Athlete 2005 – 2008
Legendary Linfield coach Ad Rutschman often speaks about infamous “forks in the road” and how simple choices in life can have a profound impact on an individual, a sports program and a university.
Such is the case for 2025 Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Amanda (Attleberger) Strahm, who had seemingly made up her mind to sign on as a softball pitcher at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. But at the last minute, the former Columbia River High School star chose instead to become a Linfield Wildcat.
Looking back, Amanda remembers “When signing day neared, I got a tri-fold flyer from Coach Jackson Vaughan. Now some 20 years later, I’m not sure why the flyer stuck out to me, but it did. Nonetheless, my Mom and I scheduled a visit to Linfield.
Jackson made it clear playing at Linfield would take hard work and dedication, but he wasn’t afraid to take a chance on a freshman as a starter. His affirmation and open-mindedness was what my young heart needed. I was sold on Linfield.”
What followed for Amanda was a long list of incredible accomplishments, including being a four-time first team all-Northwest Conference selection and three-time all-West Region honoree. She was a member of four Northwest Conference championship teams and key contributor on Linfield’s 2007 NCAA title-winning club.
Amanda was a fixture in the starting lineup on four consecutive NCAA playoff teams, two of which reached the championship finals. Her two home runs in the NCAA title-clinching victory over Washington-St. Louis helped ensure the softball program would capture the first women’s team championship in school history.
Amanda’s steady defensive play at first base and powerful offensive punch at the plate produced a dozen top-10 career records. She currently stands second all-time at Linfield in fielding percentage (.996), fourth in on-base percentage (.477), sixth in total bases (348) and seventh in home runs (31) and in games started (181).
In the single-season record book, Amanda shares the school record for best fielding percentage (1.000), ranks second in all-time walks (35), is third in triples (6) and seventh in slugging percentage (.833).
Over her four years in a Linfield uniform, the Wildcats won 151 games, including winning a then-school-record 45 games in the championship season of 2007.
As a freshman in 2005, Amanda’s Wildcats reached the regional playoffs but were eliminated after two close losses. The following season in 2006, Linfield fought off six straight elimination games to claim the regional championship and advance to the NCAA Finals in Raleigh, North Carolina. Worn down by injuries and fatigue, the Wildcats went 2-2, eliminated after a one-run loss to Muskingum (Ohio). Amanda was one of two Wildcats to be named to the All-Tournament team.
In 2007, everything fell into place, though the Wildcats had to again stave off elimination multiple times to claim the national crown. Linfield’s hitting, pitching, defense and big-game experience all came together, building off the previous season’s shortfalls. Amanda was simply a force in the playoffs. At the Pineville, Louisiana Regional, she hit an eye-popping .529 with two doubles, three home runs, and a team-leading 10 RBIs. She followed that up with another impressive performance at the Division III Finals in Salem, Virginia, hitting .476 with a double, two homers, and five RBIs.
Amanda remembers how the ‘Catball’ program progressively ascended to the top of the Division III mountain.
“We learned from our upperclassmen like Lindsay Manitsas, Shelly Steinke, Lisa Smith and Jena Loop. We added key players along the way like Erica Hancock. And we taught the underclassmen like Kendra Strahm and Brittany Miller the core values of Catball, like family and hard work.
Our coaching staff were the best stewards of the game. Studying our opponents, strategizing from Day 1 of Jan Term practice, and preparing us to realize the best versions of ourselves.”
Good friend and 2018 Hall of Fame inductee Stephanie (Rice) Bragg says Amanda’s work ethic is what elevated her to becoming an elite athlete and teammate: “Countless hours spent out-of-season in the cage hitting, cross training, weight lifting, and maintaining focus on our team goals. As a team we had a unified mission and we were able to achieve this in great part because of Amanda’s dedication to the program. Her efforts are a foundational building block of Catball, which has become a legacy in NCAA Division III softball for over 20 years.”
As she graduated, Amanda held single-season records for home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, total bases, RBIs and walks.
Though each of those records have since been surpassed, Coach Vaughan says Amanda was “without question, in her era, the greatest power hitter Linfield had ever produced.”
Amanda attributes her personal and professional success to the values she learned while a member of the Catball program, most notably teamwork, respect and commitment.
As she puts it: “The day-to-day grind is where true success comes from. It comes through the work that no one else wants to do. Be different. Be committed. Put in the work.”
Since earning a Linfield bachelor’s degree in physical education in 2008, Amanda went on to complete a master’s degree in education in 2010. She taught school in Arizona for two years before deciding to follow her heart and pursue a career in neonatal nursing.
These days, she is a high-risk antepartum and postpartum nurse in Medford, where she lives with her husband, Christopher Strahm. The Strahms have been married for 13 years and are raising a 7-year-old son, Samuel, and a 4-year-old daughter, Magnolia.
