After squeezing a 3-2 win against alumnae in November, the Rainbow Wahine softball team will have its hands full this week as it opens the season with a tournament.
The 2010 Oceanic Time Warner Cable Paradise Classic will bring to the field Stanford, McNeese State and Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Thursday through Saturday.
The Rainbow Wahine were picked third in the Western Athletic Conference and are coming off a 30-24 season with a 15-6 Western Athletic Conference record.
“We have a young team (this season), only five seniors – one of which is a Division II transfer – and two juniors,” said head coach Bob Coolen. “We will wait to see how the development of our team takes shape with additional pitching and some added hitters.”
The ’Bows lost seven seniors last season: outfielder Tanisha Milca, shortstop Julie Franklin and third baseman Clare Warwick, along with Audrey Andrade, Courtney Baughman, Richie-Anne Titcomb and Stacey Yamada.
“So far our team is looking strong,” said sophomore pitcher Stephanie Ricketts. “We lost a lot of talented players last year, but we have reloaded with some great hitting and a lot more pitching depth. There are multiple players on our team who are really going to have great seasons, and if we play the way we can, then we will go far.”
The ’Bows will lean heavily on the offensive-defensive duo of Ricketts and senior first baseman Amanda Tauali‘i. Coolen said freshmen left-handed pitcher Kaia Parnaby and center fielder Kelly Majam, along with junior college transfer Jenna Rodrigues (right-handed pitcher/left fielder), are also players to watch.
Last season, Ricketts racked up several honors and became the fourth Rainbow Wahine softball player to be voted the WAC Freshman of the Year. She earned All-WAC second team honors and was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s All-West Region first team, while being recognized on the NFCA Scholar-Athlete and WAC all-academic teams.
Ricketts struck out 178 batters and walked 43 while holding opponents to a .195 batting average. She recorded a pair of no-hitters over WAC opponents Louisiana Tech and Boise State. She saw 30 starts on the mound and completed 27, throwing a combined total of 239.2 innings in 43 appearances to finish her 2009 campaign with a 22-11 record and a 1.81 earned-run average.
The ’Bows’ offense is lead by Tauali‘i, who set career highs in every offensive category last season. She hit .338 and recorded team highs in triples (5), home runs (15), and RBI (41). Tauali‘i also made the program’s record books by tying the UH single-season triples record with Tia Morenz (1997) and Blythe Sakashita (1987), and in the home runs category with former All-Americans Stacey Porter and Tyleen Tausaga for fourth all-time in the program’s history.
In the first of four tournaments, the ’Bows open with McNeese State on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
vs. McNeese State
opens Thursday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m.
Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium






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