Wildcat Roundup: Men’s golf earns second at finals; baseball rebounds; softball approaches tournament time
Tigard alumni and Linfield junior Douglas Bailey repeated as the Northwest Conference’s medalist in the final NWC event of the season, firing rounds of 68 and 69 (-5) and winning in a playoff, while the Wildcats placed second as a team with rounds of 277 (-7) and 297 ( 13) at the NWC tournament at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains.
Entering the tournament, Linfield held a one-stroke lead over Whitman College and a three-stroke margin over Willamette University in the team aggregate stroke total standings. By the end of play, Willamette found first place as a team by finishing -8 and edging out the Wildcats by 11 strokes.
Bailey earned First-Team All-NWC and was named the conference’s Player of the Year with a scoring average of 72.2, winning two of the three NWC-sanctioned events. Head Coach and Director of Golf Mitch Wilson earned the NWC’s Coach of the Year in his seventh season at the helm of the program.
Freshman Brody Landaker was named to the NWC second team and fellow freshman Owen Irving made third-team All-NWC in his first season as a Wildcat.
The team continues to hold out hope for an at-large and individual bids into the NCAA Division III National Championship in May. Selections are set to be announced on May 4 on the NCAA website.
On the women’s side, the Wildcats placed seventh out of eight teams, ahead of the Whitman Blues, who didn’t record a team score at the NWC championships. George Fox claimed the team title by an eight-stroke margin over Whitman.
Freshman Addison Nations paced the Wildcats, finishing 26th individually with two birdies in the first round, the only birdies for the team, en route to shooting an 86 on the par-71 course.
Sara Pate opened with a 93 on Sunday but improved by seven strokes in the second round to fire her lowest score of the season, an 86, on Tuesday. Pate made worse-than-bogey on just two holes and sank five pars in the final round to finish 27th, her best finish of her sophomore campaign.
McMinnville graduate of 2025 Ainsley Kelley also contributed to the team score in both rounds, shooting 97 and 107 to take 37th individually.
Baseball
The ’Cats baseball team (20-13, 12-6) sits at second in the NWC and is gearing up for a three-game set in Tacoma against NWC No. 3 University of Puget Sound (19-12, 10-8) this weekend in a possible matchup for tournament seeding.
Linfield rebounded from a sweep at the hands of Whitworth University (23-14, 17-4) by securing its fifth NWC series victory of the year with a 2-1 series win over Whitman College (11-21-1, 6-12).
Leading the charge was a masterful performance from Reno, Nevada, native and sophomore Colton Ouellette, who tossed seven innings of one-hit ball in a 6-0 win over the Blues on Saturday to earn NWC Pitcher of the Week honors. The shutout followed Linfield’a 16-2 win in game one of a home doubleheader.
In game one, Linfield out-hit Whitman 13 to 5, and third baseman Wyatt McClory was a catalyst, going 2-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Doubles were smacked by McClory, Keegan Weston, Jaxson Kister and Nick Holm. Yamhill Carlton alumnus Wyatt Hurley and Cole Snidow each hit home runs.
On Wednesday, George Fox visited Linfield and defeated the Wildcats 8-2.
Softball
Linfield’s softball team (30-6, 18-6) held onto a 20-game win streak before losing to Lewis & Clark University on April 11, but was still able to go 3-1 in the series before battling with Pacific Lutheran University (28-8, 20-4) in Tacoma for four games on April 18-19.
Game one versus PLU was close, with starting pitcher Tyler McNeley sitting down each of the first three Lutes at the plate to begin the game and not allowing a hit for 3 1/3 innings. However, PLU scored one run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly as the only player to cross home in the 1-0 loss for Linfield.
Game two was the opposite, as PLU out-hit the ’Cats 15-11, but Linfield used an 11-run third to win 15-13.
Senior catcher Ashlyn Aven was scorching in the contest, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and six RBIs on two doubles and a home run.
On day two, Linfield found themselves behind in both games of their doubleheader against NWC No. 1 PLU and fell 6-4 and 7-3.
The ’Cats are set to conclude the regular season this weekend versus the NWC’s bottom-ranked team in Puget Sound (5-29, 3-21). The first set of games begins, at noon on Saturday at Del Smith Stadium, while the final doubleheader commences on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Linfield is ranked second in the NWC and are likely to travel back to Tacoma for the NWC Tournament May 1-3.
Tennis
Though falling short of playoff contention, several Wildcat tennis athletes were awarded with all-conference recognition.
On the men’s side, Linfield was led by seniors Brooks Lerfald and Zac Nakaijima, earning first-team honors for doubles. Both additionally made the second team for singles. Junior Cameron Paulsen took home a spot on the all-NWC singles third team as well, marking the first time Linfield’s had at least three selections since 2009.
The trio helped Linfield to a 5-9 record against the NWC and a 5-16 mark overall, the program’s most wins against league opponents since 2011 and most overall total since 2019.
For the women’s team, who went 1-18 on the season, Linfield’s top doubles team of Kaitlynn Canubida and Samantha Baltze earned recognition.
Canubida took second-team all-conference recognition in singles, while both juniors were named third-team selections in doubles after competing together the majority of the season. For Canubida, the honor was her second career all-league selection after being named to the second team last year as a sophomore.
Track & Field
Linfield track and field completed their final tune-up of the season on April 17-18, hauling in dozens of personal best marks at Lewis & Clark University’s Larry Byerly Invitational.
The massive meet on the River Otters’ campus drew more than 30 teams, including a handful of familiar NWC names prepping for the conference championships hosted by Whitworth University on Saturday and Sunday.
Wildcat freshman and Amity alumnus Kiyan Vrell earned the best finish on the men’s side on Saturday, placing eighth in the hammer throw with a best of 151-9. Kekai Macabio (11.26) and Kaleb Losoya (11.52) each earned new personal bests in the 100-meter sprint.
In the men’s long jump, Kala Hardie notched a new best with a leap of 21-1 1/4.
The 4x100-meter relay squad of Macabio, Jayden Donald, Liam Christensen, and Davidson Kathman finished fifth with a time of 42.91.
The women’s team saw senior Jordan Roberts place seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with a mark of 15.64. Jordan Hayes and Marley Ells each also nabbed personal-best marks in the 400-meter run to each finish inside the top-16.
Logan Roberts carded a top-five finish in the women’s high jump with a leap of 4-11 3/4. Roberts tied with Pacific’s Allie Hammond for the best mark by a D3 athlete. In the javelin, first-year Wildcats Haley Bland and Mia Thompson each placed in the top four, while junior Eboni Zehner finished fifth in the event.
Freshman Baylie Thompson earned a personal record as well as Division III’s No. 58 mark in the long jump with a best mark of 17-11. Savannah Filios also cracked the D3 top-100 in the shot put, with a toss of 40-2.
Article written with the assistance of Chase Fisk and Linfield Sports Communication.
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