(Tucson, AZ) Bill McCulloch
First year Mountain View Softball Coach Ramon De La Ossa got the opportunity of a lifetime when he accepted the position at the Marana District High School coming from Rio Rico High School.
He knew he had talent and cupboard wasn’t bare. How much talent and how far they take him was an unknown.
His Lady Mountain Lions battled hard all season finishing in the middle of the pack in the 5A Southern Division with an 18-14 overall record and 5-3 in league play. They finished ranked #9 in the entire 5A State Division.
Mountain View hosted Apollo High from Phoenix in a “play-in” game for the right to go to the AIA State Playoffs. The Eagles had no answer for the Mountain Lions falling 12-2.
Next up was Centennial High in Peoria. Neither team had much offensively at the plate and Mt. View was ultimately edged 1-0 in eleven innings.
Looking back his inaugural campaign, Coach De La Ossa did a fabulous job bringing together a group of players that went 12-14 the previous year.
Outside of making the State Playoffs, this year’s success was culminated with the selection to the 4A-5A All Star Squad of Senior Co-Captain and catcher Ashley Ketchum (left) who batted .348 and is committed to Colby College in Waterville, ME next year.
Also selected was Pitcher and Co-Captain Alex Vanderwerf (right) who won 12 games this season and will be attending Midland University in Fremont, NE.
De La Ossa has the opportunity to coach both of his players one more time in the All Star Game on June 6th at Scottsdale Community College.
