South’s Emily McCutcheon. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Goon Gallery
Even though she didn’t get a ton of pitches to hit this year, South High’s Emily McCutcheon still managed to hit a ton of home runs.
The senior belted 19 bombs in 32 games to break the school record for the third straight season as she earned Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year honors for a second time.
After mashing 15 taters as a sophomore and 16 as a junior, McCutcheon figured she wouldn’t see many pitches over the plate this year. She was right. But that doesn’t mean she was happy about it as her patience was pushed to the max.
“Honestly this season was a little more difficult,” she said. “I didn’t get a lot to hit which was hard because you want to get in there and hit something and help the team.”
Being overanxious caused a few over swings, but she crushed more than she chased. At one point she hit a home run in seven straight games and overall banged out a base hit in 31 of 32 games.
“I was always looking for a miss pitch,” she said. “It didn’t have to be a strike; just had to be something I knew I could hit hard.”
Despite opponents trying to pitch around her, McCutcheon still produced 19 homers, 56 RBIs and a .557 batting average on 47-of-82 hitting.
McCutcheon finished her South career with 50 homers, a magical number that has a nice ring to it. She hit a bomb every 6.0 at-bats in 93 career games, including a 5.3 clip this season.
Yessss youuuu, @emccutcheon32 🤘 https://t.co/XmcZ0WD7xS
— WWU Softball (@WWU_Softball) June 10, 2023
“She would own all of Alaska’s offensive records if she had four full years of high school (and didn’t lose her freshman year due to COVID),” said Dimond coach Josh Ogee.
Even being short a year, McCutcheon’s legacy stands tall as she knocked in 162 RBIs and batted .594 in 237 career at-bats.
“She hits for average, power and is a true leader on that team,” Ogee said.
McCutcheon re-wrote the record book at South and became the second Wolverines player to win multiple Gatorade Alaska POY awards.
“I mean, you know it always feels really good to leave my name in the record books and have my name on the big awards like Gatorade Player of the Year,” she said. “It really just means that my work is paying off, so it feels good to have the validation.”
McCutcheon will play her college ball at Western Washington University, a NCAA Division II school in the GNAC. She turned down opportunities to play for a NCAA Division I school in favor of signing with the Vikings in large part because of coach Sheryl Gilmore.
“She definitely won me over,” McCutcheon said. “She wasn’t pushy and knew this was a big decision for me, which also really helped. Western also got third in the conference, so they’re competitive.”
Jolin transfers to Lamar
Anchorage pitcher Sabrina Jolin has transferred from the University of Las Vegas Nevada to Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas in a move that will keep her at the NCAA Division I level.
Jolin was a three-time Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year from 2019 to 2021 for South, where she posted a 46-4 career record with 256 strikeouts.
At UNLV, she appeared in 16 career games in two seasons and posted a 1-2 record and 7.20 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.
Her best outing this season came in a 5-4 loss to Montana in relief when she struck out five batters over four innings and allowed just one earned run.
@jolin_sabrina you already know she’s built different 🤩❤️🤍 https://t.co/VIcsktFU2Z
— Kamryn Frisk 🏔🌄 (@kamrynfrisk) June 9, 2023
Jolin picked up her first winning decision in her final appearance for UNLV, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in a 10-9 victory over New Mexico. As a freshman, she combined with Alanna Thiede for a 2-hit shutout against CSU Bakersfield.
Lamar is coming off a 22-34 season and went 2-2 in the Southland Conference Tournament.
Matautia moves on to Portland State
After a star-studded season in junior college, Anchorage’s Alapese Matautia has been promoted to the NCAA Division I level.
The NWAC South Region MVP out of Southwestern Oregon Community College by way of Bartlett High is headed to Portland State University.
Making the jump to the Big Sky Conference is a mighty leap, but Matautia has a mighty swing. She’s a prolific power hitter who led the NWAC with 90 RBIs, ranked third with a .527 average and was tenth with 16 homers.
Anchorage’s Alapese Matautia has hit a home run every 6.7 at-bats this season. Photo by Tina Woodworth/SWOCC Athletics
Her RBI total was the most for a college player from Alaska since Fairbanks’ Kacey Duffield had 71 in 2016 for Indian Hills Community College and her 16 home runs are third most by an Alaskan, ranking only behind Duffield’s 19 and Lillian Bullock’s 17 she hit for North Carolina A&T State University in 2007.
Matautia led SWOCC to the NWAC Championship title and earned a spot on the all-tournament team as well being selected as a All-NWAC First Team shortstop.
Portland State finished 18-27 and for the second consecutive year fell one game shy of the Big Sky championship game, ending its season with a 5-0 loss to Northern Colorado in the semifinals.