Western Oregon Journal

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The road was winding that brought Lydia Foster to Western, but since she arrived, she's made her presence felt on the softball diamond.

This junior catcher almost wound up not playing softball at Western, but fate seemed to have other plans.

"I kind of fell into a very good situation for me," Foster explained. "I really lucked out."

The former all-stater out of Elmira High School applied to Brigham Young University and Western coming out of high school, and felt she faced limited options in terms of collegiate competition.

"I only applied to two schools out of high school, BYU (my first and what I thought was my only choice), and Western just because my friend told me to," Foster said. "I was originally going to go to BYU and not play softball because I didn't want to try out, then when softball season started the spring of my senior year, I decided that I couldn't just stop there."

Foster asked around and even got a few scholarship offers. With Division I softball not seeming like a good fit, Foster eventually signed with Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT), an NAIA school.

But she didn't step foot on the OIT campus.

"I didn't really consider Western again until I found out they got a new coach," Foster said. "That was after I signed to play for OIT, but I changed my mind once again, and with a couple of phone calls to [Athletic Director] Jon Carey and Coach [Pam] Knox (it was late August by then), I finally decided to come to Western without a scholarship."

The Wolves are glad she came. Foster started every game her freshman season, and last year as a sophomore, she garnered Great Northwest Athletic Conference second-team honors as catcher.

This year, Foster leads the squad with a .416 batting average, which is also good for second in the GNAC currently. She also tops the squad's RBI list with 25, has hit nine doubles and is tied with teammate Shannon Prochaska with seven stolen bases.

However, Foster's most impressive statistic might be her career strikeout total. Seven. That's right, just seven, and in 386 at-bats. Impressively, she didn't strike out even once her freshman season, and only two have come from her 113 at-bats this season.

Foster has more productive things to do with her at-bats, such as hit home runs. In the Wolves' most recent game on Sunday, April 17, at St. Martin's, Foster hit a three-run homer at the top of the seventh inning to lift her team to victory over the Saints. The win also brought an end to an 11-game Western losing streak.

Despite her success, Foster is modest about her late-game heroics.

"It was one of those things that I thought it would be so nice to hit it over that fence, and it just happened," Foster explained. "The pitcher kind of gave it to me, and I really don't know why they didn't walk me."

She's also quick to give credit to her teammates.

"People tend to overlook things like that Trina [Dorn] got a clutch base hit on two outs right before I got up," Foster explained of the St. Martin's game. "We would have lost without that. One person can't win games."

"My proudest moments are just when things start to work," she continued. "Any time when something we as a team work on and execute in a game, [it] just feels amazing. When Shannon cuts off a first-and-third play and guns down someone trying to steal home, or when Morgan [Huffstutter] lays down a perfect suicide bunt, or when a struggling batter nails one to right-center, it just feels good." Foster knows her strengths and weaknesses, and while her game is solid overall, she still has some aspects she'd like to work on and improve.

"I'd say that my strength is that I've been here for a while" Foster said. "Experience is pretty much all I have over all the freshmen. Confidence has always been a little weakness of mine. I'm a huge critic of myself. When I trust myself, I perform." While Knox would like to see "more verbalizing and directing from behind the plate" out of Foster, she appreciated all her star catcher brings to the squad.

"She hits the ball very hard and throws runners out trying to steal," Knox explained. "Just look at her statistics...and you will know why she is one of our top competitors. She is one of our captains, has great work ethic, and is a prankster and joker. Great attitude."

Off the field, Foster is a health major and psychology minor. She hasn't yet decided on a career path after she graduates in the spring of 2006, but she knows she wants to work with people.

"I figure I can't go wrong learning about health and psychology, because, if nothing else, I can at least have knowledge for my family and friends," Foster said. "I really like people, and I honestly don't know anyone personally I don't like. All I know so far is that I want to be in a position where I can help people, or at least get to know a lot of different kinds of people. Hopefully, I'll go to graduate school. If I had a lot of money, I would just keep going to school."

Before this spring is over, Foster has a softball season to finish, and one main goal she'd like to see accomplished.

"I just want to end the season on a positive note," Foster explained.

"I want everyone to feel good about this year because we can't get it back."

Foster and the rest of the Wolves' softball squad can be seen in action this weekend against Seattle. Friday, April 22, the game starts at 2:30 p.m., while the following day's action is slated for a noon start.

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