Softball: Unusual road has led Ojeda to coaching success in Marfa

It was a most unusual job search for Marfa ISD athletic director Steve Urban.

Watching the Shorthorns play Van Horn in a 7-on-7 football tournament last summer, Urban was approached by some of the Van Horn coaches who knew that he was looking for a girls basketball coach and softball coach after Brent and Ruth McWilliams had moved on to Pecos.

Van Horn, Urban was told, had just had to let a coach go because of a position being eliminated and did Urban want the coach's number, as she was going to graduate school at Sul Ross State University in Alpine.

Urban said yes and called Linda Ojeda to set up an interview. When the two finally talked face to face, it didn't take Urban long to realize the good fortune that the Lady Shorthorns' programs had just experienced.

"She fit everything we needed," Urban said. "She's a great coach and a great English teacher.

"I hired her on the spot."

The interview and job offer were something of a surprise to Ojeda, who had just finished an interview for the volleyball coaching position at Comstock High, which was closer to her hometown of Del Rio.

"I was actually driving home from the interview when Coach Urban called," Ojeda said. "I wasn't sure what to expect when we met."

A two-sport start in high school, Ojeda had continued her athletic career at Sul Ross State, playing both basketball and softball her freshman year before concentrating on softball her final three seasons with the Lady Lobos.

After graduation, she took the assistant coaching position in Van Horn where she was able to put her years of playing experience to use with the Lady Eagles, helping them to improve and nearly make the Class 2A playoffs.

But with her position eliminated, Ojeda was back in school to finish some graduate work and then begin working on her master's degree. She wasn't sure where she would be coaching and teaching in 2008-09, but her mother was hoping that she would be moving closer to home.

"I didn't tell my parents for a long time," Ojeda said, laughing. "It was probably a week and a half before school started that I told them I would be at Marfa, which was about five weeks after I got the job.

"My parents have always been supportive of whatever I've done. In fact, when we beat Windthorst last week and I turned around to go back to the dugout, the first person I hugged was my mother, who had come up with my brother to watch the series."

The regional semifinals victory over Windthorst might have seemed like old hat to the members of the Lady Shorthorns softball team who had reached the regional final each of the past two seasons.

But for Ojeda, it was a chance to watch the instruction that she had given the team during the year start to come to fruition.

Aggressive at the plate and aggressive on the bases, Marfa forced the Trojanettes into several throwing errors during Games 2 and 3 that extended innings and allowed runs to score, including the winning run when Brittany Serrano raced to third on an infield out, only to watch the throw bound out of play to let her score in the top of the 11th inning of Game 3.

"We told her that there were going to be high expectations coming into this program," Urban said. "Coach (Ruth) McWilliams had done a great job in building the program and Linda has sustained that and continues to help the program grow.

"She's been more aggressive, letting players swing on 3-0 counts and running the bases more; sometimes that's good and sometimes it scares the dog out of you when you are the AD. But that style is what we've won with all year and the girls like it."

The Lady Shorthorns are going to have to be more aggressive Saturday morning when the face Forsan in Game 2 of the Region I-1A finals at Freddie Ezell Softball Complex in Midland. Forsan was able to capture Game 1 4-3 on Wednesday in Monahans and Marfa needs to sweep the Lady Buffaloes to earn the program's first trip to the state championships in Austin.

Ojeda knows the history of the program; that the Lady Shorthorns have made the regional final the last two years only to fall. Now, she's looking to help Marfa write a new chapter in their record book.

"I told the girls that if the Boston Red Sox can do it, there's no reason we can't do it too," Ojeda said. "The girls have worked so hard this year at doing the little things necessary to be successful and I know they feel that we could have won Game 1.

"Forsan is a good team and they have some very good hitters; we haven't seen hitters like that this year. We'll learn from that game and get ready for Game 2, just like last week."