"I think of the Wide World of Sports, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. They (the players) just wanted to put their heads down and cry, and some did. I knew it hurt, because it was hurting me, too. But you still have to go through the medals ceremony and show respect to the other team, so it's a compliment to them on how they handled themselves."

After a loss like that, postgame words can ring hollow.

"That," Buschjost said, "was probably the toughest speech I've ever had to muster."

Do the returning players still feel that sting?

"Girls are different," Buschjost said. "I don't them it effects them, or sticks with them, as much as it does me, as a coach. I don't think they let it bother them quite as much, they just want to prove to everybody what this team is about."

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WHILE BUSCHJOST REMEMBERS THE MOMENT WELL, that's not to say she has a perfect memory. After all, she forgot something that happened within the last week --- or more to the point, she didn't even realize it had happened.

Her 400th career win.

News to her.

"Really? I honestly had no idea," she said. "It really isn't that big a deal to me, it's more about how we're doing this season and what we can accomplish."

It's what great coaches do --- they're only worried about the next win, the next loss, the current season. They're more concerned about what they've having for dinner than how many career wins they have.

When asked how many years she's been coaching, well, here came that faulty memory again.

"21? I think it's 21," Buschjost, 52, said with a laugh. "Just having the opportunity to coach girls who get to high school at a pretty high skill level --- at Blair Oaks, anyway --- it's fun and a challenge to see how far you can take them. And also, to be able to try and teach them those parts of the game they may be missing."

The Lady Falcons lost two one-run decisions to open this season, 1-0 to Eugene and 4-3 to Centralia in the state rematch. They haven't lost since --- 17 straight wins heading into Thursday's showdown with Fatima.

"I had a vision of how the season would start," Buschjost said, "and 0-2 wasn't the vision. But I think they've responded very well. Not only are we winning, but we're doing things the right way as a team."

Blair Oaks, which finished 22-9 last year, lost seven seniors and six starters from the Class of 2017. There are good teams, then there are good programs --- Buschjost has certainly built the latter.

"I knew we had a lot of good hitters coming back with varsity experience, and some who had to wait their turn --- I was anxious to see what they could do," she said. "I'm so proud of what they've done."

The team has already hit more home runs (14, led by senior Hannah Schroeder's six) than it had all of last season (11).

"There have been seasons when I thought we'd hit a decent amount of home runs, and we didn't," Buschjost said. "This year, we certainly have people in the lineup who we thought could hit home runs, and they are hitting home runs."

But this conversation should start --- as it does with all softball and baseball teams --- on the mound. The Lady Falcons don't have a good one, they have a great one --- junior Makenna Kliethermes, who's verbally committed to Oregon.

"She's matured a lot from her sophomore year to her junior year," Buschjost said. "There's a certain maturation process among pitchers because they have to deal with extra pressure, things that position players may not have to deal with."

The athletic 5-10 Kliethermes --- "She has a good frame for a pitcher and she Iis S strong." --- is 11-1 with a 0.59 ERA (stats are through Tuesday's game vs. California).

You're going to win a lot of games when you only give up 0.59 runs every seven innings.

In 71.2 innings, Kliethermes --- who was 15-6 last season --- has struck out a whopping 131 and walked 22.

"She's throwing more strikes this year and she's being more efficient with her pitches," Buschjost said. "But aside from her skill set, she's becoming more of a leader. Sometimes we take that for granted, but some people have to learn how to become a leader.

"With the way she pitches and the way she's hitting the ball, she's turning some heads and getting a lot of attention from other teams."

Senior Meredith Eisterhold (4-1, 1.35 ERA) backs up Kliethermes in the circle, but whoever's pitching, they know there's a great offense to support them.

The team batting average is .366, with senior catcher Sydney Wilde (.451, 17 RBI) leading the way. As good as she is at the plate, she may be even better behind it.

"She's one of the best catchers I've ever coached," Buschjost said.

Next is junior Kayla Jones (.444, 16 runs scored), who's "one of those table setters," Buschjost said. "And I don't have to give her signs, I trust her ... we're on the same page all the time."

Other offensive standouts include: senior Torie Thurston (.433), junior Booke Boessen (.429, four home runs, 22 RBI, 20 runs), Schroeder (.418, 25 RBI, 22 runs) and Kliethermes (.389, two HR, 19 RBI).

The pitching and offense are obviously great. Defensively? "We're trying to find that strongest lineup," Buschjost said. "When I look at the number of errors we have (23), I don't like what I see."

Other than that, she loves what she's looking at.

"They're believing in not only themselves," Buschjost said, "but they're believing and trusting in each other. To me, that's huge. We're emphasizing the importance of that and rallying around each other, and not letting any one person be the identity of the team.

"Right now, we have 20 players on varsity and all 20 are taking an active part."

Overall, this is a dynamic softball team, one that should be on the short list to win it all next month.

"There's no doubt," Buschjost said, "we have the makeup of a team that could be playing in October, on a weekend, when good teams play."

You know exactly what she means. And who knows?

Maybe, just maybe, that feeling they have this season will be the ultimate thrill of victory.