After Thoughts

Texas-Tyler 5, Linfield 4 in 8 innings
Texas-Tyler 3, Linfield 2 in 10 innings
Those are difficult scores to ponder for any Wildcats fan as we are left to consider what might have been. A ball that lands fair instead of foul, an overthrow by a UTT player, or perhaps one more favorable umpire call could have [...]

Countdown to Gametime, Day 4

More quick takes from Taylor Field in Marshall, Texas:
•What thrilling outcome we witness during Saturday’s games against East Texas Baptist and Louisiana College. The seniors, Kendra Strahm and Brittany Miller, playing through pain and providing the neccessary leadership to push their teammates to greatness. The freshmen, Emilee Lepp and Staci Doucette, playing like they are [...]

Countdown to Gametime, Day 3

Loser leaves town.
It’s come down to that old professional wrestling adage for the Linfield Wildcats as when take on regional rival Louisiana College in a high-stakes battle for both programs in about one hour. The two teams took turns beating each other in the last two regional playoffs, with Linfield stunning LC 8-6 in 2007 [...]

Quick Takes, Day 2

•There are simply just too many good teams here at the West Regional.
•Four games have been decided by one run so far, including last night’s barnburner between Linfield and Texas-Tyler that went 10 dramatic innings.
•All three California entries have been eliminated. The four teams remaining – Linfield, East Texas Baptist, Louisiana College and Texas-Tyler [...]

Countdown to Gametime, Day 2

ack in the makeshift broadcast tent, about 25 feet from home plate where I’m getting set up for the broadcast. It’s pushing 90 degrees today in Marshall with winds gusting in all directions. Lots of sunscreen being passed around.
So far today, the Wildcats took the opportunity to sleep in a little and catch up on [...]

Quick Takes from Day 1

Here’s a few thoughts from the front lines of the NCAA Division III West Regional:
•Some of the best teams in the nation are competing in the West Regional and there are several programs which will suffer elimination however deserving they might be of a berth in the NCAA Finals.
•The inside of a Walgreens store in [...]

Countdown to Gametime

n Texas, everything is done on a large scale. Marshall High School’s football stadium surely puts most Division II college programs to shame with its sheer size and sophistication. The MHS stadium is the setting for the TV series “Friday Night Flights.”
Here at Taylor Field on the East Texas Baptist University campus, Texas-Tyler has just [...]

Practice Makes Perfect

inal preparations are complete and now the waiting begins.
Wednesday began with a dark and nasty thunderstorm that dropped buckets of rain on the City of Marshall and surrounding “ArkLaTex” area (that’s short for Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas). It looked for a while like the heavy rain would cause serious disruption to the NCAA West Region [...]

Live from Marshall, Texas, it’s the West Regional

Time to dust off the old blog and get some commentary going as the Linfield Wildcats softball team plunges into the NCAA Division III playoffs this week at Marshall, Texas.
The team arrived in this east Texas town of about 25,000 last night around 10 o’clock local time. That capped a 15-hour day of travel that [...]

Just Can’t Help Believin’

Never give up. Play until the final horn sounds. That’s the mindset of Linfield athletic teams, which decades ago adopted the moniker “Wildcats” for their scrappy play and sense of determination.
That’s why you shouldn’t be surprised when a Linfield team comes from behind to pull out a win in the final moments. Remember 1984 when [...]