Ava Sims, a sophomore, is tagged to play first base for Daegu this season. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
So, what’s a softball team to do when it loses its ace pitcher of the past two seasons to graduation?
Osan’s softball team, the reigning DODEA-Korea champion, plans to turn to two pairs of siblings to keep its recent run of success going.
Two of the sisters, senior Shaylee and sophomore Shanaya Ungos, have their mom, Suzy, as the Cougars’ new coach. She’ takes over for departed coach Laura Mountcastle and her daughter, Anne, who pitched Osan to the league title against Daegu last April.
And the other sisters, senior Zoie and sophomore Zephaniah Martin, are also looking to contribute to an Osan team that has two goals to shoot for: A DODEA-Korea repeat and the first Far East Division II tournament since 2019.
“The team has reloaded from last year’s strong season, filling some key holes left behind by graduating seniors,” said the elder Ungos, who assisted Mountcastle the past couple of seasons.
Shaylee Ungos sat out last season, but is ready to take over the pitching duties. Shanaya Ungos is being tabbed to help set the table at the top of the order. Zoie Martin, a catcher, and Zephania Martin, an infielder-pitcher, “are looking to make some waves,” Ungos said.
Osan opens its season Saturday against the same Daegu team the Cougars beat 14-5 last April 29, this time at Camp Henry’s Victory Field at 10 a.m., followed by baseball at noon.
Osan’s soccer teams, which play in the Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference’s upper-tier Blue Division, begin their season Friday at Seoul Foreign. Humphreys also starts Friday, at Taejon Christian. Daegu plays in KAIAC’s second-tier Red Division and opens Saturday at home against Cheongna Dalton.
Senior Hazel Bell and Daegu's softball team are hoping to atone for last year's DODEA-Korea finals defeat to Osan. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Softball
Six players return for the team the Cougars vanquished last spring, including senior shortstop Hazel Bell. Sophomore Ava Sims, Coach Joy Sims’ daughter, will move from shortstop to first base.
Nia Bell, a sophomore, is in her second year of pitching and has made “phenomenal strides, and I anticipate her pitching will be more consistent and powerful this year,” Joy Sims said.
Humphreys, under new coach and former Daegu player Ashley Gooch, is senior heavy and gets to host the first Far East Division I tournament since 2019.
Joy Hayes, Makayla Howell, Charlize Tullos and Reyna Peterman return and seniors Madison Scrimsher, Alexandria Tabaquero and Janiyah White join the Blackhawks.
Junior Brandon Borrelli will see time on the mound and in the infield for Humphreys' baseball team. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Junior Duncan Pickering will play some outfield for Humphreys' baseball team. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Baseball
Reigning DODEA-Korea champion Humphreys returns four of the players, including then-freshman Eric Ji, who helped the Blackhawks down Osan 6-2 in last spring’s league final.
Senior Levi Ramos and junior Brandon Borelli are also available to pitch, while junior Skyler Allison returns in center field. Freshman Bradley Miller will catch. Tyler Greve takes over as coach.
Hoping Osan can return the favor, Jason Winkle calls this, his third Cougars team, perhaps the best one he's coached at Osan, led by seniors Adam Rutland and Jaylon Grant. It’s a team loaded with sophomores, including John Ganske, son of assistant coach Rich Ganske.
Ryan Rodgers and Daegu once more face an ongoing problem – while they have a handful of experienced returners, the Warriors continue to lack depth.
But juniors Chris Garcia and D.J. Nelson and senior Gabriel Miller are back. Rodgers calls his team a “scrappy group” with a coaching staff that’s committed, so “anything can happen once they begin to believe they can compete.”
Dean Lentz is one of a handful of returners to a Daegu boys soccer team that's junior heavy. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Boys soccer
Senior Kamron Verrell had 19 goals last season, including one he scored to give Humphreys the early lead en route to winning the DODEA-Korea title 2-1 over Osan.
He returns, along with senior Kanon Morrison and junior Tristan Michel. Humphreys sports plenty of depth, and the Blackhawks plan to chase not only the league title, but the first Far East D-I tournament in four years.
Imagine not having coached a soccer team for 40 years. That’s Michael Paul, who takes over the Cougars. They return a handful of veterans, seniors T’zuriel Jennings and Luigi Nasci. Freshman Justiss Parker-Jones brings plenty of athleticism and quickness to the table.
The Warriors are junior heavy, featuring a handful of veterans including Dean Lentz, Vitale Tillman, David Tak and Beckam Clites.
Sophomore Claire Anderson will help bolster the midfield for Humphreys' girls soccer team. (Dave Ornauer/Stars and Stripes)
Sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Kim and Osan‘s girls soccer team is hoping to end a 10-year Far East Division II tournament title drought. (Jessica J. McCollum/Special to Stripes)
Senior Riley Hunt and Osan‘s girls soccer team is hoping to end a 10-year Far East Division II tournament title drought. (Jessica J. McCollum/Special to Stripes)
Girls soccer
The Warriors appear to be in good position to repeat their DODEA-Korea championship, what with senior Logan Gray, junior keeper Emily Hager, senior twins Ella and Emma Sims, senior midfielder Leah Williamson and other veterans, including Hannah Clites, returning.
Scott Bittner hasn’t coached since the 2012 season, but he’s back at Humphreys’ helm. The Blackhawks gained some true finds from the PCS plan, including sophomore midfielders Syra Soto, from Kubasaki, and Claire Anderson, from Washington state.
Osan holds the DODEA-Pacific record for D-II girls soccer titles with eight, but has none since 2013. Sung Plourde, the dean of Pacific girls coaches in his 21st season, will try to end that drought behind senior veterans Vivian Machmer and Riley Hunt.
