Queen of the hill

Clackamas CC’s Renee Santos is a strikeout machine

By jason vondersmith

The Portland Tribune, Jul 10, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (17 Reader comments)

Clackamas Community College freshman pitcher Renee Santos didn’t just set the single-season strikeout record, she nearly set the two-year record as well.

©2007 TRACY SWISHER

It's an awesome stat: 408 strikeouts in 196 1/3 innings, or an average of 14.6 every seven innings, that pitcher Renee Santos had in her rookie year with the Clackamas Community College softball team.

Count her among the best in the nation.

Tracy Cheesebrough of Hudson Valley Community College (N.Y.) had 380 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings – or 13.7 per seven innings.

Softball’s strikeout queen, Monica Abbott of Tennessee, had 724 punchouts in 358 1/3 innings – 14.1 per. She was one of five NCAA Division I pitchers to record more than 450 strikeouts.

Jennifer Martinez of Division III St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) averaged 14.6 strikeouts every regulation game as well.

Santos crushed the Clackamas record for strikeouts in one season, and almost eclipsed the two-year record. A Portland native, Santos starred at St. Mary’s Academy for four years, consistently racking up megastrikeout games. But, obviously, she has put herself on the map by leaving many, many college hitters in her wake.

She still has another year left on the hill in Oregon City. In November, she expects to sign a letter of intent with a Division I team.

Former Cougar coach Paul Fiskum has been part of Clackamas athletics for more than 30 years.

He says Santos is the best he has ever seen in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, for which she holds the unofficial season strikeout record.

“Only one pitcher that we’ve seen comes close to her,” he says, referring to former Lower Columbia CC pitcher Misty Velke.

“Once we saw Renee in the fall (of 2006), we expected her to dominate,” current coach Jess Farnsworth says. “We didn’t expect 400 strikeouts.”

So why doesn’t Santos pitch for Oregon State or Arizona or UCLA?

Despite the awe-inspiring numbers, Santos’ situation is complicated.

She hasn’t had the best of upbringings, relying on a faithful uncle, a supportive grandmother, a committed St. Mary’s Academy and a love of softball through her rough years growing up in Southeast Portland.

Her father has never been part of her life. Her mother couldn’t kick drug addiction and died days before Santos left the eighth grade and planned to enter St. Mary’s in 2002. Debbie Santos died in a drug house and wasn’t found for four days, says Renee’s uncle, Vernie Santos.

One of three children, Renee Santos, has taken the most positive path of any of her siblings, the uncle adds. He leaves it at that.

Again, they weren’t ideal formative years for Santos, 19. As a preteen, she had to testify for four days in a court in a case against an abusive adult. She doesn’t want to talk about it, and neither do any of her family members.

“I went to counseling for a couple of years,” she says. “Now I don’t even think about that.”

Indeed, Renee Santos has too much to enjoy these days to get caught up in the past. Competitive, committed and very good, Santos wants to take softball as far as she can – Division I, many wins and championships and maybe even the Women’s College World Series.

“Softball is Renee’s life,” Farnsworth adds. “She’s very dedicated to her sport and teammates. It’s going to be an adjustment, but she’s definitely ready for the (Division I) challenge.”

“She has come from a hard life,” says Lacey Forbito, her best friend and Clackamas teammate. “She’s strong-willed and will get through anything.”

Pitcher’s hard to hit

Santos wasn’t perfect at Clackamas, sporting a 25-7 record and a 1.64 earned run average. But in the same way as big league strikeout king Nolan Ryan, she was unhittable at times.

Like many college pitchers, she rarely throws fastballs. They don’t move enough, she says. No, it’s more about rise balls, screwballs and changeups – “a great, great changeup,” Fiskum says – and throwing any pitch to any hitter at any time.

“Pitchingwise, she’s fearless,” says Gary Hoops, her former coach with the Oregon Breeze summer team; Santos, taking a break from pitching, coaches alongside Hoops this summer while also giving free instruction to young hurlers.

“She used more pitches than anybody in the league,” Farnsworth adds. “Renee has such versatility with her pitching that it’s hard for a hitter to sit back and wait for their pitch.”

Teams hit her, though. In two of last season’s games against Lower Columbia, which beat Clackamas for the NWAACC title, Santos gave up two home runs in each game. Of course, she struck out 16 and 17 batters in the games.

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