Jan. 31, 2017 BELLINGHAM, Wash. - A year removed from finishing a single game shy of qualifying for the GNAC Championships, a motivated Western Washington University softball team is poised with talent and depth to make the most of the 2017 campaign.
Although WWU lost 12 letterwinners from last season, the 2017 Vikings feature 11 returners, including six players who started at least 20 games.
"We're a smaller group," seventh-year head coach Amy Suiter said, describing togetherness and unity as defining characteristics of the 2017 team. "They're definitely playing as one right now, which is nice. Even though we have small numbers, there is a lot of depth at a lot of positions."
Among the returners are a pair of 2016 All-GNAC selections in junior first baseman Emily Benson (First Team) and senior second baseman Kali Patterson (Second Team). Benson (West Richland, WA/Kamiakin) hit .342 with 45 RBI, 30 runs and a single season school record 12 home runs last season while Patterson (Bonney Lake, WA) hit .377 with 30 runs and 21 RBI. Patterson enters her senior season as the program's all-time leader in batting average with a .363 (135x372) career average.
" Emily (Benson) has always been a big presence at the plate and brings a lot of power, brings a lot of confidence," Suiter said. "Kali Patterson will be big for us, both defensively and offensively. Playing in the middle of the infield, she's a quiet kid but has a lot of presence out there. She's done a lot of things at the plate in the last three years and this being the fourth...she's just so consistent at the plate and that's so nice to have both for the coaching staff and the kids as well."
Junior pitcher/infielder Makinlee Sellevold (Everett, WA/Cascade), the 2015 GNAC Freshman of the Year, provides a valuable two-way presence for the Vikings. Through two seasons, Sellevold owns a 37-16 record and 2.68 earned run average in the circle. At the plate she hit .304 for WWU last season, totaling 26 RBI and 20 runs. Another experienced member of the pitching staff will be sophomore Shearyna Labasan (Mililani, HI/Maryknoll), who went 11-9 with a 4.21 earned run average during her freshman season. Labasan also contributes in the field at third base for the Vikings.
In addition to Sellevold and Labasan, Suiter noted sophomore Morgan VanRiper (Kalama, WA), along with freshmen Anna Kasner (Milton, WA/Fife) and Paityn Cyr (Mount Vernon, WA), as helping provide strong depth in the circle.
"We have a lot of strong starters, and I think that's huge for playing four games in a weekend and doubleheaders - only having one or two pitchers doesn't make it through sometimes, so that's a big difference for us this year," Suiter said. "We haven't had that in the past."
Additional returning experience comes in the form of senior Mackenzie Hughes (C, Ellensburg, WA), juniors Sarah Morrow (OF, Enumclaw, WA), Carlie Richards (OF, Kennewick, WA/Kamiakin) and Cylie Richards (INF, Kennewick, WA/Kamiakin) as well as sophomores McKenna Mathis (OF, Mesa, WA/Utah Valley) and Ashley Scott (INF, Bellevue, WA/Interlake). Hughes joins Patterson as the lone seniors on the 2017 roster and has appeared in 54 games with 31 starts over the last three seasons. Morrow made 33 starts in 2016 while Mathis led the team in appearances as a sub last season with 24.
The WWU incoming class is composed of one transfer and five freshmen.
"Young talent, very motivated," Suiter said of the incoming class. "(The) work ethic and drive is bar none one of our best freshmen classes."
Junior catcher Alex Boyd (Woodinville, WA/Bellevue College) is the lone transfer for 2017. She is coming off an impressive season at Bellevue College during which she earned First Team All-North Region Northwest Athletic Conference honors after beginning her career at Oregon State University in 2015.
" Alex Boyd will do big things behind the plate and at the plate being our only transfer," Suiter said. "As a junior, it's nice to have somebody who is a newcomer but able to step in with years under her belt."
Freshmen Cyr and Kasner each earned MVP honors in their respective high school conferences while freshmen outfielders Mackenzie Palmer (Federal Way, WA/Todd Beamer), Jackie Lucido (San Jose, CA/Piedmont Hills) and Kylisa Hull (Redmond, WA/Lake Washington) each earned all-conference accolades as well with impressive prep careers.
" Paityn Cyr will be a threat at the plate right at the get-go," Suiter said. "We have Mackenzie Palmer, we have Jackie Lucido - all of them, they're all going to be fighting for those outfield positions so there's a lot of depth there, a lot of talent. They'll do great things in these next four years, that class will."
WWU was picked to finish fourth in the conference by the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll for 2017, coming off a season during which the Vikings were 26-21 overall and 15-13 (fifth place) in conference action. Before falling a single game short of a bid to the GNAC Championships in 2016, WWU had consecutive runner-up regular season conference finishes in 2014 and 2015. Suiter said it is important to take care of business with games in the non-conference preseason while at the same time learning and growing from those games before playing an increasingly-tough conference schedule.
"I don't know that I would coach if we didn't have a team that was playing for a national championship every year," Suiter said of goals for the season. "But there are definitely milestones along the way. We've got to make it out of conference first and the West Region is super tough. So, taking care of the games you need to take care of, especially in the preseason, to try and put yourself in that situation before you get to the end of conference and have to rely on that conference tournament."
The Vikings open the season in Hawaii on Saturday, playing at Hawaii Pacific with a doubleheader in Kaneohe, Hawaii. WWU will also play doubleheaders against Chaminade (Feb. 5) and BYU Hawaii (Feb. 6) during the trip. The doubleheader against Chaminade will be a neutral-site matchup in Honolulu, Hawaii, while the Vikings will play at BYU Hawaii in Laie, Hawaii.
WWU will also travel to the Dixie State Tournament Feb. 9-11 in Saint George, Utah, before conference play begins. The Vikings start the GNAC schedule in early March with a four-game series at home against Montana State Billings, playing consecutive doubleheaders on March 4 and March 5. A non-conference trip to Turlock, Calif., in late March and early April is also on the schedule. The Vikings will play nine games against eight teams on the trip, and six of the games will be part of the Tournament of Champions.
"They're hungry right now," Suiter said. "January is tough, we work our tails off all fall and they have that break over winter but they're still working hard and they come back in January...you just get hungry and you just want to get out there and play. I think that's where they're at right now - just chomping at the bit to get out there and go see where we're at."
