One of the hardest things to do in sports is succeeding after a Cinderella season. Western’s softball team can attest to that. The first in school and conference history to reach the NCAA Division II World Series, the 2025 season’s opening weekend was less glass slipper, more pumpkin.
“This definitely wasn’t expected,” coach Sheryl Gilmore said. “I know that we’re a better team than how we played.”
It’s way too early to fret about a bad start but this much is true: Playing with a target on your back is way different than playing with one in front of you. Western is more accustomed to being the underdog. No team from the GNAC, the conference known for slow starts due to, well, winter, had ever done what they did last season: Win big against all those year-round outdoor-playing California teams to come within one series of winning it all.
The Vikings, ranked a preseason No. 2 in the nation, went 1-4 in their first competition, the CUI Kickoff Classic in Irvine, California. They lost two games by a combined score of 15-1 and lost two by one run each. Their lone win was a 7-2 victory over No. 15 Cal State Dominguez Hills. Opposing teams scored 12 runs in the first inning, putting the Vikings in early holes.
That’s a change from last season’s magic that took hold with a 13-0 run to start the season en route to a school record 52-12 season. Western’s preseason ranking is no fluke. They return 17 of 22 players, including two All-Americans, all three starting pitchers and record-setting hitters Emma Andrewjeski-Ramirez and Maleah Andrews, the lone Viking to earn all-tournament status last weekend. Expectations are off the charts.
Now the Vikings are expected to win games. When they lose, opposing teams dance like they’ve won a championship.
“We tell them to embrace it,” said Gilmore. “When they’re sprinting on the field like they won a championship after they beat us, that’s a compliment, and so just let it fuel us to go get better. It’s nice to be respected in that way, but you have to eat your humble pie, and you have to go back to work, and you have to focus on the process.”
The trick, she said, is to remind her players to trust themselves and that process. (So much so that in a 19-minute interview this week by phone, Gilmore used the word “process” seven times.)
The Vikings are getting the message. “When they got punched in the mouth, they didn’t panic or run or make excuses or blame anybody or get defensive,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore saw her team turning toward one another rather than against.
“It’s only human nature to get caught up in what people think and the outside noise, and especially in this day and age of social media,” Gilmore said. “Something that I was really impressed with is that they could feel it, but they didn’t go down that road. They didn’t all of a sudden start paying attention to what people were saying, or, (our) record, stats, rankings, all that stuff.
“I think they have learned, especially through this weekend, that that stuff doesn’t help you win games. It can help you lose them, but it can’t help you win them. I’ve just been really, really proud of the way that this team has been able to tune that stuff out and really just focus on the process and not make excuses.”
She and her staff expected some tight play. In fall preseason against teams like Seattle University and Washington, they saw previously freewheeling players were pressing — at times going for big swings when a single would do; throwing pitches too ambitious for the moment; overthrowing cutoffs.
“I think our pitchers probably felt more pressure than anybody else,” Gilmore said. As a whole, “we got kind of outside of ourselves a little bit. We had conversations about it.”
So this week, Western got back to work, the snow driving them indoors for the first time this season, where they’ll work on hitting and pitching in the campus gym and at Ferndale’s Inside Pitch. They’ll travel for a tournament in Hawaii, then Richland before their home opener Saturday, March 1.
The season is laid out before them, theirs for the taking, if they trust the process.
Men’s basketball team still streaking
Led by senior Will Wilson and sophomore Tijuan Saine, make that six straight wins for Western (6-5 GNAC, 14-7 overall), named the GNAC team of the week. The Vikings pulled off the difficult Alaska road double, traveling for wins against Alaska Anchorage, 76-73, Jan. 30, and Alaska Fairbanks, 89-84, Feb. 1. Going into Thursday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 8 games hosting Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific, the Vikings are tied for fifth in the standings with seven conference games left. Top six teams qualify for the GNAC tournament.
Women’s basketball team moving up
Decisive home wins over Saint Martin’s, 79-56, Jan. 30 and Western Oregon 82-61, Feb. 1 have the team (8-3 GNAC, 13-7 overall) put Western in third place in the conference, tied with Central Washington. The Vikings hit the road for key contests against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene Feb. 6 and 8, respectively.
Notable
Another week, another record — or four. Bec Bennett, the first-year Viking from Australia, again lowered the school 400-meter record and helped the women’s distance medley relay team, including Sophie Wright, Emmy Kroontje and Ila “Gabi” Davis, lower the school mark again Jan. 31 at the UW Invitational. The next day, Bennett helped the 4X400 relay that included Hannah Polkinghorn, Caitlyn Cheney and Kennedy Cook set a new school record. Both relay times put Western among the nation’s top 10. The men’s 4X400m team of Evin Ford, Brian Lee, Maurice Woodring and Isaac Ford also set a Western record, posting a time of 3 minutes, 13.10 seconds to obliterate the old mark of 3:16.37 … Lauren Lee’s seventh-place finish, her fourth top 10, in a field of 86 helped Western’s golf team place eight of 16 teams in the LA Spring Kickoff Tuesday, Feb. 4.
BEST BETS (through Feb. 16)
7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 – Men’s basketball vs. Montana State Billings, Bellingham. Vikings return home to play MSUB. Both teams are tied for fifth place in the conference standings and vying to be one of six teams to qualify for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament.
7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8 – Men’s basketball vs. Seattle Pacific, Bellingham. Two hot teams collide. Going into Feb. 6, Western has won six straight and SPU four. SPU is tied for third in the conference, just ahead of Western. With seven games left, a win here would help with Western’s mission to make the GNAC tournament field. Fans of all ages are invited to a pregame party hosted by The Foundation for WWU & Alumni featuring food, drinks, fun and more. See wwuvikings.com/HoopsParty for registration.
Tickets. See wwuvikings.com/Tickets or in person one hour prior to game time.
Parking. Free for sports. For basketball, lot 19G for general audience; 9G for season ticket holders. See the map at wwu.edu/parking.
Can’t make it? Stream it
All home games and most road contests are streamed via a live and free YouTube webcast. Find links online at cascadiadaily.com.
If you have a smart TV, search for “WWU Athletics” on YouTube.
We want to hear from you
Got a WWU sports-related news tip or interesting item for this notebook, or a good story idea? We’re all ears. Send to newstips@cascadiadaily.com, subject line: WWU sports notebook
Meri-Jo Borzilleri is a freelance journalist and former 20-year sports reporter.
