Eastview Graduate Spanton Thriving For Augustana Softball Team

Maybe it was the years spent battling some of Minnesota’s top pitching in the Lake Conference. Perhaps it was the rigorous off-season training she put in after joining the Augustana College softball team last fall.

Either way, former Eastview standout Lindsay Spanton is feeling right at home in the Vikings lineup this spring, and the freshman is becoming a vital part of Augustana’s squad.

“I’ve played for my whole life, and the transition coming in was just getting a feel for college ball,” Spanton said. “Now that I’ve got that, I can be consistent at the plate. It’s just icing on the cake.”

The Vikings are 24-4 heading into Friday’s doubleheader against Bemidji State, and Spanton is thriving. She is hitting .367 with four home runs, three doubles and 18 RBI this season and is coming off a week in which she hit .611 with three homers.

Spanton worked her way into the starting lineup as a designated hitter early in the season but now is also starting at first base for the Vikings.

She said the six-game fall season, practices throughout the winter, weight lifting and sports psychology sessions all helped prep her for a chance to contribute to an Augustana squad that finished 46-14 last season.

But Eastview coach Mike Haugh said her abilities were evident long before she stepped foot on Augie’s Sioux Falls, SD, campus. She had a natural “swagger” with the Lightning, Haugh said, which helped her earn two All-Lake Conference selection.

“I don’t think she could possibly come into college without confidence,” Haugh said. “She’s the kind of kid that if she’d go up to bat you’d be surprised if she didn’t get a hit.”

Considering last year’s Lake Conference produced an Eagan team with a 23-2 record and a Burnsville squad that won the Class AAA tournament, producing at the plate was no easy feat. Still, Haugh said Spanton was the bulk of the Lightning offense, and that is translating into success in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

“The practice we put in with Coach Haugh and our team has definitely helped me,” Spanton said. “They run their drills as hard as we sometimes do here at Augie. They have really developed me into the player that I am, and I think them a lot for that.”

Augustana is riding a seven-game winning streak heading into the weekend, and the Vikings hope this momentum will carry them to a national tournament bid this spring.

“Coming into this year I knew expectations where very high,” Spanton said. “The expectation this year is to hopefully make the national tournament. Our team is willing to put in the extra effort and go the extra mile to achieve our goals in the end.”