EUGENE, Ore. — Students and staff at Umpqua Community College are coming to terms with the loss of two members of their community. On the night of April 18, two members of the UCC softball team were killed when their bus was hit by a car that drifted into their lane on Highway 42.
Sami Ward’s life was forever changed when she received the tragic news about her sister, head softball coach Jami Strinz, who was driving the small bus at the time of the cash. Strinz and freshman Kiley Jones were killed in the crash. Ward said her niece called her the next day telling her about the fatal crash.
“She answered the phone, and I can tell she was crying, and I said what’s wrong baby and she told me mom was driving the team back and got into an accident and didn’t make it,” Ward said.
The softball team was driving to Roseburg when a driver crossed the dividing lines and slammed into the vehicle. Reports said the bus rolled multiple times before coming to rest on its side. Ward said she was told by numerous people that her sister had tried consoling someone before eventually passed away…