BELTON — It takes a certain kind of player to excel in the leadoff spot.
The expectation is to be a spark at the top of the order, the sort of offensive contributor who can lay down a perfect bunt, or beat out an infield single in the game’s first at-bat. And most importantly, that leadoff hitter must be consistent, able to reach base early so as to give the power hitters two and three batters later a runner to drive in when a pitch is sent deep into the outfield. Find an effective hitting team, and you’ll more than likely find a top-notch leadoff hitter in the heart of that run-producing success.
For 34 straight games this spring, and plenty more a season ago, UMHB Softball has been benefited by exactly that caliber of player gracing the top of head coach Melissa Mojica’s lineup card. On a team that has tallied at least seven hits in 11 of its 14 games and is hitting .306, shortstop Lindsey Polleschultz is an unquestioned centerpiece at the plate.
“My job is to get on base,” the senior from Cypress, Texas said Thursday. “I’m not the big power hitter you see, like Bailey Frenzel and Bryton Wright. But I focus on doing my job and getting on base so everyone else in the lineup can do theirs.”
She has done that wonderfully this season, her last as a Crusader after three years as an everyday starter. With a crucial Saturday doubleheader at home against top-ranked ETBU on the docket, Polleschultz leads UMHB in batting average, hitting 30 points higher than anyone else on the roster (min. 2 plate app/game) at .398. She has a team-high 108 at-bats, and is also No. 1 amongst UMHB’s regular contributors in on-base percentage, with reaching base in 48.8% of her plate appearances.
And who can overlook what she does once reaching base? Polleschultz is 32-of-35 on stolen base attempts this season, having already broken her own single-season program record with four games still to play in the regular season, along with the UMHB career record of 61, which had previously stood since 2003.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Polleschultz noted. “It’s definitely fun getting on base and being able to take second base. Coach [Leah] Guest and I are usually debating on when Coach Mojica will give me the steal sign. But also, a lot of the catchers in our conference have great arms. So you can’t always steal on the first pitch. Because they’ll know it’s coming.”
Even so, they haven’t been all that successful at slowing her down. In four seasons in Belton, Polleschultz has swiped 83 bases—22 more than the program record, increasing her season total by at least eight in each of her first three years. The value in having such a potent baserunner who is also reaching base in nearly one of every two plate appearances goes deeper than any record or statistical highlight. Polleschultz’s capability to both get to first, then move into scoring position without a batted ball, sets up numerous RBI opportunities for the Crusaders that follow behind her—power hitters like Frenzel and slap hitters like Taylor Henken alike. Polleschultz’s 30 runs scored—also a team-high—are evidence that UMHB indeed takes advantage when she finds a way into scoring position.
“Working with [Bridgeland HS] coach [Candi] Weige and Coach Mojica, we’ve definitely practiced leaving [the base] on time because if you leave early and get called out, there’s no point in being safe at second. So that’s extremely important. It’s also reading the pitcher, and if you see a ball in the dirt, taking the next base. We have a great team this year with a lot of speed, which is really fun.”
The skill set now seen by Polleschultz at UMHB was developed in part during her stellar high school career at Bridgeland, as a starter for one of the top programs in the Greater Houston area. Typically the No. 9 hitter in that lineup, her contributions as a senior helped the Bears reach the 6A D2 Regional semifinals as part of a 29-11 season in 2021.
She was one of four Bridgeland players named to the District 16-6A First Team at the conclusion of that spring, all of whom went on to play in college: Brodie Quinlan to Sam Houston State, Jaelyn Simmons to St. Thomas (TX), Trinity Allen to McLennan CC, and Polleschultz to UMHB. And that doesn’t even include Haylie Stum, a sophomore on that team, and now contributing as a utility infielder for No. 1-ranked ETBU. In addition to her experience gained in travel ball, playing with and against that level of talent is something Polleschultz says pushed her to make strides and helped in the transition to the caliber of play found in college.
“It definitely helped me develop as a player, especially as a baserunner,” Polleschultz recalls. “Coach Weige is a great coach and has had a lot of success there at Bridgeland. We would practice baserunning everyday and leads [off the base] as well. That was a big thing in high school. We also got to play D1 players that have gone to be very successful now, that’s helped in the process of coming to college.”
It took little time for Polleschultz to see the field in her debut season with The Cru. Her first career start came in just the second game of the 2022 campaign in right field, and she would start 15 more before the season’s conclusion.
But it was the following year that delivered her breakout season, coinciding with UMHB’s historic run to an NCAA Regional Final in Belton. With the graduation of shortstop Milly Cesare after Polleschultz’s freshman year, she went from being a utility player who spent as much time in the outfield as she did at shortstop to The Cru’s full-time starter at short. Polleschultz played in all 49 games, started 48, and saw a dramatic rise in her hitting production. As a freshman, she hit just .200 in 45 at-bats, with zero multi-hit games. A season later, the average rose to .348, she had the third-most hits on the team (49) and recorded 12 games with two hits or more, including a 3-for-4 performance in an NCAA Tournament win over St. Thomas.
Now two seasons later, as one of two players on the current roster who started in UMHB’s final NCAA Tournament game of 2023—centerfielder Taylor Henken being the other—Polleschultz hopes to be a driving force behind getting The Cru back into an NCAA Regional.
“It was just exciting to be part of that. The team chemistry was so special that year. Hopefully we can bring that into the rest of this year and keep the same mentality, knowing every game as something really important, especially with ETBU and the conference tournament coming up. We have to keep taking it one game at a time.”
She is a leader on a team that features 11 seniors, one of the largest graduating classes in the program’s recent history. In addition to Polleschultz and Henken, pitchers Chloee Miller and Eileigh Whyte, catcher Tori Skinner, first baseman Bailey Frenzel, infielder Bryton Wright, and second baseman Madeline Stephenson are all in their final seasons with UMHB. Not only does that bring invaluable experience to the table in high-pressure moments, but it also heightens the idea of making the most of the opportunities presented in the here and now.
“I’ve been trying to live in the moment,” Polleschultz said. “Because the more I try to get ahead of myself, I look too far into the future. So it’s been living in the moment and acting as if every practice is the last practice. But it’s also seeing my teammates every day, and seeing that as an exciting thing, because I know one day I will miss it. It’s definitely been a fun year.”
As Polleschultz says, the softball aspect has been memorable, no doubt. But the cohesiveness of this senior class, and roster as a whole, has made this group connected beyond the diamond. Through things like team bible studies, the experience of navigating this season together has been about more than softball, something particularly meaningful for Polleschultz in her senior year.
“Softball is going to end at some point, but these people are going to be part of my life for however long I’m alive,” she added. “So I’ve taken that and thought, ‘It’s better to know people than to be the most amazing softball player.’ I’m not going to remember my softball stats as much as I’m going to remember the people that I played with.”
Of course, they hope to share plenty more moments on the field together before the conclusion of this final chapter, which would mean a return trip to the NCAA Regionals. That is a target UMHB has within its sights as the homestretch of the regular season unfolds, with The Cru ranked No. 43 in the latest NCAA Power Index rankings. But there is a significant amount of work to do before that goal is achieved.
“All 11 of us want to end the season well,” Polleschultz said. “We put all of our heart and drive into everything, and we want to lead this team and program on the right path. It’s been really fun having home games this season with the atmosphere, being able to be with our parents and all the fans in the crowd that support us.”
UMHB has been exceptional inside the friendly confines of Dee Dillon Field this spring, going 16-1 at home. That includes a perfect 6-0 mark against ASC opponents, with sweeps over LeTourneau and Howard Payne already on the resume. But as Polleschultz knows, the biggest test is still to come.
When UMHB made its trip to ETBU for a doubleheader in March, the Tigers swept both games. But a month later, The Cru is determined to flip the script, recognizing the tremendous opportunity at hand while staying poised against the nation’s unanimous No. 1 at home.
“We have so much talent on our team [to face any challenge],” Polleschultz said, when asked about the anticipated doubleheader. “This weekend could also possibly be our last home games. And it’s also Strikeout Cancer (to raise money for Cru Softball alum Emily Bounds, who is currently fighting Stage 4 Melanoma), so it’s that mindset of playing for something way bigger than ourselves. If we keep all of that in mind, and just play our game, it’ll be a great show.”
