HILLSBORO, Ore. – After 11 straight
seasons as softball champions in the Northwest Conference, the
Linfield College Wildcats are not expected to relinquish their
crown in 2015, having been established as solid favorites to win it
all again this spring in a pre-season poll of the league’s
eight coaches.
Linfield, coming off a 34-9 season that saw the ‘Cats go
25-3 to win the conference by six games, take the NWC Tournament,
and participate in the NCAA Division III National Tournament,
collected six first-place votes and 54 total points, easily
out-distancing runner-up Pacific University (Ore.). The
Boxers garnered one first-place vote and 42 total points.
If the Wildcats are to repeat, they will need to fill the holes
left by the graduation of First Team All-America third baseman
Ashley Garcia, Third Team All-America and NWC Pitcher of the Year
Karina Paavola, and All-West Region First Team shortstop Katy
Brosig. A talented nucleus returns, though, led by All-West First
Team sophomore utility player Erin Kinney, who inherits the hot
corner position, and two All-West Third Teamers in outfielder Grace
Middelstadt and infielder Lisa Yamamoto. Also back are
All-NWC Second Team junior outfielder Erin Carson and junior
catcher McKenna Spieth. Jackson Vaughan, 10 times the NWC
Coach of the Year (including 2014) and twice the National Coach of
the Year, takes a 484-110-1 record into the new season. He
guided the Wildcats to national championships in 2007 and 2011.
Pacific hopes to climb one more rung up the conference ladder
after finishing second with a 19-9 league mark and 26-12 overall
ledger last year, but will have to do so under new leadership as
assistant coach Liz Yandall takes over for retired veteran Tim
Hill. Anchoring the Boxers’ lineup will be 2014 NWC
Player of the Year and Second Team All-America second baseman
Rachel Roberts, who is only a junior. Also back are All-West
First Team senior catcher Kylee Oshiro and a pair of All-NWC
honorable mention infielders, senior Kaitlyn Shikada and junior
Ashley Mitchell. Pacific must replace All-West Second Team
outfielder Becca Moen and All-NWC Second Team hurler Sara Aasness,
however.
The race for the final two spots in the four-team NWC Tournament
projects to be a heated one, as four teams were bunched within six
points of each other in the middle of the poll. Whitworth
University received 32 points for third place, Pacific Lutheran
University and Willamette University tied for fourth with 29 points
each, and George Fox University came in sixth with 26 points.
PLU, which won the national championship in 2012 (defeating
Linfield in the title game), picked up the one remaining
first-place vote.
The Whitworth Pirates, who posted a 27-16 record last year and
went 18-10 in conference play, lost All-West Second Team utility
player Taylor Gilbert but welcome back All-West Third Team senior
outfielder Peyton McMahon and sophomore pitcher Madi Perez.
Also back for coach Cristal Brown, who has a 69-57 record and two
NWC Tournament appearances in three seasons in Spokane, are All-NWC
Second Team junior outfielder Alyssa Hall and sophomore infielder
Shannon Wessel.
After a horrendous 1-11 start to 2014, Pacific Lutheran finished
strong to wind up 16-24 overall and just missed the NWC Tournament
with a 13-15 conference record. The Lutes lost a pair of
All-West performers in catcher Katie Lowery (Second Team) and
infielder Lindsey Matsunaga (Third Team), as well as All-NWC First
Team outfielder Spencer Sherwin and utility player Kelsey Robinson,
but do return All-NWC honorable mention infielder Tori Hamura.
Lance Glasoe, the pitching coach at the University of
Washington for the last six years, takes over the reins at PLU this
season.
Willamette finished with an 18-22 record last year and squeezed
into the conference playoffs at 14-14. To do so again, the
Bearcats need repeat performances from All-West Second Team senior
utility player Heather Winslow and All-West Third Team infielder
Ashley Pender. Also back are All-NWC Second Team senior
outfielder Kayla Rieger and senior utility player Erin Norris, and
a trio of honorable mentions: senior outfielder Jenna King, senior
catcher Amanda Absher, and sophomore pitcher Jade Smith.
Former Bearcat player Kelli Snyder, an assistant coach last year,
will serve as the interim head coach this season.
George Fox also missed out on the NWC Tournament by one game,
going 13-15 in the league and 24-16 overall to set the team record
for wins in a season. The Bruins lost All-NWC honorable
mention pitcher Erin Hento, but three returning Second Team
selections – junior infielders Amanda Woods and Kayla
Anderson and junior catcher Courtney Howard – along with
honorable mention sophomore infielder Baylee Westrick, spearhead a
potent offense. Seventh-year coach Jessica Hollen was the
2012 NWC Coach of the Year.
Rounding out the poll were Lewis & Clark College in seventh
place with 18 points and the University of Puget Sound in eighth
with 12 points. The Pioneers finished with a 12-25 overall
mark and 8-20 NWC record last year, while the Loggers struggled to
a 3-31 record and went 2-26 in the league.
Lewis & Clark brings back three All-NWC Second Team players
in a darkhorse bid to make the NWC Tournament: junior infielder
Hannah Dal Pra, sophomore outfielder Lindsay Yearman, and senior
utility player Madison Hollenback. Also returning are a pair
of honorable mentions in sophomore infielder Jenai Rojo and junior
outfielder Haley Robinson. Shawna Cyrus enters her sixth
season at the helm of the Pioneers’ program.
Puget Sound lost its lone All-NWC player in Second Team
infielder Taylor Jones, and the top returning hitter is junior
infielder Lisa Colombo. The rebuilding effort in Tacoma will
continue this season under third-year coach Kellyn Tate.
Whitworth gets a jump on the rest of the conference by opening
the season with 10 games in southern California Jan. 29-Feb. 2
(twinbills with Redlands, Pomona-Pitzer, La Verne, Whittier and
California Lutheran on consecutive days) before anyone else plays a
game. The first conference action takes place on Feb. 28 with
Pacific Lutheran at George Fox, Linfield at Lewis & Clark,
Willamette at Whitworth, and Puget Sound at Pacific. All NWC
dates are twinbills.
The Northwest Conference Tournament is set for Friday-Saturday,
April 24-25, with the regular-season champion hosting the next
three teams in a double-elimination format. The NWC
Tournament champion earns the league’s automatic bid to the
NCAA Division III National Tournament.
2015 Northwest Conference Softball Pre-Season
Coaches’ Poll
|
TEAM
|
1STS
|
PTS
|
’14 NWC
|
’14 ALL
|
|
Linfield College
|
(6)
|
54
|
25-3
|
34-9
|
|
Pacific University (Ore.)
|
(1)
|
42
|
19-9
|
26-12
|
|
Whitworth University
|
|
32
|
18-10
|
27-16
|
|
Pacific Lutheran University
|
(1)
|
29
|
13-15
|
16-24
|
|
Willamette University
|
|
29
|
14-14
|
18-22
|
|
George Fox University
|
|
26
|
13-15
|
24-16
|
|
Lewis & Clark College
|
|
12
|
8-20
|
12-25
|
|
University of Puget Sound
|
|
8
|
2-26
|
3-31
|
(Points awarded on an 8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Coaches
could not vote on their own teams.)