About half of the players on the Concordia University softball roster are new to the program this year after transferring from junior colleges or other schools.
While that could suggest a lack of familiarity with each other and a challenge to developing team unity, the opposite is in fact the case.
“We’ve been doing great,” said Skyview High School graduate Laura Thorp, who plays third base.
“The coach recruited a lot of transfers, so we have a lot of experience.”
It turns out that most of the Cavaliers have been playing with and/or against each other for years.
Thorp and catcher Courtney Wooden have been playing together for nearly a decade, including at Skyview High School and College of the Siskiyous. Right fielder Mallory Callahan is a Hudson’s Bay High School graduate. Thorp said Callahan and Wooden were friends in high school, while she knew of Callahan as an opposing player.
Concordia ace Renee Santos played with Callahan at Clackamas Community College, and shortstop Ali Paz played with Thorp and Wooden at Siskiyous. Thorp played her last semester of softball at Lower Columbia College — along with current Concordia teammates Cameron Way (first base) and Kayla Vickaryous (center field).
“There are a lot of transfers, and we’ve all played together or against each other for the past three years,” Callahan said. “Almost everyone on the team is someone we knew coming in. We’ve all played together or against each other, so it was pretty comfortable coming in. Our team chemistry just clicked so good because of that — because we know everyone’s game.
“I think it was easier because we’re all respectable players. The players who came in, we knew who they are because they’re good. We’re happy to play with them instead of against them — or with each other instead of against each other.”
That chemistry played out into a 32-4 regular season that started 21-1.
“We knew coming in that it would be a good season, because we have so many good players, but once we started winning and kept winning and we got on a roll, we were like, ‘Oh, this feels good,’ ” Callahan said. “It just kind of kept going. We play as a team. All of our stats are fairly close to each other. It’s just a lot of team stuff.”
Ranked No. 4 in NAIA, the Cavaliers will host the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament, Friday and Saturday at Delta Park.
Concordia will face the winner of a single game between Corban and Southern Oregon in a best-of-three series for a bid to the NAIA championships in Decatur, Ala.
The Cavaliers play at 3 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday, then at 3 p.m. Saturday if necessary. There are six at-large bids available to the 32-team NAIA nationals, with the CCC title worth an automatic bid.
“We don’t want to go in too confident, Wooden said. “We need to just stay focused and get to nationals. Our goal is to get to nationals.”
Try as coach Carrie Kosderka-Farrell might, there is no getting around talk of the team’s record and ranking.
“Our coach doesn’t like to talk about it much, but it’s kind of inevitable,” Wooden said. “We know what we’re ranked, but we don’t let it get to our heads or anything. … We just have a lot of fun together. We all like each other and get along. Winning’s more fun than losing, and we just like to win.”
GNAC honors Porter
Western Washington University’s Sarah Porter has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track & Field Female Athlete of the Week for Apr. 25-May 1.
Porter, a junior from Hockinson, qualified for the USA Track & Field Championships by placing 15th in the 10,000 meters.
She finished in a school- and GNAC-record time of 33 minutes, 36.83 seconds at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational at Stanford.
Porter’s time was nearly nine seconds better than the top qualifying standard for the meet which will be held June 23-27 at Des Moines, Iowa.
The clocking also bettered her personal best by almost 54 seconds and was 32 seconds faster than the GNAC record.
Two weeks ago at the Mt. SAC Relays, Porter broke the school record in the 10,000 for the third consecutive year with a NCAA Division II automatic national qualifying time of 34:30.21.
CCAA honors Evans
Chico State second baseman Jackson Evans has been named First Team All-California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Hudson’s Bay High School graduate. He was named “Wildcat of the Week” by the school last week.
Evans, a junior transfer from Lower Columbia College, is batting .353 on the season, leading Chico State with four triples and 13 stolen bases.
Klettke qualifies for NAIA track nationals
Lewis-Clark State College sophomore Kelsey Klettke qualified for the NAIA national outdoor track and field championships in the 5,000 and 800 meters on consecutive days last weekend at the Duane Hartman Invitational at Spokane. The Prairie High School graduate set a school record with her time of 2 minutes, 16.38 seconds in the 800.
Klettke previously qualified for nationals in the 1,500.
CCC honors Dixson
Concordia University freshman Gabi Dixson was named Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s Field Athlete of the Week after winning the hammer, and placing second in the discus and third in the shot put at the Pacific Twilight meet in Forest Grove, Ore.
A homeschool graduate who competed for Battle Ground High School, Dixson turned in a provisional qualifying mark for NAIA outdoor nationals in the shot put. She is already an automatic qualifier in both the hammer and discus.
UGF tabs Densmore
University of Great Falls junior pitcher Ashley Densmore was named the school’s Athlete of the Week for April 12-18. The Heritage High School graduate allowed one earned run in three games.
Suggestions for College Notebook? Contact Kurt Zimmer at 360-735-4563 or by e-mail at kurt.zimmer@columbian.com
