Going into this season, Rayna Cruickshanks knew that she was going to be the only returning pitcher for the Odessa College softball team.
The sophomore from Olds-a town of about 9,000 people, located in Alberta, Canada- has made the most of her final season for the Lady Wranglers, making the majority of starts this season.
Her fast-pitching and strikeouts have helped the Lady Wranglers to one of their best seasons in program history as they embark on next week’s NJCAA World Series in Oxford, Ala.
Odessa College currently sits at No.1 in the national rankings, sitting at 51-4 for the season and is coming off last weekend’s Region V West title.
“We’re really excited,” Cruickshanks said. “We’ve been looking forward to it all season. It was exciting winning regionals last weekend, winning all three games. Now, we get to go back and make a statement like we did last year.”
The Lady Wranglers are no strangers to the NJCAA World Series as this will mark the third consecutive appearance for Odessa College.
Last year, the program made it to the semifinals before settling for third after falling to Florida Southwestern and McLennan to finish the season.
Cruickshanks and her players know they can go further this year and win a national championship.
“That’s exactly the goal,” Cruickshanks said. “We’ve been third. We’ve done that. This year, we want to do more. We want to be first and win the last game. That’s the goal.”
Last year’s third place was the highest finish in program history.
Cruickshanks knew there were a lot of expectations going into this season, not only for the team but for her individually.
“This year, I was the only returning pitcher so my goal this year was to come in and lead this team and put everyone on my back and take us far,” Cruickshanks said. “I feel very blessed with the defense that we have and the offense we have. They really have my back.”
She’s handled the expectations well.
So far this season, her record in the circle is 26-1, pitching a total of 131.1 innings. She’s only given up 82 hits, 32 runs and has struck out 166 batters. Her ERA is 1.49.
It’s done wonders for her confidence levels.
“It’s been very good, so far,” Cruickshanks said. “I have so much confidence. Not only in myself but also in my defense and offense. I know if I don’t perform as well as I can, I know my team will and they have my back.”
However, the season didn’t exactly start off the way the Lady Wranglers hoped, losing 9-1 to Grayson College and 10-2 to San Jacinto College-South back in January.
Odessa College also fell to Chipola College two days later, 5-2.
Since then, the wins have rolled in for Odessa College. And more.
The Lady Wranglers’ last loss was a 2-1 defeat to McMurry University back on March 15.
Currently, Odessa College is on a 29-game winning streak.
“I felt the pressure at the beginning of the year,” Cruickshanks said. “But I knew that the pitchers we had coming in were going to step up to that role and fill the shoes. My job was the set the tone as the returner and let them know what to expect.”
Cruickshanks and her teammates have tried to keep a level-head through it all, especially with the No. 1 ranking.
They know it won’t mean anything if they don’t win the game that matters next week.
“We’re excited to be ranked No. 1. That’s an exciting accomplishment for a lot of us players and the coaches. But rankings doesn’t mean anything. We want to win the last game of the season and be national champions. That’s what we’re pushing.”
As the lone returning pitcher, Cruickshanks knew she had to embrace the leadership role.
“I feel like I’ve been there and done that,” Cruickshankssaid. “I know what to expect now whereas last year, I didn’t know what to expect. Everything was all knew. This year, I have a more level-headed mindset.”
She learned a lot from her teammates last year.
“They taught us everything,” Cruickshanks said. “I learned so much about the little things like how to be a class player. College is a completely different world from select ball from high school.”
Last year was about getting Cruickshanks as many starting opportunities as possible as she was the No. 3 pitcher a year ago.
She started in nine games and appeared in 20 total during the 2022 spring.
“Last year, it was more of her year where we knew we had to get her in,” Odessa College head coach Jeff Jackson said. “We had two starters last year. We had Rayna, who was our number three last year, but we knew we had to get her a good number of starts to get her to where we knew she could be this year. She did a good job of figuring everything out last year.”
Cruickshanks will be transferring to the Division I level next year at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.
Regardless of what happens next week, her efforts from this season haven’t gone unnoticed.
“She’s brought the ability to win a lot of games in a variety of ways,” Jackson said. “She started off the season striking out a whole bunch of people. I think the more people saw her, the more her strikeout numbers went down but her effectiveness never dropped. She walked very few people. She competes in the zone very well. She keeps people on their heels. I’m so impressed by her abilities to get outs, no matter what her situation is. She does a great job of competing from start to finish. I can’t say enough about her.”
