Highline Thunderbirds Women's Softball
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Playoff Bound (After winning the West Division, the Women's Softball team heads to Portland for the NWAACC Softball Championships) The difference a year makes. Last year the Highline Softball team finishedin last place. A week ago the team swept Pierce College 18-12 and 6-4 to win the West Region. And now, it's time for the playoffs. On the weekend of May 18-21, the NWAACC (Northwest Athletics Association of Community Colleges) will have its softball playoffs at Delta Park in Portland, OR. (playoff bracket) The team heads into the playoffs with an 18-6 division record, fifth best in the NWAACC. |
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Regular Season Team
Leaders Hitting Batting Average: K.Murdock .413 D.Babcock .412 R.Guthrie .412 Hits: K.Murdock 43 D.Babcock 40 R.Jewett-Chan 34 B.J.Mipalar 34 Runs Batted In: K. Murdock 30 B.J.Mipalar 21 Runs Scored: K. Murdock 27 D.Babcock 27 B.J.Mipalar 24 A.Fraser 23 Walks: B.Evans 17 S.Scott 15 Doubles: B.J. Mipalar, S.Scott 8 Triples: S. Scott, B.J. Mipalar 1 Home Runs: B.Votaw 5 K. Murdock 5 B.J.Mipalar 4 Steals: Sami Scott 10 D.Babcock 5 Pitching Games Started: C. Gidcumb 24 B.J.Mipalar 19 Wins: C. Gidcumb 10 B.J.Mipalar 8 Saves: B.J. Mipalar 3 C. Gidcumb 1 |
Intensity and a Division Winner
Sweeping Pierce College
May 9, 2012
Well Done
Whitney Purvis (1) is congratulated by Kathy Murdock (16) after scoring one of Highline's seven runs in the 7th inning that sealed the first game victory. Purvis had a key single driving in two runs during the inning.
I Beg to Disagree (Quietly)
Ashley Fraser after taking a called strike. She finished the at-bat by getting on base and scoring a run.
Hit the Dirt
Riley Jewett-Chan follows a hit by sliding into second base during Highline's decisive 7 run 7th inning in the first game.
2012 Highline Women's Softball Team
Back Row: Brittany Myers,
Brianna Votaw, Ed Baldwin
(Coach), Scott Dillinger (Head Coach), Jason
Evans (Coach). James Benthusen (Coach), Kathy
Murdock, Sami Scott |
Coach's Outlook for 2012
Highline will field
nearly an entirely new team, with only 2
holdovers from last year, in hopes of returning
to the NWAACC tournament for the first time
since 2008. The Thunderbirds expect to be very
competitive in the Western Region, and have
front loaded the non league portion of their
schedule against top NWAACC contender Bellevue,
and six games at perennially ranked Arizona
powerhouses Mesa, Scottsdale, and Glendale--as
well as four games vs Eastern Washington
University club team in hopes of better
preparing them for league play.Stronger pitching
and 3 girls who led their respective leagues in
HR's should key the resurgence."We're throwing
them right into the fire early in the year to
see how we stack up, and I believe we can be
competitive enough to build on some things
heading into the West schedule.This is a group
that should hit the ball consistently, and with
power. These girls have committed to the
conditioning and weightlifting since June-and
have jelled nicely since fall ball. I'm looking
forward very much to watching them bring us back
to where we used to be! As usual, I look for
Pierce to be the one everyone in the West is
chasing, and Centralia has added a lot of nice
pieces and should challenge them. I'm hoping
we've made enough strides by the end to be in
the mix for the top 4".
Head Coach Scott Dillinger |
