His teams never miss the playoffs

Not many high school coaches in any sport can say their team has made the state tournament for seven consecutive seasons. Cedar Park Christian School softball head coach Greg Salios, however, is one of a select few that can claim that record.

Salios has been at the helm of the Eagles’ softball program since its inception in 2001, and made the 1A state tournament every year since 2002. This year was no different, as Cedar Park ran over the 1A Emerald City League with a perfect 9-0 record, going 15-7 for the regular season despite a mid-season injury to their staff ace, sophomore Bronwyn Lamphere (torn labrum). The Eagles went on to dominate at the Tri-District tournament, winning three of four games while outscoring their opponents 19-3, to earn yet another trip to state.

Salios, due to his outstanding performance as a coach in leading the Eagles to an unbeaten league season and state berth while overcoming the adversity of losing his starting pitcher to injury, has been named the Bothell/Kenmore Reporter Coach of the Year.

“We have good athletes, they work hard and do what we ask them to do,” said Salios of his team. “Sometimes it takes a little bit of luck when things don’t work in the right way, but we’re determined to make it every year (to state).”

The eight-year coach attributes his team’s powerhouse success towards “getting the right players” coming into the program, replacing any seniors that have graduated, while the sophomores and juniors gain talent and experience with every game they play.

What makes the Eagles’ incredible record even more commendable is the fact that only two out of the 12 players on the roster play softball outside of spring quarter at Cedar Park. With so many players coming into the season cold, Salios has done a masterful job of getting his girls prepared for the long grind ahead in only about 10 pre-season practices.

“What I try to do is take what they bring, and just make it effective. Not everybody (is) mechanically perfect, but if they’re consistent, we’ll take that,” said Salios of his coaching strategy. “We’ll work with them on some things… and for these girls that don’t play year-round, it can be tough, but we just try to take what they bring and fit it into the whole team concept.”

Salios, who was also named the Emerald City League Coach of the Year, has been thrilled to see that his team’s success has put Cedar Park’s athletics program on the map.

“The excitement level—it’s been fun to watch as we’ve had some success,” said Salios when asked what changes he’s seen in the program since his first year. “Everybody has an expectation now of succeeding and doing well.”

At the heart of this year’s squad were four all-league seniors: First baseman Arin Kepler, catcher Amanda Mattocks, shortstop Emilie Wagler, and pitcher Sarah Foulkes. Mattocks, one of the two that plays year-round, will be playing softball at Wheaton College in Illinois next year. Kepler is one of the few athletes ever to be named to an all-league team all four years of attending high school, and Wagler was honored with the Emerald City League MVP award.

The main story line this year, however, involved Foulkes, as she had to step into the circle early on in the season and carry the team to the postseason after Lamphere, the reigning league rookie of the year, got hurt. Foulkes, who was on the roster as a shortstop, all of a sudden had to focus on striking out batters rather than fielding ground balls.

“Sarah is a great athlete—she doesn’t play (outside of school) or go to pitching lessons,” Salios said. “It just shows you how good she is—to do that and to compete consistently, and when we get to the state tournament she’s a competitive kid, mentally and physically tough.”

She displayed that toughness on the mound for the Eagles, notching nine wins on the season including a complete game – a five-hit shutout in the final contest of the Tri-District tournament that sealed Cedar Park’s seventh consecutive trip to state. Although the lineup had to be shuffled around a bit, the girls rallied behind their new pitcher and coach Salios learned a valuable lesson.

“What I will take away from this season is that we can overcome adversity,” Salios said. “We overcame (Lamphere’s injury) and had a couple of tough losses, but every time we rebounded and played well. I think the girls and I learned that we can get through, no matter how bleak the situation may look.”

Among Salios’ great memories of this season was the chance to finally play at Husky Stadium against Adna, a solid 2B team from central Washington. Cedar Park was supposed to play at UW last year, but Mother Nature had other plans.

“It got rained out and the girls never did play…but this year it turned out to be one of the few sunny days we had this spring,” Salios recalled. “We came from behind to win (7-6), it was a great setting, and we played one of our best and most exciting games. Just playing at UW was a fun experience, it was a blast.”

Having already proven that he can overcome adversity, Salios feels that with nine seniors graduating in the last two seasons, including all four of his all-league players this year as well as his only catcher, the 2009 campaign may finally be one to rebuild the Eagles’ usually solid lineup.

“Basically we have our whole team in transition…we don’t know who’s going to pitch or catch for us next year,” Salios admitted. “It’s going to be a young team, and it will probably be our most challenging year as far as talent and making it back to state, but it’ll be fun.

“I’m up to the challenge.”