The last two seasons, Sherwood exited the 6A softball playoffs with competitive losses to eventual champion Sheldon and flame-throwing ace pitcher Payton Burnham.
But after falling in the semifinals in 2023 and the quarterfinals in 2024, the No. 2 Bowmen believe they are ready to take it up a notch this season. And with a 7-0 start – punctuated by a 17-5 home win over No. 1 Jesuit on Wednesday in a nonleague game between unbeaten teams – they seem to be on track.
Kris Moore, Sherwood's third coach in three seasons, said his team is only scratching the surface of its potential. The Bowmen brought back six starters but are relatively young, with only three seniors on the roster.
“I don't think we've played the perfect game yet,” Moore said. “We've had games where we didn't hit well but we pitched really well. We've had games where we hit so well that it didn't matter how our pitching went. We haven't had to rely on one thing to get a victory.”
The Bowmen dominated Jesuit with their bats. Junior Maisy Schindler had a double, triple and four RBIs. Sophomore Kaya Stevenson went 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. Senior Camryn Knight had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs.
Sherwood is averaging 10.0 runs per game, getting at least five RBIs from six different players. Schindler has provided much of the fuel, batting .500 with two doubles, two triples, six RBIs, six walks and 14 runs scored. Junior Hollie Maughan is batting a team-high .526 with two triples, one home run and seven RBIs.
With senior Destiny Cornwell and freshman Presley Sarono-Ramos sharing time in the circle, Sherwood has held opponents to 13 runs through seven games.
In 22 innings, Cornwell has allowed 15 hits, struck out 26, walked six and has a 1.59 ERA. Sarono-Ramos has thrown 15 innings, yielded two hits, fanned 25, walked 11 and has a 0.93 ERA.
Cornwell, who split pitching duties with Faith McHill the last two seasons, and the hard-throwing Sarono-Ramos give Sherwood two capable arms.
“Destiny has a lot of experience pitching against high-level batters,” Moore said. “She knows how to get batters out and make adjustments mid-at-bat. Presley is more of a power pitcher. She's kind of an intimidating force on the mound because she's so explosive. It catches a lot of batters off-guard, how hard she can pitch.”
Sarono-Ramos pitched a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a 2-1 win over 5A No. 2 Dallas last week. Cornwell tossed a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts to beat Wilsonville 4-0 on Tuesday.
“Between Presley and Destiny, they are two equal pitchers with the same confidence and the ability to win the big game,” Moore said.
The pitchers benefit from a solid defense that includes senior catcher McKenna Parmalee, junior shortstop Daisha Cornwell, second baseman Maughan and three speedy outfielders in junior Jordyn Henderson (left field), Knight (center field) and Schindler (right field), all returning starters.
“Our strong suit is our defense,” Moore said. “It makes our pitchers even better knowing they don't have to strike everybody out. Our outfield is phenomenal. We have basically three center fielders in the outfield. Our ability to track down balls is probably as good as any team in the state.”
Moore hopes to stop Sherwood's revolving door at coach. Mikal Morris stepped down after the 2023 season and was replaced by Mike Bennett, but he resigned one month prior to last season. Alex Flores coached the team in 2024 but she left to take a college assistant coaching job at Utah Tech.
Moore, who has coached club softball in the area for the last seven years, offered Flores to take over the JV this year, but after she left, he applied for the varsity job and was hired in October. Moore, an orthopedic surgeon in Newberg, has served as the head team physician at Sherwood and George Fox University.
“It was a pretty familiar environment for me to step into as coach,” he said. “I'm willing to stick around and be here for a while for these girls. They deserve it. It's been so unstable.”
So far, so good for Moore and the Bowmen, but if they are to pursue the program's first state title, they need to build on their fast start. Last year, they opened 12-0 and went 10-8 the rest of the way, finishing tied with Forest Grove for second place in the Pacific Conference behind McMinnville.
“We talked extensively on the mentality of what it takes to be a champion, to move up to the next level,” Moore said. “The girls are all on board.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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