Local star piles up awards with
Lady Buffs in Texas
By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
 |
| Cadence Colborn sets to make a hit during game action. |
After graduating from Tommy Douglas Collegiate in June of 2024, Colborn ventured down to Canyon, Texas, to play for the West Texas University A&M Lady Buffs Softball Team in the NCAA Division II ranks. While Colborn grew up as a softball standout in Saskatoon, she would travel with her family to do work on the family farm outside of town. It was a place where Colborn always felt like she was home.
When she was with presented the chance to join the Lady
Buffs playing out of a small city of just over 16,000 people in the northern
part of Texas, Colborn couldn’t pass it up.
“I have a huge
agriculture background,” said Colborn. “My dad is a farmer.
“I’ve grown up
around the farm. I’m an animal science major, pre-vet major. It is just right
up my alley.
“Everything is
‘yee-haw’ and cowboy hats. I also rodeo, so that is really cool too. Everything
is rodeo down there.”
Colborn is back
in Saskatoon playing for the CT&V Selects U19A team. The 18-year-old
returned home after having a spectacular first season with the Lady Buffs. In
57 total games, Colborn, who plays first base, went 48-for-111 at the plate for
a .432 average, nine home runs and 51 RBI.
She was named a second team All-Lone Star Conference all-star, to the Lone Star Conference All-Freshman team and a National Fastpitch Coaches Association South-Central Region second team all-star.
Along with piling up the awards, Colborn helped the Lady Buffs put up a 56-8 overall record. The Lady Buffs fell 2-1 in the best-of-three NCAA South Super Regionals to the University of Texas at Tyler Patriots for the right to advance to NCAA Division II College World Series. The Patriots would move on to claim a second straight NCAA Division II national title.
 |
| Cadence Colborn goes yard at nationals on August 3, 2025. |
“It was awesome,” said Colborn, who stands 5-foot-7. “We talked a whole year about playing for a national championship, so we could kind of set ourselves up for that stage.
“In practice, we
play harder than we do in the games. Practice is always harder. It was just
unreal.
“I’ve never
played on a stage like that. The fans are crazy.”
Growing up in Saskatoon, Colborn seemed destined to play softball for the longer term. She regularly went to games her father, Shawn, played in and remembers chasing down foul balls to make a little extra cash from the scorekeeper. She credits Shawn and her mother, Andrea, for being the biggest influences in helping her in the game.
“I grew up around the ballpark,” said Colborn. “I’ve just kind of been playing my whole life.
“It has just kind
of been in the family. I was born with a ball in my hand. There are pictures of
me with my dad’s ball glove on.
“I started T-ball
when I was like five.”
When she started
playing softball, Colborn was drawn to crushing the ball with the bat.
“I think hitting
has always been my favourite,” said Colborn. “I love just swinging the bat and
feeling the ball fly off the bat.
“I just like the atmosphere. I think it is fun. If you strike out or have a tough day at the plate, you can come back on defence.”
Colborn excelled at the sport as she grew up. Before she headed off to play for the Lady Buffs, Colborn gave hometown fans thrills playing for the provincial champion Saskatoon Prairie Dog Selects at Softball Canada’s Under-19 Women’s Canadian Fast Pitch Championship Tournament that ran July 31 to August 4, 2024 at the diamonds on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds.
 |
| Cadence Colborn takes up a defensive position at first base. |
Ryan Ray coached Colborn last season and is coaching her again this season in the Selects program.
Having been part of high-level softball as either a player or a coach for
almost his whole life, Ray was immediately impressed with Colborn.
“She is a very, very hard worker,” said Ray. “When she puts something in her mind, she does it.
“She works and works until she gets it done. It is not always easy to coach a player that is that driven, because they expect a lot out of you too. I love the challenge that she gives all the time, and it has always been enjoyable coaching her.”
Ray believes Colborn’s potential to go far in the sport is huge.
“The sky is the limit,” said Ray. “She can play in the Olympics.
“I firmly believe
that she is a good enough hitter to do that, and her defence is getting better
and better all the time. The sky is the limit for her. Whatever she puts her
mind to, she will get.”
Originally, Colborn thought she would remain close to home when it came to playing post-secondary softball. That changed the deeper she got in her high school years.
“I started to really think about it when I was in Grade 11,” said Colborn, whose younger brother, Braeden, plays for the Saskatoon Giants Under-18 AAA Baseball Team. “I actually didn’t think I was going to go play college softball.
 |
| Cadence Colborn enjoys driving the ball deep. |
“Then, I was kind of like, ‘Yeah, I kind of want to go do this, and I think I could be good at it.’”
When she started
playing for the Lady Buffs, Colborn said she had to adjust to how good the
pitchers were, and her coaches worked with her regarding approaches at the
plate.
“The pitching was
unreal,” said Colborn. “I had never seen pitching like that.
“There were rise
balls where they hit their spots. On the other side, our coach found ways to
help us. We hit off the machine every day.
“The pitching was
just unreal. They threw like 66, 67 and all the way up to like 72 (miles per
hour). They mix their pitches, they mix paces, and they just really tried their
best to get you out.”
On a personal front, Colborn was hoping to pick up an all-star award as a rookie. She wasn’t expecting a trio of all-star honours to come her way.
“It was just
unreal,” said Colborn. “That was a goal going in was just to make a conference
team.
“I made a
conference team and a region team. I did not expect to be named a region player
in my first freshman year, but that was just surreal. I was just grateful to
even be nominated for the regional award.”
Now that she is back at home for the summer, Colborn is hoping to help the Selects have another big season. When the campaign with the Selects wraps up, she will play for Saskatchewan’s women’s softball team at the Canada Summer Games that runs August 8 to 25 in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
While the NCAA is more open for movement than it ever has been with rule changes regarding the transfer portal in recent years, Colborn is planning to remain with the Lady Buffs, because that is where she feels most at home.
 |
| Cadence Colborn, left, is pictured after winning a provincial title. |
“It is good for
my schooling as well. I will see what the future holds, but I definitely want
to win a national championship. I think we have a really good chance at that
next year, so I’ll be sticking around for the next couple of years until we win
one.”
