'Cats Dominate NWC All-Star Balloting

Linfield’s .388 team batting average leads all Division III softball programs.

Jenny Marshall was voted NWC Player of the Year. Photo: Linfield Athletics

McMINNVILLE, Ore. - A school-record nine Linfield players - one representing each position on the field - were named to the Northwest Conference all-star softball team following a vote of the league’s eight coaches.

Eight Wildcats were selected to the first team.

The NWC champion Wildcats, who captured their fourth consecutive title, swept the major awards.

Jackson Vaughan was named conference coach of the year for the fourth straight season, Jenny Marshall was voted NWC Player of the Year, and Brittany Miller was recognized as the NWC’s top pitcher.

The Wildcats rolled to a 35-5 record, including a 26-2 conference mark, while earning the NWC’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

Linfield’s .388 team batting average leads all Division III softball programs and the Wildcats rank second nationally in fielding percentage at .975.

A three-year starter at second base, Marshall led the NWC in batting average (.484) and hits (62) this spring.

The junior second baseman was second in the conference in runs scored (41), third in on-base percentage (.507), and fourth in RBIs (35). She twice was named NWC Hitter of the Week, including the last week of the conference schedule, hitting .778 over her final six regular-season games.

Miller registered a 16-3 record in the pitching circle, posting a 1.57 earned run average with 107 strikeouts and five shutouts. She was named NWC Pitcher of the Week four times and averaged 6.75 strikeouts per seven-inning game, a statistics that eclipses her own school record of 6.46 set last season.

Joining Marshall in the infield were first baseman Amanda Attleberger (Jr., Vancouver, Wash.), shortstop Meredith Brunette (Jr., Beaverton, Ore.) and utility Erica Hancock (Jr., Boardman, Ore.).

Attleberger hit a career-best .407 this spring. She led the NWC in triples (5) and total bases (92), ranked second in slugging percentage (.780), and third in RBIs (38), doubles (13) and home runs. She also played errorless defense at first base.

Brunette is enjoying her finest season as a Wildcat, hitting .390 with 15 doubles, four home runs and 13 stolen bases. She led the conference in RBIs (46), doubles (15) and sacrifice flies (7) and ranked fifth in hits (50).

Hancock, who played third base and occasionally pitched, set a school record for home runs in one second with 10.

She led the conference in home runs and slugging percentage (.820), and was second in on-base percentage (.508). As a pitcher, Hancock posted a perfect 7-0 record with a 1.98 ERA.

Behind the plate, Wildcats catcher Jena Loop blossomed in to a dangerous threat. Loop ranked second in the NWC in runs scored (41) and RBIs (39), third in hits (54), home runs (7) and total bases (84), and fifth in batting average (.435).

The outfield produced three NWC all-stars, including two first-teamers.

Stephanice Rice was a repeat first team selection, leading the conference in hits (62), runs scored (49), stolen bases (35), and at-bats (155).

Senior Lisa Smith also garnered first team all-NWC honors, despite missing 25 games in the middle portion of the season with a broken arm. Smith hit .463 with six doubles and one home run. She drove in 28 runs.

Earned second team honors during her first season in the program is right fielder Jessica Popiel.

Popiel started 36 of the Wildcats 40 games, hitting .344 with four doubles and one triple. Against Puget Sound, Popiel single-handedly rallied Linfield from a three-run deficit with a her first home run of the season, then later doubled to drive home the winning run.

Vaughan, in his sixth season, raised his career record to 188-54-1 (.775), including 132-27 (.830) versus NWC competition.

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