PVCC Puma Press: March 2003

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	Photo by Frank Spink
	The women's softball team played their first double header, February 4, against Central Arizona College.
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The whir of generators and the plunk of bats hitting balls is no match for softball coach Damon Watson's booming voice.

"You two, get out ¾ next two, in!" he says to a couple of players practicing their hitting in the batting cages on PVCC's brand new softball field.

Watson watches his players with an intense concentration behind a pair of dark sunglasses. Every now and then he shouts out a tip to the player at bat. His constructive criticism could easily be mistaken for simply barking out orders, but anyone aware of his history as a softball coach knows better.

Watson is a retired Marine who spends his days teaching the Marine Corps JROTC program at Westview High School and his afternoons coaching PVCC's newly adopted softball team. He has attended coaching classes and was named high school "Coach of the Year" in 1999 and 2001 in the 5-A Northwest Region and Southwest Region, respectively.

Watson believes that the 15 women currently on the 2003 roster will give other community college teams a run for their money.

"We have a group of really good kids out here," he says. "We want to be competitive and competitively play with good teams ¾ we're blossoming."

Two other coaches assist Watson in the growth of the team. Assistant coaches Jim Gibbs and Bobby Pena help run drills and hone each player's skills. As an added bonus, former University of Arizona pitcher, Becky Lemke, stops by every now and then to offer pitching help to the team. Lemke stays busy running pitching clinics all over the country.

"We're really lucky that she comes out here," says Watson. "She's in high demand."

The team consists of 12 freshmen and four sophomores from various high schools around Arizona. Watson's daughter, Katie, is a pitcher on the team. Coach Watson explains that he's proud of his daughter, but not just for her excellence on the field.

"She's in the [PVCC] Honors Program here," he says. "I'm more proud of that than anything because school is always more important [than sports]."

Athletic Director Greg Silcox is also a newcomer to PVCC. Since being hired in August, Silcox has seen the rapid development of the new softball program.

Of the current season, he says, "It looks good. Damon knows what he's doing."

The team lost their first games on Feb. 4 in a double header against Central Arizona College. However, athletic director Greg Silcox hailed the opening games.

"It was a great day and Dr. Kranitz threw a beautiful "first pitch" strike right over the heart of the plate," he said.

"Despite dropping both games to Central, our Puma softball team battled hard and represented PVCC well."

The Pumas will play approximately 50 games this season and will be playing some of the toughest teams in the entire junior college league, according to Watson. Watson says he has just one goal for his team in the 2003 upcoming season.

"We want to play ®em tough," he says. "We want to play competitive ball ¾ that's all that matters."