A season later, Vikings fall to pieces

5 players, 2 coaches dismissed, and team fails to defend crown

By jason vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, May 11, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

HAYES

A year ago, Portland State made the NCAA Division I softball tournament for the first time, went 38-20, won the Pacific Coast Softball Conference and was unbeaten at home.

Last week, the Vikings finished a season they would just as soon quickly forget. They fell to 23-34 and out of the playoffs, beset with off-field distractions. By season’s end, they had only 13 players.

“We never found our rhythm until the final weeks,” second-year coach Amy Hayes says.

The Vikings lost only three seniors from the 2006 breakthrough team, but things started to unravel in March. Hayes had to relieve two of her four new coaches — paid assistant Jenn Poore and volunteer Kelly Kretschman — for misconduct involving some players. Three players — Katie Stokes, Laura Segall and Christy Hess — also got released.

Citing personnel issues, Hayes says only that “not everything always goes smoothly when you have a change in coaching. Not everybody was on the same page.”

Two weeks ago, players Stephanie Bean and Janice Damo got the boot.

Hayes calls the player dismissals a matter of “team rules and stuff like that.” She says the five players lacked committment and the team chemistry and leadership suffered.

“When you’re playing Division I softball, there are things you should do and shouldn’t do,” Hayes says. “It’s highly competitive, and we need people who are dedicated. Every coach in every sport has team guidelines and rules, and it’s up to kids to follow those or take another path.

“When you have a winning season, everything seems to click and everything seems great. With girls, they get distracted by the wrong things and can’t turn things off. We had distractions off the field that limited us.”

Segall was batting .329, Stokes .309 and Bean .270. Damo, who started the year with some academic issues, went 0-9. Hess was a part-time player.

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