UW seniors begin final career homestand

May 7, 2009, 12:00 AM

Ashley Charters and Lauren Greer spent all of last season sitting on the bench, both redshirting for medical purposes and watching as the Washington softball team struggled its way to a sixth-place finish in the Pac-10 and a disappointing first-round exit in the Houston regional. Today, both begin the final regular season homestand of their UW careers, along with fellow seniors Alicia Blake, Marnie Koziol, Ashlyn Watson, Dani Stuart and Jessica Ventoza. The Huskies host Stanford and California in a three-game series this weekend to round out their regular season schedule. The fact that Charters is still playing is a big reason the Huskies are entering this weekend with an outside shot at the conference championship. At 12-6, they're one game behind Stanford and UCLA, which are both tied for first place at 13-5. The Huskies will have to win all three games this weekend and hope that UCLA and Stanford split against each other, and also that California takes both games against the Bruins. UCLA and Stanford both hold tiebreakers over Washington. "I think going into the Pac-10 season, you never know how it's going to go," said UW head coach Heather Tarr. "I think you need a little bit of luck and things to go the right way in this conference to win it, and the fact that we have a chance, that's pretty cool." In any event, this weekend is a chance for the UW to make one final case for its postseason positioning. The Huskies figure to garner one of the top overall seeds; they've been ranked in the top 10 for the better part of the season. A top-16 seed would guarantee that UW would host a super-regional, should the Huskies advance to that round. Charters, who leads the Pac-10 this season with a .462 batting average, said she's glad she had the chance to be around for what could be one of the more successful seasons in UW softball history. She sat out last season after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in her hip. "I finally gave myself a chance to be as healthy as I could be for my last year, which wouldn't have happened last year," Charters said. "I'm glad I did it. It's definitely worth it, and I think it's paid off." Greer has had a little tougher time getting back into rhythm this season. She's hitting .200 this year with just two home runs after a fairly productive junior season in 2007, when she was the Huskies' offensive catalyst during their super-regional triumph over Alabama. But that hasn't marred what she says has been a memorable career. "It's just been a great experience," Greer said. "I've made some of the best friends of my life." For Tarr, this year's senior class is a little more special than others during her five-year tenure. This is the first class Tarr began recruiting from high school and has seen go all the way through her program. "We've come a long way together," Tarr said. "It's sad to see them go, but it's kind of exciting to know that you've been able to see a group of athletes go from start to finish." Reach sports editor Christian Caple at sports@dailyuw.com.

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