SAINTS SOFTBALL PLAYERS LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT SEASON

The Mt. Hood softball team found out that its remaining season was canceled, due to COVID-19, by the Northwest Athletic Conference on March 16, shortly after playing in its second tournament.

Although the Saints’ season was cut short, several players interviewed remain optimistic about the future and their plans for next season.

Here are profiles of some of these women:

Sydney Earls

The 19-year-old, a pitcher and first baseman, was a freshman team captain of the Mt. Hood team.

“It was a very sad day because we had been working so hard and we had to say goodbye to our sophomores, who we all love and appreciate so much,”

Earls said of the season shutdown. “Plans for the future just include continuing to work hard and not let all of our hard work go to waste. We will come into next season being more than ready to take home that NWAC championship,” she said.

Earls was born and raised in Rainier, Oregon, but moved to Milton-Freewater, Oregon (northeast of Pendleton), halfway through her freshman year. She attended McLoughlin High School in Milton-Freewater, and she played on the varsity team all four years there. Then she made the decision to come to Mt. Hood.

“I chose MHCC because the coaches told me that they would do everything they could to get me to the next level and made it clear that they would support me 100% in both my softball career and educational journey,” she said.

Earls said she has been playing softball since she was 4 years old.

“My softball career has been nothing but life-changing. The game has taught me how to overcome adversity, what it means to work for what I want, and how to push through even when I want to give up. Softball has connected me with people from all over that have played vital roles in building me into the person I am today and I will forever be grateful for them,” she said.

“From the day I picked up my glove, I wasn’t playing for myself, but for someone bigger than myself. Every time I step on the field I get to Glorify God,” she continued. “In every triumph and every failure he receives all praise. I get to stand in front of crowds of people playing in the name of Jesus Christ; nothing gets better than that. That is my favorite part of the game.”

Earls said her favorite memory with the Saints was when the team volunteered at a homeless shelter and served dinner to the people that stayed there.

“It brought the team together and gave us a chance to give back to our community and showed us how grateful we should be to be able to play the game that we love so much every day,” she said.

Her favorite part of being on the MHCC team is the focus that they have on family and the lifelong relationships that come with it, she explained.

Earls’ favorite high school memory was when she pitched in the state championship game her freshman year. She said her favorite food is Chinese, and she enjoys listening to Christian music.

“My goal for softball in the future is to go where God leads me. I want to transfer to a school that fits my educational needs best while still giving me the opportunity to play,” she said. She wants to major in Administrative Education and General Education, as well as minor in Youth Ministry.

Earls decided what career path she hoped to venture into during her senior year of high school, she said. Among her many goals for the next 5-10 years, she sees herself as an elementary school teacher in her hometown, eventually becoming an administrator, while also working at her church as a youth pastor.

Rainy Dold

At age 19, Rainy Dold also was a freshman team captain, playing third base for MHCC. She plans to return and play next year.

She was born and raised in Hillsboro, Oregon. She attended Hillsboro High School and was the only person in her class who played on the varsity team all four years of high school. She has been playing the sport since she was 5 years old, and softball has opened up many doors for her, she said.

“My softball career has been full of so many experiences, from playing travel ball since I was 10, to my high school years, and then my collegiate experience. It has opened me up to many opportunities and experiences I wouldn’t have had without softball,” said Dold.

“My favorite part is how intense the game is; no matter if you’re watching, playing, a coach, it is always so intense and it’s a sport with more than one skill, so being able to play and be good at it, makes it so much more fun! It’s also a sport where you can always get better, so it challenges me every day,” she said.

Dold’s favorite memory at MHCC so far is the van rides to the games, when the team sings and dance together. She lists cheese pizza as her favorite food.

In the future, she would love to play softball at a four-year university, possibly Western Oregon or Eastern Oregon University. After that, she hopes to become a softball coach and teacher in Oregon.

“I chose MHCC because of my financial standings, the campus, and how amazing the coaching staff is at school!” said Dold. “They make every day of practice fun and they make me better as a person and a player.”

After the team learned the season was canceled, “We were all pretty upset, but it gives us more time to prepare to get the NWAC championship next year!” Dold said.

Kathryn Bradford

In her second year with Mt. Hood, 20-year-old sophomore Kathryn Bradford played outfield/center field for the Saints, and also served as a team captain.

Born and raised in The Dalles, she attended The Dalles High School and played softball all four years there.

Bradford has been playing softball for 16 years.

“I have been playing softball since I was 4 years old. My softball career has been nothing but amazing,” she said.

“I have gained so much from this sport in the last 16 years of my life. Softball has shaped me into the woman I am today in many, many ways. It has taught/showed me leadership, responsibility, strength. I have met some incredible people in this sport. I have gained so many friendships with girls that I consider sisters, honestly.

“I have been able to travel around the United States and experience different cultures,” Bradford continued. “Softball has helped me push through hardships in my life, as well as good times. I have always used it as my getaway and I am forever thankful that I will have this sport to look back on in my life. And I hope one day softball gives my daughter everything that I have received from it as well,” she said.

Bradford said her favorite part of being on the MHCC team is how driven and hardworking she and her teammates are.

“I love the drive it gives me, the competition, the happiness I feel when I am on the field, the friendships it has brought me, the memories. I love everything about this sport,” she said.

Her favorite memory with the MHCC team was when she hit a home run while just “slapping” the bat at one pitch.

A favorite memory in high school softball was when the team went to a spring break tournament in Bend, when she was a sophomore and her sister was a senior. The two hit back-to-back home runs; this was also her first ever home run. Afterwards, the local newspaper in The Dalles published an article on this special moment.

Bradford said she came to Mt. Hood for many different reasons.

“I chose MHCC because I liked the idea of only being a little over an hour away from home. I also loved the campus and environment when I was there,” she said. “And I chose MHCC softball because I like the coaching staff. They did not just care about softball but they genuinely care about their players individually and are always there for all of us. I also really enjoyed the work ethic that the team had, and I really enjoyed the energy when I came to visit.”

Her plans are to continue with her education and softball in fall 2020 at the Oregon Institute of Technology on a scholarship.

“I am majoring in respiratory care. I knew I wanted to do this when I was a junior in high school,” Bradford said. “I was scheduled to take a class for my senior project where I had to job shadow someone. At that point in my life all I knew was I wanted to go into the medical field, so I reached out to some people to help narrow down some specific areas in the medical field I could learn about.

“And during that search, respiratory therapy was in there. I ended up job shadowing at Mid-Columbia Medical Center in The Dalles for 2 months and ended up loving everything about this job,” she said.

As for her longtime passion: “My goals for softball in the future are to spend the last two years of my softball career never having any regrets –having fun and making the most of every practice/game,” said Bradford. “Playing the game I have loved the last 16 years and going out of this sport with a bang.”

Off the softball field, she listed spaghetti as her favorite food, and she enjoys R&B music. In 5-10 years, she sees herself moving back to The Dalles to buy a home, beginning her career as a respiratory therapist, and starting her family.