, it showed that avenues to continue being involved in the game have stretched past what has ever been available for local youth players.

“It’s a sport that we’re wrapped up in and love, and for the girls it shows that we’ve got the opportunity to do some things that young women in the past have not,” Terry said. “Our whole program was glued to their seats watching every minute of it.”

“Maybe one day, a few of these kids that we’re coaching will have an opportunity to go play professionally,” Terry added.

The Cascade’s season runs through July, with a nine-game home stand from July 7-18 marking the end of the team’s inaugural season.