USA Softball Region 9

In 2018, Tim Hill will start his 51st consecutive year in Fastpitch Softball. 

Tim was born, in San Franciso, December 10, 2943. His family moved to Portland when he was 2 12 and settled in the Sellwood area. Team was the youngest of three children and has an older brother and sister. Tim laughs at it now, but he and his peers were considered to be from Carp Alley, when he attend Lincoln HS. They considered the Sellwood neighborhood as Carp Alley since they lived close to the Williamette River and that part of the river was know for having carp as the main fish. The other students were all from the well to do Dunthorpe area. Tim said he thought he might have a Little Napoleon complex as he was only 4' 10" his freshman year in high school. He was not big enough to play team sports so he went out for wrestling. He was only 85 pounds and the lightest weight class was 98 pounds, which he wrestled at as a freshman and then had to wrestle at 115 pounds his sophomore and junior years. He developed cauliflower ear so did not wrestle his senior year. 

Tim's father died when Tim was only 8 years old. Team said that he did play Little League and Babe Ruth as he was growing up. He said he had the distinct honor of being hit by a baseball thrown by Mickey Lohlich. He said it was not in the classical sense as he was standing behind the backstop with his fingers in the mesh fence when the ball hit his fingers. 

Tim played Men's Fastpitch Softball for 13 years, from 1968-1980. He played in the Portland Metro Softball league. There were 6-7 leagues, at that time, with 7-8 teams in each league. He met his good friend, Paul Sabah, while playing together on their first team in 1968. The Sellwood area had a grocery store called Porcelli Grocery. Procelli Grocery sponsored the team and it was call Mr. Slushy. After two years, Papa Joe's sponsored the team. Tim played second base and center field. They usually made it to the Regionals each year and actually qualified and went to the Nationals in 1973. 

Tim met his wife, Elaine, while playing MFP. Paul Sabah actually set him up on a blind date. 45 years later they are still in love and have two wonderful children, Lisa and Kevin. Lisa played softball in her early years, but then turned to volleyball. Kevin played both baseball and basketball and was actually All Metro League while attending Aloha High School. Kevin went on to play 4 years of baseball at Linfield College. 

In 1980, Tim said he watched his family in the stands during each game. The kids were getting older and he wanted to be able to spend more time with them. Lisa was interested in softball and he decided it was time to give up his playing days and start coaching. Tualatin Hills Parks & Recreation was registering teams through the Aloha Baseball/Softball Association. Five Oaks Middle School, in Beaverton, had available field space and Tim got hold of his good friend Paul Sabah and they put together their first team which was at that time, a 15&Under team. Aloha Baseball/Softball was affiliated with ASA Softball at that time. 

The first team had a record of 15 wins and 6 losses. They went to two tournaments. The team entry fee was $45. There were no “A” teams, only “B” teams. Tim then obtained a sponsor that had his daughter playing on the team. 

This was the beginning of Oregon Sun Supply. Sun Supply was the first “A” team in Washington County and they started out at 12U. This was the beginning of 24 years of dedication to the girls fastpitch game through ASA Softball. 

Tim's Sun Supply team won seven (7) Oregon ASA State Championships, three (3) ASA Regional Championships, seven (7) ASA National Qualifiers, and went to the ASA National Championships 14 out of those 24 years actually winning the ASA 16A National Championship, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 2002. There were 96 teams in that tournament. At the time Tim coached Sun Supply, you did not have an automatic berth to a Regional Tournament let alone a National Tournament. There were no fill-in berths and no Territorial Nationals. 

You had to finish in the top 4, in the State or Metro Tournament, to qualify for the Regional Tournament. You had to then finish in the top 2, in the Regional Tournament, in order to qualify for the National Championship. There was only one National Championship in each age group. 120, 140, 160, 18U. 

In 2002, Tim was offered the head coaching job at George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon. He coached at George Fox for two years. During that time, he continued to coach the Sun Supply team in 2003 and 2004 where he took them to the 18 Gold Nationals both years. In 2004, he was offered the head coaching position at Pacific University, Forest Grove, Oregon. It was closer to home, so he took the job and continued to coach Pacific University softball until retiring from college coaching in 2014. He wanted to spend more time with his grandkids, 5 year old twins, Cooper and Addison, on his son Kevin's side and 11 year old Corrina and 8 year old McKenna on his daughter Lisa's side. 

He was going to retire totally, but Jim Speciale, Jesuit High School Varsity Softball Coach, talked Tim into coming over to Jesuit as an assistant coach. Tim loves coaching and he loves winning, but most of all he loves watching his players grow into young adults, raise families, and be all they can be. He receives daily texts from his former players thanking him for allowing them to be themselves and grow as individuals. Tim said he had all good kids!! He never coached a bad one! 

Tims coaching records are phenomenal. His win-loss record over 25 years with Sun Supply: 1,029-326 His win-loss record for 12 years at Pacific University: 262-196 His win-loss record at Jesuit: 76-14