Yamamoto shines for Linfield College

It’s been quite a sophomore season at Linfield College for former Carson High softball player Lisa Yamamoto.

Yamamoto, a corner infielder at Carson for Scott Vickrey, started all 42 games for Linfield this year and hit .385, fourth among the starters. She finished with 12 doubles, a team-leading 13 homers and a second-best 58 RBIs. That output helped Linfield to 36-8 record and a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament in Tyler, Texas.

Linfield was eliminated in two straight at this weekend’s regionals. Yamamoto, a sophomore, was named both all-conference and all region.

Yamamoto was normally used as a designated hitter. She saw some action at first, and handled 13 of 14 fielding opportunities. It was a matter of getting to play more often which led to better numbers this year for the power-hitting right-hander. Yamamoto came off the bench as a freshman.

“It was a matter of getting an opportunity to make a difference,” she said from Texas after Linfield was eliminated by the host school, Tyler. “Filling a spot they needed me to. I’m hoping to get a shot in the field next year, but wherever I can contribute I’ll be happy.

“Our coaches work on our swings a lot. I got my swing dialed in, and the ball just happened to go out of the park a few times.”

It’s been a smooth adjustment to college for Yamamoto, who currently carries a 3.8 GPA and is majoring in biology.

“It’s been tough because I’m playing softball, but it’s been worth it,” Yamamoto said. “When you have a team that has a lot of success and teammates you really like ...”

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Here’s a quick rundown on some other local baseball and softball players at the collegiate level.

• Lauren Knorzer from Lassen College ended up hitting .339 and started most of the year behind the plate.

• Moriah Lane finished with a .472 average for Feather River, while Lindsay Ashbaugh compiled a 9-11 pitching record and an ERA of 3.88 for FRC.

• Danielle Morrow, who is at Doane College, appeared in 16 games and hit .250 with two homers and seven RBIs.

• Christa McGahuey hit .176 at University of Detroit-Mercy. She made 30 starts and appeared in 38 games. She compiled an 0-1 pitching mark with an 8.26 ERA.

• Rory Petersen is at Siskiyous College. He hit .229 with 7 RBIs.

• Brett Valley is at Prairie View A & M. He currently is hitting .272 entering the conference tournament with 14 RBI. He handled 104 chances in the outfield without an error.

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Former Carson High golfer Whitney Nash who is at St. Katherine’s University, won the season-ending Bethel University Invitational with a final-round 85. The score matched her lowest score of the season. Most of St. Kate’s spring matches were cancelled because of bad weather.

Nash played in seven events this year and averaged 92.46 per round, which is second on the team. She is averaging 93.36 in her first two seasons at the college level.

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Carson’s 14-17 (14-19 overall) regular-season record was disappointing, and not indicative of the team’s talent. The group just wasn’t consistent enough on the mound or at the plate. Only two starters, Gehrig Tucker and Luke Maher, hit over .300 for the season. Tucker was at .388 with team-leading 33 hits and 15 RBIs. Maher hit .347 with 26 hits and 26 RBIs.

On the mound none of the regular starters had an ERA of less than 4, and that’s not good at the high school level. Chase Blueberg put up some impressive numbers in his first five starts, but had a couple of rough outings late in the season though he finished strong against Bishop Manogue in the playoffs.

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The high school football season will be a bit different next year. The Division I schools will have just varsity games only on Friday and they will start at 7 p.m. The freshmen and JV teams will play on Thursdays at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. This is a long time coming, and as a media member, I love it. We now know the games will start on time. Too often varsity games didn’t start until 7:45 or 8 p.m. because of the length of the JV games, and that makes it tough to meet deadlines.

it’s tough to do stats and write a decent story and still make deadline.