Linfield softball team embraces underdog role

When it comes to Northwest Conference softball, Linfield College is unaccustomed to being regarded as an underdog.

But for a chance to progress toward their ultimate goal that still remains, the Wildcats embrace the role.

Linfield’s string of 11 consecutive NWC regular season championships has ended. After still playing for their postseason lives in the week’s regular season, the Wildcats are the No. 4 seed for the conference tournament Friday and Saturday in Spokane.

“We’ve always been that team that everyone wants to be, so now having that underdog mentality kind of makes things a little more fun,” said catcher McKenna Spieth, a Union High School graduate and one of three Linfield seniors from Clark County. “We’re not a shoo-in for anything, so if we’re able to be the underdogs and come back up and win it again, that would be pretty exciting.”

After splitting a doubleheader Saturday at Willamette, the Wildcats secured a place in the playoffs on the final day of the regular season Sunday with a home sweep of the Bearcats.

“Playoffs kind of started for us because we had to win two this weekend to get into the tournament. We just started it earlier,” said senior outfielder Erin Carson, a Camas High School graduate. “I think it’s going to help our mindset, because we’ve been battling for many weeks now to stay in the running. I think that’s to our advantage. It definitely provides some momentum going into this weekend.”

Senior seasons

Carson, Middelstadt and Spieth form a majority of Linfield’s senior class and are half of the six Wildcats who have started every game this season, providing veteran foundation for a generally young team they agreed simply took a little while to come together. Sophomore catcher Erin Tauscher (Camas) has played in 29 games, all but one as a pinch hitter or designated hitter.

Middelstadt, a four-year starter and two-time First Team All-NWC selection, said she is more interested in team performance than her own. She has been a consistent batter since raising her average by nearly 100 points over her freshman season batting .320 after following a .236 freshman season with averages of .319 as a sophomore and .328 as a junior. She was named to the All-Region second team as a sophomore and third team as a junior.

Spieth said she is seeing extra work on her batting pay off as a senior, while Carson said she has made a lot of improvement over the last two months after a slow start to the season.

Carson is batting .361 with 12 doubles — tied for the team lead — and 29 RBI. She was All-NWC second team as a junior following a sophomore season that brought All-America second team honors, as well as first team All-NWC and All-Region. She lettered as a freshman, playing in 21 games.

Spieth’s .330 batting average is the best season of her Linfield career. A two-time All-NWC second team selection, she has hit seven home runs and driven in 28 runs after totaling five homers and 32 RBI in her first three seasons after playing sparingly as a freshman.

Tauscher, who had three plate appearances last season as a freshman, is fourth on the team with a .382 batting average with seven homers and 27 RBI.

Tournament time

It is a testament to Linfield’s program that having won 70 percent of their games with a record that would be considered a strong season nearly anywhere else, this season’s 12 losses are the most since the Wildcats were 21-17 in 2002, coach Jackson Vaughan’s first season, and the 11 conference losses are the program’s most since 1987.

Linfield’s youth this season has coincided with other conference teams getting better, each of the Clark County senior trio said. Each of the remaining teams is capable of winning the title, and Spieth noted that with each team assured of playing at least two of the others, there are no good or bad draws.

The Wildcats are 4-8 against the NWC’s top three teams, 1-3 against both George Fox and Pacific with all eight of those games in March. They beat Whitworth twice less than two weeks ago.

“We’re kind of the hunters now,” Carson said. “We’re fighting a lot more than past Linfield teams have had to do, but I think that fits us. We’re a pretty young team for the most part, but we’re pretty tough to beat when we’re playing well. Proving that every single game is a challenge for us — just proving to these teams that we’re still a contender.”