Described by her coach as one of the top all-around softball players in program history, Emily (Keagbine) Conner aptly demonstrated both her versatility and her resilience during four incredible seasons in a Linfield Wildcats uniform.
As evidence of her skill on the softball diamond, the 2024 Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame inductee held starting roles at three different positions, earning three NFCA All-America citations and two NCAA Championship Series All-Tournament Team awards over the course of her career.
Emily was a member of four Northwest Conference championship teams, two regional title teams, and was a key contributor in leading Linfield to the 2011 NCAA Division III national crown.
Appearing in 184 games, she accounted for 38 doubles, 41 home runs, 143 runs scored, 162 runs batted in, 215 hits and 380 total bases.
Thrust into the role as the starting catcher as a freshman in 2008, Wildcats coach Jackson Vaughan remembers Emily as having “arguably the best arm we’ve ever had in the infield. She was a tremendous all-around player – at catcher, third base and shortstop – and was fantastic at all three. She’s a top-15 player in almost every major offensive category and has a career fielding percentage of .936 playing the three toughest defensive positions in softball.”
As a junior in 2010, the Wildcats came close to losing Emily for the season after an errant ball hit her face, breaking some teeth as well as her jaw. She missed just two games, returning to the lineup with her jaw wired shut for the next four weeks.
Emily remembers that “after a couple weeks of consuming just V8 Juice and SlimFast shakes, Karleigh (Prestianni) took me to KFC. We found that if you mix enough gravy with their mashed potatoes, I could slurp them through my teeth. Karleigh and I spent a lot of time going to KFC after that.”
On the field, Linfield advanced as far as the national championship game, falling 5-4 to East Texas Baptist despite twice leading by two-run margins.
Emily and her classmates vowed they would return to win the championship. And indeed, the resulting season was one for the history books.
Piling up 595 hits, 484 runs and a Division III-record 103 home runs, the 2011 team was an offensive juggernaut. Emily was a major contributor, registering one of the finest seasons ever recorded in Linfield history with a .434 batting average, 14 doubles, 17 home runs and 60 RBIs. In 11 playoff games, she hit .344 with three doubles, a home run, six RBIs while facing some of the best pitchers in Division III.
Statistics aside, Emily proved to be emotionally strong, too, as she coped with the passing of her brother, Danny, to cancer in the early going of her senior season. The team rallied around Emily, going so far as to affix DJK stickers to the backs of the team batting helmets.
Softball, Emily says, played a big part in helping her process the loss of her sibling. “I’m thankful every day for my family, my teammates, and softball during my senior year.”
A multi-sport athlete at Beaverton’s Valley Catholic High School, Emily was recruited to play softball at Concordia-Portland, Seattle University, and Pacific. “I chose Linfield because of the program Jackson has put time into creating. I loved the Linfield campus since I first stepped foot on it. It’s really true that you know where you’re supposed to be once you’re there.”
Emily and her husband, Kyle, have been married since 2018 and are raising a 3-year-old daughter, McKenzie. Emily is in her eighth year of teaching high school mathematics at St. Pius X School.
Many of the lessons learned on the softball field at Linfield remain with Emily today, she says.
“First, the importance and ability to work as a team and putting the team above your own interests. Second, the work ethic Jackson instilled in us. He would always talk about our potential and how good we could be. We spent hours practicing, hitting, lifting, conditioning, and working together. The hard work is what gave us our success as a team and individually.”
