At every step along the way this Oregon softball season, Haley Cruse has had a message to deliver.

Coming off a tumultuous offseason marked by a coaching change and roster turnover, Cruse, the Ducks' junior outfielder, was the face of the team with media. Her message: We're going to get through this.

Entering April, with the Ducks having lost 14 of 16 games, only to find out one of their two scholarship pitchers was quitting, Cruse volunteered her services in the circle. Her message: I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help this team.

Since then Oregon has won eight of 12, entering this weekend's Civil War series at Jane Sanders Stadium – fueling speculation the Ducks might extend their streak of postseason appearances to 10, despite the offseason tumult. Cruse has responded in recent weeks by periodically posting to social media videos of herself and her roommate on some road trips, freshman shortstop Jasmine Sievers, doing dances choreographed to pop music songs. Her message: Through all the highs and lows of the season, we're still having a blast.

As the Ducks (21-22) prepare to open the three-game Civil War series on Friday (2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), there's no more valuable player between the lines than pitcher Jordan Dail, whose left shoulder has carried the team all season. But there's no denying the importance of the leadership Cruse as shown all year, on the field as the Ducks' center fielder and leadoff hitter, and off the field as a reassuring voice that Oregon softball isn't going anywhere – despite any speculation to the contrary.

"With different things happening, people were so quick to want to come at them," first-year UO coach Melyssa Lombardi said. "And she's saying no, no, no – everything's fine. We're good. We're enjoying what we're doing. This group's committed."

There's no doubt the Ducks lost several talented players after the coaching change. They've lost a few more games than fans had been accustomed to in recent seasons. But they haven't lost their fighting spirit, and they haven't lost their joy for the game. Cruse has taken it upon herself to make that clear.

"I think my job is to keep it fun and keep everyone loose," said Cruse, who enters the Civil War series hitting a team-high .349 with 29 runs scored, the most recent coming on her game-winning, three-run inside-the-park home run to cap a thrilling comeback Tuesday against Portland State.

"We're starting to play with a little bit more pressure on us now, getting close to the postseason. I think we still need to keep it loose. So I don't plan on letting up any time soon."

The departure of several veteran teammates, thrusting Cruse into the media spotlight as the Ducks' most veteran returning player? That most definitely wasn't part of Cruse's plan for her junior season.

She had a breakout sophomore season, hitting .377 and playing right field for Oregon's Women's College World Series team. With much of the team's veteran core on track to return, Cruse was content to maintain a complementary role as a junior. Then everything changed.

When media wanted to speak with players about the coaching change and roster turnover, Cruse stepped up. Despite calling the process "intimidating and unexpected," she gamely stood in front of cameras and microphones to discuss the Ducks' mindset entering their first season under Lombardi.

"It was hard," she said. "I had to make sure I communicated with my coaches, and made sure that we were on the same page. It was a lot of tough questions. So that was kind of a hard spot. But it got easier as the weeks went on."

One reason answering questions got easier is that Oregon's start to the season defied expectations. Rumors of the program's demise, it turned out, were greatly exaggerated. The Ducks went 5-0 at their season-opening tournament. The next week they split four games, with a win over then-No. 8 LSU. The third tournament weekend featured four more wins.

But as February turned to March, so too did Oregon's fortunes turn. The Ducks lost 12 games in a row from late February to late March, including their first six Pac-12 games. Dail was having to handle the pitching load almost entirely on her own, with sophomore Maddie MacGrandle sidelined by injury.

Then, on April 1, a bombshell: MacGrandle opted not to enroll at Oregon for the spring term. Her playing career with the Ducks was done.

Now, several weeks – and several wins – removed from that turning point in the season, Cruse and Lombardi can laugh about one circumstance of that development. Indeed, it was April Fool's Day.

Lombardi called players that morning to let them know one of Oregon's two scholarship pitchers had left the team. One of the calls, of course, was to Cruse.

"I knew that was going to be a problem for us," Cruse said. "I hadn't pitched since I was 13. But I was like, someone's got to step up and try. I got the call from Coach Lombardi. And then I was at The Jane two hours later, trying to see if I could muster something up."

As it turned out, both Cruse and freshman Rachel Cid had pitched in their youth. Both asked catcher Shaye Bowden if they could throw to her, after learning of MacGrandle's departure.

Cruse swore Bowden to secrecy, in case the experiment was a flop. It wasn't; Cruse worked on a three-pitch mix of fastball, curveball and changeup, and was around the strike zone. She'd need to rely heavily on her defense, lacking the level of movement Dail uses to pile up strikeouts. But with their help, she thought, she could get a few outs. So she asked that someone take video of a few pitches, and sent it to the coaching staff.

"I looked at the video and I'm like, 'Wow, that's a pretty good curveball,' " said Lombardi, a long-time pitching coach with Oklahoma before coming to Oregon. "And then, oh my goodness, she can change speeds."

Cruse wasn't sure how serious her offer would be received. She found out quickly.

"I was kind of hoping, like, she wasn't going to do anything about it," Cruse said. "And then she said, 'You're throwing a bullpen tomorrow.' And yeah, it was April Fool's Day. So I wasn't even sure if that was true. But then the next day she said I was still throwing a bullpen."

Yes, Lombardi said, "it was April Fool's Day. But it was not a joke."

Cruse's transition to the circle wasn't seamless; her first appearance in a game, against California on April 20, saw four of her five pitches flagged as illegal for crow-hopping. But she kept at it in practice, and got three outs in Tuesday's comeback win over Portland State to clinch a doubleheader sweep.

To be sure, there was a bit of self-imposed pressure on Cruse that night. Three times previously in April, Cruse had posted a pregame video of herself and Sievers dancing, taking a cue from the UO volleyball trio of Ronika Stone, Lauren Page and Lindsey Vander Weide. The first was on the opening weekend of the month, when Oregon took a 12-game losing streak to Missouri, and came out of the weekend with three wins in four games. Each of the next two times Cruse and Sievers posted a video, the Ducks won.
 

You know the drill @jassievers pic.twitter.com/wlbg69KNsd

— Haley Cruse (@haley_crusee) April 18, 2019

Tuesday, the coincidence was put to the test against the Viks. "I knew we were undefeated," Cruse joked after hitting her game-winning homer, "so I had to keep up the streak."

The filming of the dancing, she said, came about spontaneously.

"We were just messing around on the road one day," Cruse said. "It was kind of a joke. But then I did notice that it got positive responses. And it really did kind of uplift our team a little bit. So we kept at it."

Within the online softball community, the videos went viral. They signaled to the community at large, and reinforced for local fans, that the Ducks were still having fun, despite all the turmoil. Cruse's willingness to have fun at her own expense knows no bounds; her mock indignation on Twitter at not earning any national recognition for her abbreviated first pitching appearance resulted in Fastpitch News bestowing an "honorary national pitcher of the week" award.
 

So, @haley_crusee, we saw your Tweet (https://t.co/1CU58IUeYL) and ya know, we couldn't help but agree so congratulations ?? Your one batter outing was truly inspirational?? pic.twitter.com/Kw9ihlQ395

— FastpitchNews (@Fastpitchnews) April 23, 2019

In the second inning of Tuesday's nightcap against Portland State, the game was briefly delayed when the stadium lights reset. Naturally, the Ducks spent the delay dancing in front of their dugout. Cruse and Sievers recreated one of the choreographed moves from their videos.

"Our team, they come to practice loose and ready to go," Lombardi said. "Before games, they're loose and ready to go. They enjoy each other. They enjoy this team. They enjoy the fight together."

Thanks to the leadership of Cruse, that message is being delivered, loud and clear.