GNAC-winning CWU Softball ended their season short at the GNAC Tournament May 3 and 4 in Portland, Oregon.

With a 9-0 loss in their first game of the tournament to Simon Fraser University (SFU), the Wildcats were quickly dropped into the loser’s bracket and had hoped to fight their way back to the championship game just like they had two years prior.

“That was the worst game we have ever played in my three years here at Central,” head coach Mike Larabee said after Thursday’s loss.

With SFU scoring four runs in the first inning, the Wildcats dug themselves into a ditch that would make it hard to recover from. With three more runs scored in the second inning and two more in the fourth to end the game for the Clan, the Wildcats soon ended up in the loser’s bracket.

“We knew after the first game we needed to play better and together,” sophomore pitcher Taylor Williams said. “And we did, we played more like a team in the second game.”
Williams, a sophomore out of Brea, California, earned GNAC Player of the Week honors once this season on the mound. She has a .250 batting average and 3.22 era, and has appeared in 14 games this season.

With one loss already under their belt, the Wildcats looked to claw back into the championship game when they took on Western Oregon University (WOU) in a loser-out game, which they would go on to lose 2-4.

Starting the game in the lead 2-0, senior outfielder Celine Fowler hit a single in the second inning, bringing in fellow senior catcher Taelor Griffin for the first run of the game. Shortly after third basemen Savanna Egbert followed in the fourth advancing the score 2-0.

It wasn’t until the sixth when the Wolves of WOU scored all four of their runs, which would lead them to win the game and end the Wildcat’s season.

“My emotions were definitely high. I was ready for it and confident in the team and it was just an emotional weekend because I knew it could have been my last weekend ever [playing],” Fowler said.

The Wildcats ended the season with a 31-16 overall record. 10 players making the GNAC Softball All-Academic team including Molly Nutt’s chart topping 4.0 and four players earning All-Conference team honors including Freshmen pitcher Lexie Strasser earning first team honors.

“These girls know that when the team is doing well they will begin to earn those individual honors,” Larabee said.

Although having four players make the All-Conference team was impressive to Larabee, he was even happier with 10 players making the All-Academic team.

“When I am recruiting, we look for girls that we know will do well on the field, but in the classroom as well,” Larabee said. “We want these girls to graduate at the end of their four years proud of their work and happy with the degree they earned.”

Along with the 10 players making All-Academic honors, 20 of the 23 players made the dean’s list winter quarter proving how important their academics are to the team.
The Wildcats return to the field the first day of school next September when they begin preparing for the fall 2018 season.