Staci Doucette, the two-time Northwest Conference Player of the Year, and the Linfield College softball team captured the NCAA Division III Indianola Regional tournament in Iowa, advancing to this week’s national championships.
Doucette, an Evergreen High School graduate, was named to the All-Regional team after the Wildcats improved to 39-5 with victories over the University of Chicago (13-5), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (10-3) and St. Thomas (9-1) followed by another win over St. Thomas, 3-1, in the regional title game Sunday.
Doucette’s two-run single in the fifth inning ended the Chicago game by mercy rule. She homered twice against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, then twice again against St. Thomas on Saturday, including a three-run blast that broke open a 1-all game. In the title game against St. Thomas, Doucette was on base for Karleigh Prestianni’s two-run homer that broke a 1-all tie in the sixth inning.
Concordia opens the eight-team double-elimination national tournament Friday against Luther (41-5). Other quarterfinals: DePauw (39-7) vs. Ithaca (33-13), Eastern Connecticut State (36-4-1) vs. Christopher Newport (40-8) and East Texas Baptist (36-12) against Moravian (34-13).