Softball in California

Grace Bruncke, arts & entertainment editor

The Linfield College softball team made the trek down to California this weekend for the first games of the season. The team came out with four wins under their belt by the end of the weekend.

In the first game on Saturday, Catball faced off against Claremont. The Wildcats fell to 0-1 in the second inning, but they came back with two unanswered runs in the third inning and one more in the sixth.

Sophomore, center fielder Maddy Colson contributed the wins to “People in the line-up coming together with big hits when we had players in scoring position along with solid defense.”

In the second face off, Linfield fell by one in the fourth but continued to a 4-1 win. The Wildcats did not allow anymore runs. “Defensively, our team was very sharp. We capitalized on the small things which allowed us to make the big plays,” Colson said.

On Sunday, the Wildcats faced off against Whittier at Palmer Field. Melanie Oord ‘18, Cheyenne Fletcher ‘18, and Darian Stedman ‘19 each scored their first home runs of the season. This, along with pitcher Shelby Saylors, ‘19, kept Whittier scoreless for six innings that led the team to another victory in California. The Wildcats took total control in the fifth when they earned a 5-2 advantage. They continued to win 7-2.

In the final game of the weekend, Wildcat pitchers Brynn Lio, ‘18, and Tanna Benson, ‘19, worked together for a no-hitter. Senior Danielle Duman helped the team take a 3-0 lead with a three run home run. In the fourth and fifth innings alone, Linfield scored seven runs taking them to a 7-0 lead. With this lead, the Wildcats wanted more, so both Stedman and Kinney scored a home run to take the score to 11-0.

Linfield Catball can be seen in action again at 1 p.m. on Tuesday against a longtime rival of the West Region, Redlands.