*Note: SOU's season-openers have been rescheduled to take place at 2 p.m. Wednesday at William Jessup. Check the schedule page for more changes.

ASHLAND – The first season in a new era of Southern Oregon University softball could take on several different forms.

First-year coach Jessica Pistole isn't just hesitant to say what she envisions in terms of a lineup and level of competitiveness – she's waiting to see for herself, making clear that everyone on the roster will get opportunities to establish themselves as contributors.

Pistole inherited nine players from a team that went 15-23 overall and 14-14 in the Cascade Conference last season, and has a promising crop of 11 newcomers to join them. The Raiders were picked to finish fifth in the CCC, which features three teams in the preseason NAIA top-25 poll.

"To be honest, we have competition at every position," Pistole said. "There are several different combinations that'd I'd be comfortable going with right now, and that, to me, is a unique situation."

The Raiders will begin sorting things out when they open a 30-game nonleague slate – they played eight nonleague last year – with a doubleheader scheduled for a 2 p.m. Wednesday at William Jessup (Calif.). They'll have over a month before starting conference play with eight straight on the road.

Despite the notable loss of all-star catcher Julia Willison (Reno, Nevada/McQueen), a .381 hitter and the CCC's leader in on-base percentage, the lineup looks to be more dynamic than the one that ranked near the bottom of the league with a .262 average last year, and a heavy emphasis on situational hitting has been implemented in practice.

In terms of run prevention, the presence of Pistole – a three-time NAIA All-American pitcher at Biola (Calif.) – should aid the development of a four-person pitching staff, including SOU's two leaders in innings pitched last season, Brianne Craig (Rialto, Calif./Etiwanda) and Sydney White (Clovis, Calif./Clovis West). Defensively, a new look up the middle and positional shifts throughout the roster should make for an upgrade.

"We'll have some ups and downs feeling out live situations early on, but this isn't about playing perfect softball," Pistole said. "The girls have been working extremely hard for a few months now, and if they can have short-term memory and keep working then this can be a strong team."

Pitchers and catchers: Craig and White have already established themselves as capable innings-eaters, and SOU will rely on them just as heavily now. Craig made 15 starts last season, going 7-9 with a 3.49 earned-run average, and threw six complete games in which she allowed three or fewer runs. White, an all-conference performer as a freshman, last year set SOU's single-game record for strikeouts (14) and registered 10 or more three times while going 6-10 in 20 appearances. One of the staff's strong suits was strike throwing – it issued less walks than any other team in the CCC – and Cheyenne Bricker (Bieber, Calif./Big Valley) and Katelyn Bauman (Spokane, Wash./Mt. Spokane) should provide more of that. Bricked appeared in five games for SOU in her first season and Bauman is a transfer from College of the Siskiyous.

"They've all been throwing well and working super hard in every bullpen," Pistole said. "Having this many arms is pretty rare."

A pair of freshmen, Cortney Nolan (Twin Falls, Idaho/Twin Falls) and Jazmin Ruvalcaba (Carson, Calif./Banning), will handle duties behind the plate. Nolan was a conference player of the year at Twin Falls (Idaho) with a .516 batting average, and Ruvalcaba hit .444 on her way to all-league honors at Banning (Calif.).

Infielders: Among returning players, first baseman Megan Scherer (Oakland, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd) proved her bat to be one of SOU's best as she got hot toward the end of last season, raising her average all the way from .246 to .330 in the final 12 games. She'll compete for time at the same spot with Craig (who batted .286 in limited plate appearances) and freshmen Ally Painter (La Palma, Calif./St. Joseph) and Kristin Ahern (Anaheim Hills, Calif./Rosary). Painter was a .325 hitter at St. Joseph (Calif.), and Ahern hit .411 with 15 extra-base hits while breaking the Rosary (Calif.) school record for RBI (33).

Ahern will also be used at third base, as will Alexa Gonzalez (Menifee, Calif./Heritage), a quick-handed defender who started every game for SOU last season at shortstop. Gonzalez still figures into the rotation at shortstop along with freshman Kelsey Randall (Concord, Calif./Concord) – last year's Diablo ValleyMVP in both softball and soccer at Concord (Calif.), and a key contributor on SOU's soccer team. Randall batted .524 with 12 extra-base hits and 38 runs as a senior.

As Pistole toys with different looks, Randall could also appear at second base. That's where senior Gina Ayala (Norwalk, Calif./Santa Fe), a part-time starter who came up with some big hits in 2014, and freshman Kayla Douglas (Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman), a .462 hitter at Cardinal Newman (Calif.), are also stationed.

Outfielders: Junior Sulie Augustine (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) was another presence in the middle of SOU's lineup as she hit .282 with a .365 on-base percentage, and Tyler Burke (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood) started every game in center field while batting .233 as a part-time. Those two are left field options along with Painter.

In center field, junior Megan Winton (Davis, Calif./Davis Senior) enters the program from Sacramento City College as SOU's most game-ready newcomer. She was a .419 hitter with 17 doubles, four homers and 34 RBI in 44 games last season. 

In right field, the Raiders could turn to another transfer, Krystina Pardoski (Gaberville, Calif./South Fork), who led Santa Rosa Community College with a .407 average, 18 extra-base hits and 13 steals last season. They have more solid options in Alyssa Fielding (Novato, Calif./San Marin), who made 32 starts in right for the Raiders as a junior, freshman Davalin Ontiveros (Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial) (a .437 hitter at Centennial, Calif.) and sophomore Marietta Silliman (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge).

"This could honestly be one of those teams that give you a different look in both games of a doubleheader," Pistole said. "You never know how it's going to shake out, but everyone will have to earn their spot and that's giving us a lot of healthy competition."