PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles’ Lynzee Reid is used to being among the elite athletes in the state.
Reid, a diver for the Port Angeles girls swim team, just finished third in the state in diving in addition to helping relay teams earn points at the state meet. She also pitched four one-hit innings in the state championship softball game in May as the Riders finished second in the state, losing that game 2-1.
This year, Reid will be the feature pitcher for the Roughriders’ softball team, taking over for Heidi Leitz, who graduated and now pitches for Saint Martin’s University in Lacey.
And next year, she will be moving on to an elite college to continue her athletic career. On Monday, Reid held her signing ceremony to play softball for Lower Columbia College, the defending NWAC softball champion.
Reid is one of several Port Angeles girls who have gone on to play softball for Lower Columbia, including Lauren Lunt and Nizhoni Wheeler in recent years.
“The pipeline to Lower Columbia continues,” said Port Angeles principal Jeff Lunt.
Several coaches and family members spoke about Reid’s determination and work ethic, some of them choking up. Throughout it all, Reid managed to remain stoic. Reid doesn’t play a winter sport. Since diving is done, she is already working on her softball workouts every day, getting ready for the spring.
“It was really sweet,” Reid said. “I was glad to hear what they had to say about me. I appreciate all of them.
“I thank all my coaches for saying all these nice things,” she said.
Reid was not only a great pitcher for the Riders last year, she was also one of the team’s best hitters. She hit a dazzling .509 with four home runs, six doubles, 19 RBIs, 20 runs and 12 stolen bases, which led the team. She was 7-1 with two saves and 25 strikeouts in 37 innings as the No. 2 pitcher for the Riders.
“Lynzee is the kind of player that any coach strives to have,” said Morgan Worthington, her varsity softball coach. “She has that fierceness about her since her freshman year that has not gone away. I can’t wait to see what you do at Lower Columbia.”
“You’ve got the attitude and drive that you can do whatever you want,” said her JV coach Kera Mathes.
Her Lower Columbia assistant coach and softball recruiter Dave Andrew made the trip up to Port Angeles for the ceremony.
“I love being with kids like this. All the tears here today, I love that. I will have that when she has her sophomore game for us in 2028,” Andrew said.
Andrew said that recruiting is not a perfect science, but one thing that he always looks for is attitude.
“You don’t want any knuckleheads,” he said. “[Reid] checks every box.”
Reid said she picked Lower Columbia partly because of the long pipeline to Port Angeles, but also because of the success of the program and being just three hours away from Port Angeles. She has business first for the Riders this spring.
“I’m excited. This year will be really fun,” she said.
