Jessica Evans remembers what came out of the lips of others when she decided to join a program with no history two years ago.

"Most people didn't expect us to do very well," said Evans.

Oxnard College was creating a softball program and the Hueneme High graduate wanted to be a part of it.

"It was pretty exciting," said Evans. "We didn't really know what was going to happen. The team was new. The coach was new. Anything could happen.

"There were no expectations."

What the optimistic outfielder did with her two years is why she is The Star's Female Athlete of the Spring Season.

"We went out there and had fun," said Evans.

Evans competed for the state batting title, hitting .508, as Oxnard won 14 games in its inaugural season.

In the follow-up campaign this past spring, the Condors soared, winning 27 games, pushing powerhouse Cuesta into the final week of the Western State Conference race and blazing a trail to the Southern California regional playoffs.

"We didn't do bad our first year and the second year we made it all the way to playoffs," said Evans.

That was because the potent leadoff hitter was supported in the lineup by freshman power hitters like shortstop Jenna Holly and catcher Janae Borrego and in the field by freshman pitchers Courtney Checky and Jessica Shaw.

Borrego and Holly finished first and second in the WSC in RBIs, respectively, with 46 and 40. That was partly because they had a leadoff hitter like Evans, who hit .447 and scored 49 runs.

That blank Oxnard record book of two years ago now has Evans' name all over it. She amassed 128 hits, 89 runs scored and a .476 over her two-year career.

"She established our foundation," said head coach George Peraza.

The Condors were tough to beat when Evans was hitting. She piled up six hits in a doubleheader sweep of rival Ventura on April 1 and was 4 for 4 against Moorpark a week later.

"Sweeping VC was one of the best moments of the year," said Evans. "Beating them three times because they swept us last year, there was satisfaction in that."

Evans was 3 for 4 in wins Jan. 29 against Chaffey, March 11 against Pierce, and March 27 against Santa Barbara City

"She had a lot of those 3-for-4, 4-for-4 type of days," said Pereza.

Of course, when the program made its postseason debut May 3, Evans had two of Oxnard's four hits.

The performance of Oxnard products like Evans and Borrego, who had 13 doubles and five home runs, confirmed the decision to create the program.

"It's a credit to these girls," said Peraza.