In a thrilling culmination of the season, the Portland State Vikings softball team concluded their 2023 campaign with a whirlwind of excitement and determination. Battling their way through fierce competition and demonstrating resilience, the Vikings showcased their prowess on the diamond, leaving the team eager to head into the next season. With the final pitch thrown and the dust settled on another exhilarating year of ball, it is time to recap on the performance of the Vikings this season.
Led by their passionate coaches and a roster of talent up and down the lineup, our softball squad left it all out on the field, showcasing their skills, resilience and unwavering determination. Fresh after the team’s accomplishments, Portland State Vanguard had the opportunity to sit down with coach Meadow McWhorter to relive the highs, lows and everything in between that defined another season of Portland softball in the books.
Entering her seventh season as the head coach of the softball program, Coach McWhorter had plenty of good things to say about the team, but highlighted their performances at the plate.
“Our offense had some really powerful moments throughout the season,” Coach McWhorter said when speaking on what made the team successful. “And there were some key wins where it was hitters in the 5-9 spot that were carrying the weight of that game,” as well as other games where the top of the line up were the breadwinners. “We were manufacturing runs from all cylinders.”
With their overall win record at 18-27 by the end of the season, the team went 7-5 at home, providing evidence that home field advantage really does matter when you have such a travel-heavy first part of the season. “We are on the road for the first five weekends of the season, typically,” Coach McWhorter shared, dubbing the team the Road Warriors. Even though the athletes and coaches are used to the grind of traveling, it can still take a lot out of a team because it usually means only one day of rest during away game weeks. Mondays are that day to rest, then Tuesdays and Wednesdays are dedicated to practice, and with softball being a sport of series, they head out on Thursdays to get ready to play Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays before heading home. “It can be pretty mentally taxing,” Coach McWhorter said about the continuous back-to-back road trips.
While every season seems to produce a few special key moments that are shared around the dinner table like folklore, this year’s moment came early. On Feb. 19, the lady Vikings won in walk-off fashion against DePaul University to secure the head coach’s 100th win here at PSU.
“Well, it was our 100th win,” Coach McWhorter said when asked about what it was like to accomplish such a thing. “I don’t feel like I won those games, everybody that suited up and put on a Viking uniform won those games.” Not only did she get to humbly celebrate with the team that got her into the triple digit win club, she sent texts and communicated with players who had already graduated and asked them to join in on the celebration.
Another key moment in the ‘23 season came towards the end, when pitcher Olivia Grey threw her first career no-hitter on May 11 in a 13-0 win over Montana State U. Recording seven strikeouts, Grey retired 15 of the 16 batters she faced that day, only losing one to an infield error that kept her from being perfect.
In addition to all the great effort the team put in as a whole, Emily Johansen had yet another powerful year for the Vikings at the plate. Ending the season with a .344 batting average and an on-base percentage of .460, Johansen walked off the field with several honors. In early May, she was named to the third All-Pacific Region team, which is voted on by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. But the honors don’t stop there. Johansen also was named Big Sky Player of the Year, which is the first time an athlete at PSU has been given that. Because of the pandemic and there being no 2020 season, Johansen is eligible to play for one more year through an athletic loophole that’s been dubbed “redshirt.”
One thing that seemed to be prevalent as Coach McWhorter was retracing the journey her and her team had just been on is that past, present and future players on Coach McWhorter’s teams are all family. It is typical for groups of people who spend lots of time with one another to get close, but there just seems to be some magic that is created in that dugout. And time is ticking away for seven of the players that will be entering their senior year at PSU for the next season in 2024—“it’s a bittersweet place to be.” Not only has she had the pleasure of being these women’s coaches during their time at PSU, Coach McWhorter mentioned that a lot of the players she has been with since they were freshmen in high school and said that it has been fun to watch them grow into gritty athletes.
There tends to be a cycle when it comes to the softball roster and having a mass exodus of graduates, but Coach McWhorter feels optimistic in their recruitment strategies so far, with two freshman additions joining for the 2024 season. But it does mean that there are sad farewells at the end of the season.
This year, Coach McWhorter and her team had to say a bittersweet goodbye to a player that changed the program, Olivia “Juice” Dean. Dean joined the team in fall of 2020, but of course did not get any playing time as the team didn’t actually report that year. “The moment she stepped into this program she changed it,” Coach McWhorter said. “Energy, leadership and an unbelievable character who shows up for her people and radiates positive energy.” Dean ended her redshirt senior year with a .353 batting average in her 150 at-bats. Even though she is leaving big shoes to fill, Coach McWhorter is positive Dean left a little “juice” behind for the remaining players to hold onto and carry with them.
Although the cracks of the bats and the snaps of the gloves have ended for this season, the success of this year indicates that the Vikings softball team has much to look forward to while they rest and prepare for the 2024 season.
