LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- The Linfield University softball team notched yet another award to an already storied 2025 season, earning the National Fastpitch Coaches Association's (NFCA) No. 23-ranking for team grade point average. Twenty three Wildcats earned Easton/NFCA Scholar-Athlete All-America honors for their success on the diamond and inside the classroom.
 
The NFCA recognizes collegiate softball student-athletes who maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher for a season. 9,199 collegiate softball student-athletes earned such honors for the 2024-25 academic year. 
 
The squad combined for a 3.716 cumulative GPA last spring, tying with Virginia Wesleyan University for No.23 in the NFCA team academic rankings. Worcester Polytechnic Institute led all Division III institutions nationally with a GPA of 3.83. 
 
The following Wildcat student-athletes were named Scholar-Athlete All-America:
 
Lexiss Antle* (P/UT, Gaston, Ore.)
Ashlyn Aven (P/3B, Yelm, Wash.)
Lauren Beach (OF/3B, Lake Oswego, Ore.)
Kyla Cross (OF, Bonney Lake, Wash.)
Annika Dayberry* (OF, Redmond, Wash.)
Ally Downing (OF, Gresham, Ore.)
Hadley Dunham* (OF, Walla Walla, Wash.)
Emily Foytack (C, Longview, Wash.)
Cydney Hess* (SS, West Linn, Ore.)
Jacey Leyvas (3B, Redlands, Calif.)
Sierra McKenna (C/1B, Beaverton, Ore.)
Tyler McNeley* (P, Lakeview, Ore.)
Brynn Nelson* (2B, Bonney Lake, Wash.)
Sophie Pappas (2B/SS, Portland, Ore.)
Sydney Ries* (OF, Moses Lake, Wash.)
Kaili Saathoff* (1B, Philomath, Ore.)
Meara Sain* (OF/2B, Eugene, Ore.)
Claire Seats* (OF, Seattle, Wash.)
Ashley Sutton* (C, Monroe, Ore.)
Sophia vanderSommen* (OF, Tigard, Ore.)
Tyler Warden* (P, Monroe, Ore.)
Tiani Wayton* (OF, Kailua, Hawaii)
Kaia Young (C/OF, Portland, Ore.)
 
*Athlete was recognized in 2024 NFCA Scholar-Athlete All-America release
 
Wildcats Softball finished the 2025 season with a 45-7 record, including a 25-3 record in Northwest Conference play. Linfield claimed a fourth straight NWC title, McMinnville Regional, and McMinnville Super Regional title, propelling them to a third-place finish in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship in Bloomington, Illinois.
 
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