Bend High's Isabella Lauerman (10) and Taylor Aldrich (5) signal to the outfielders that there are two outs during the Lava Bears' 15-0 win over Mountain View on Tuesday at Bend High. 

In the weeks leading up to the start of the softball season, Gracie Goewey was feeling like Troy Bolton from “High School Musical.”

The Bend High senior was bouncing between the softball field and the theater preparing for the upcoming season and her role as Rosie in the school’s production of “Mamma Mia.”

“I have never done anything like that before,” Goewey said. “It is my senior year and I want to do everything and anything to be involved in school.”

Performing in the theater might be new, but putting on a show on the softball field is nothing new for the Siena College (Loudonville, New York) softball commit, even if it took a little time this spring to return to form on the softball field.

“I was putting all my energy (into the play)” Goewey said. “It definitely took some time to get back into the swing of softball.”

In her only two at bats in Bend’s 15-0 home win over Mountain View Tuesday afternoon, Goewey launched two balls over the fence, her eighth and ninth home runs of the year, with the second clearing the left field fence by at least 15 yards.

In her three years playing for the Lava Bears, Gowey has hit 34 home runs and driven in 138 runs (and counting) while keeping her batting average above .500.

“She’s been on fire,” said Bend High coach Rob Ray. “She hits balls farther than I’ve ever seen with the power she is able to generate.”

Goewey is one of many reasons why the Lava Bears (21-2 overall, 13-0 IMC) have claimed the Intermountain Conference title and are one of the favorites to claim the 5A state title.

The Lava Bears have left little doubt who the area’s top squad is this season. They have won 18 consecutive games, have yet to to have a game last more than five innings in IMC play and have not given up a run in nearly a full calendar month.

“We can’t take anyone lightly,” Ray said. “We try to stay focused and engaged and the kids have done a pretty good job doing that. They are in a groove.”

The past three seasons, Bend has been one of the state’s dominant programs, winning 90% of its games with a familiar core of players in Goewey, junior Addisen Fisher, and seniors Ali Parker and Sophia Weathers.

But this year a couple of underclassmen have stepped into more prominent roles and are thriving.

One of them is sophomore outfielder Lauren Glasser, who played sparingly on varsity as a freshman. But this year she has played in every game and is hitting .446 (third on the team) and has driven in 26 runs. On Tuesday against Mountain View (11-11, 6-7), she hit her fourth home run of the season.

“I was nervous making varsity and going up and hitting for my first couple of times,” Glasser said. “But I got more comfortable at the plate. You have to be confident when you are up there, because if you aren’t confident you aren’t going to succeed in anything that you do.”

Bend will wrap up the regular season next Thursday with a nonleague game against South Medford, and it is in position to claim one of the top two seeds in the 5A playoff bracket, meaning the Lava Bears will play on their home field as long as they keep winning in the postseason.

“It is important that we keep our focus and our intensity up in these upcoming practices and games,” Goewey said. “We need to practice how we would play in the postseason.”