Locally: Ferris graduate Katelyn Strauss named DIII Softball Pitcher of the Year

Katelyn Strauss of North Dakota State College of Science has been named 2023 NJCAA Division III Softball pitcher of the year after the sophomore from Ferris High led the Wildcats to their first national championship.

Strauss was also named a first-team All-America selection for the second consecutive season. She led the nation in strikeouts by a wide margin with 306 total, 74 more than the runner-up. She finished the season with a 25-6 overall record, also leading the nation in wins.

NDSCS was the No. 1 seed in the national tournament but fell into the losers bracket before battling back to defeat Corning (N.Y.) twice in the championship round. Corning defeated NDSCS in an earlier round.

Following are some of Strauss’s 2023 stats, accomplishments and honors: 40 appearances, 25-6 record, 2.29 ERA, 306 strikeouts (10.78 per game), six shutouts, NJCAA D-III Softball First Team All-America selection, NJCAA D-III Softball World Series pitcher of the tournament, D-III Softball national leader in strikeouts, NJCAA overall strikeout leader across all three divisions, NFCA national pitcher of the year.

• Seven student-athletes have committed to join the Whitworth University softball program for the 2023-24 season.

The list includes Paige Hamilton, who helped lead Deer Park to third place in the 2023 WIAA State Tournament. She was first-team All-Northeast A League as a senior and second team as a junior. She batted .457 and struck out 178 batters her senior year. Whitworth lists her as a pitcher and utility player.

Other signees are transfer Reiss McIntyre from North Idaho College and incoming first-year players Natalie Beckwith (San Diego), Madi Cannady (Bonney Lake, Washington), Makena Hofford (Renton, Washington), Addie Johnson (Meridian, Idaho), and Amy Pederson (Burien, Washington).

Academics

Whitworth’s Mattea Nelson has added another significant honor to her list of 2023 post-season accolades. Nelson is a 2022-23 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Softball Academic All-America (third team) for NCAA Division III.

Nelson carried a perfect 4.0 grade-point average as an undergraduate before graduating in May of 2022. She enrolled as a master’s degree student at Whitworth last fall and completed her final year of eligibility this spring as the Pirates’ starter at third base, earning first-team All-Northwest Conference and first-team All-Region honors.

Administration

Steve Flegel, the assistant director of athletics for sports communications at Whitworth, has been voted by his peers as the 2022-23 recipient of the Jack Sareault Award, which is presented annually to the Northwest Conference sports information director of the year.

In addition to his work with athletics at Whitworth, Flegel currently serves on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Advocacy Committee and CSC U Committee. Flegel has been active in CSC since 1997 where he served on the Ethics Committee in 2005-08 and was selected to the organization’s board of directors in the fall of 2011, serving a five-year term.

Flegel has won the Jack Sareault Award four times.

Badminton

The 2023 Badminton World Junior National Championships are being held at the Podium this week (June 26-July 2).

USA Badminton will return to the Podium this fall (Sept. 25-Oct. 8) as the host for the 2023 Badminton World Federation junior championships.

Golf

The Washington Junior Golf Association’s sub-district tournament was held Friday at the Coeur d’Alene Golf Club .

Top three in each age division (with score) were:

Boys 8-11: Emmett Asmus 42, Jace Clothier 44, Hudson Ebel and Maxton Page 47.

Boys 12-13: Liam Severs and Paxten Gumke 83, Hunter Paquin and Shea Shrock 84.

Boys 14-15: Ben Focke 67, Trey Lambert 68, Teigen Brill 70.

Boys 16-18: Dillon Shrock 71, Griffin Thorpe 71, Daniel Harrington 72.

Girls 8-11: Avery Wilson 51, Madeline Page 59, Sunny Hite 65.

Girls 12-13: Ella Wilson 77, Jossetta Williams 91, Emily Stillert 96.

Girls 14-15: Kariana Carlson 91, Naomi Molitor 94, Sophia Vignale 95

Girls 16-18 Brooke Bloom 76, Caelia Fleming 85, Taylor Mire 85.

• The Rosauers Open is seeking volunteers for its upcoming tournament on July 11-16 at Indian Canyon Golf Course.

Volunteers will receive a T-shirt, food and beverage for assistance on the course or at Arbor Crest.

Sportsmanship

The Northwest Conference has announced its 2022-23 All-Sportsmanship team.

Members are selected by their own team. Renee Tiumalu is the only player from Whitworth to make the list twice, in volleyball and track and field.

Whitworth’s members of the All-Sportsmanship team are:

Fall 2022: Dylan Richardson (men’s cross country), Haley Jacobson (women’s cross country), Matthew Fiesta (football), Beckett Arthur (men’s soccer), Emma Foulk (women’s soccer), Renee Tiumalu (volleyball)

Winter 2022-23: Rowan Anderson (men’s basketball), Devyn Cope (women’s basketball), Jorgen Midboe (men’s swimming), Carly Hoff (women’s swimming)

Spring 2023: Dawson Warner (baseball), Sam Pauly (men’s golf), Brianna McNelly (women’s golf), Grace Curley (lacrosse), Julia Dillon (softball), Ethan Warring (men’s tennis), Elizabeth Hopkins (women’s tennis), Nathan Dykstra (men’s track and field), Renee Tiumalu (women’s track and field)

Volleyball

Melissa (Huddleston) Fleshman has been named an assistant volleyball coach at North Idaho College.

Fleshman was raised in Coeur d’Alene and attended Coeur d’Alene High School. She was most active in volleyball, including state appearances and placing second at the 5A Idaho State Tournament in 2015.

Fleshman continued her volleyball career at the University of Montana from 2016 through 2019 and has coached club volleyball since returning to Coeur d’Alene in 2020.