Athlete 2003 - 2006
Tough-minded. Crafty on the base paths. Clutch at the plate. And acrobatic in the outfield. All describe the brilliance of Linfield softball standout Shelly (Steinke) Vaughan, whose Hall of Fame career spanned from 2003 until 2006.
There’s no doubt Steinke left the Linfield softball program in better shape than when she arrived. ‘Catball’ as the program would come to be coined during her era, rose from third place in its own conference to winning three straight league titles. A pioneering voyage to the NCAA Division III Finals by Steinke and her Wildcat teammates in 2006 was a vital precursor to Linfield claiming a national championship the year after she departed.
Steinke made an impact from her first game. A four-time first team conference all-star and four-time most valuable player, Steinke catapulted Linfield to three consecutive (and a spree of 11 straight) conference crowns along with the program’s first NCAA regional title.
Individually, she set career records for runs scored (134), hits (224), RBIs (105), stolen bases (99) and batting average (.383). Her name is also prominent in the single-season record book where she set program standards for runs scored (51) and total bases (96).
During a landmark debut season of 2003, Steinke helped Linfield rise from third to second place in the NWC. Supplanting 11-time champion Pacific Lutheran was a tall order, but the Wildcats were up to the task the following year. Naturally, it was Steinke’s two-out single in the seventh inning of Game 1 of that series that lofted the ‘Cats to a 2-1 victory, the first of three wins over the Lutes that year. It was just one of many game-altering hits she would record over the course of her career.
Often injured yet never complaining, she earned the universal respect of her teammates.
Liz (Coburn) Delapoer vividly remembers Steinke playing with a broken bone on her glove hand during an important series against Whitworth in 2006.
“She couldn't catch a ball without it hurting and I assumed she was going to sit out. I was pitching the second game and we had to win it in order to win the series and the conference. When I said something to her about sitting out, she looked at me and said, ‘Liz, I would never desert you.’ And she played the whole game in pain, did an amazing job, and we won.”
When Steinke captained a battered Linfield team to fourth place at the 2006 NCAA Finals her senior season, personal accolades followed. Steinke became Linfield’s first NFCA All-American, was a third CoSIDA Academic All-American for her scholarly accomplishments, and was singled out as Linfield’s Female Athlete of the Year.
Such was the ground-breaking career of Shelly Steinke Vaughan, whose dynamic play, steadfast resolve and unwavering commitment to her team vaulted the Linfield softball program to unfathomable heights.
Today, she teaches fifth grade at McMinnville’s Columbus Elementary School. She and her husband, Jackson, are raising three daughters, Hallie, Reese and Finley.
