TACOMA, Wash. — Over the next two weeks, GoLutes.com will highlight the six individuals and one team from the PLU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023 that will be inducted on March 18 as part of the 32nd induction class. Today's installment features softball standout Melissa Korb.
Half of one of the greatest pitcher-catcher duos in Pacific Lutheran University softball history – and arguably in NCAA Division III softball annals – Melissa Korb set Lutes pitching records that still stand 20 years after she threw her last pitch.
Korb was a three-time All-American for the Lutes, earning first team recognition during the 2002 season when she and batterymate Shannon (Fritzke) Cotton helped lead the Lutes to a perfect regular season record and a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Softball Championships.
Four times she was named to All-Northwest Conference and all-region teams, and she was selected as the 2002 NWC Player of the Year after compiling a 16-0 record, a 0.18 earned run average, six no-hitters, two perfect games, and an average of nearly 13 strikeouts per game during the regular season.
More than 20 seasons after completing her career, Korb still holds school career records for wins (69), strikeouts (696), strikeouts per seven innings (9.8) and shutouts (31), in addition to topping the season record for strikeouts (222) and strikeouts per seven innings (11.8), both set in 2002. In all, Korb finished her career with nine no-hitters and four perfect games while helping the team win four conference titles.
"Melissa was a dominating pitcher with an outstanding rise ball. She could completely dominate a game and was a fierce competitor but had the unique ability to stay levelheaded," says her coach, Rick Noren. "She was a pure strikeout pitcher that could make the ball move as well as anyone we have ever coached. Her laugh and pure joy in playing the game was contagious and her teammates could always perform at their best when she was on the mound."
While many would point to their success on the field as their top accomplishment – and Melissa had as much or more success as just about any player in the storied history of PLU softball – she has a different take.
"The balancing act of four years of being a student-athlete," she says in answer to the question. "Learning to manage my time and set goals effectively. That discipline and perseverance has served me well."
Since graduating in 2002 with a degree in communications, Melissa has gone on to a career as a marketing director. She and her husband, Brett, have a six-year-old daughter, Clara, and she lists her family as her most significant post-PLU accomplishment.
Melissa came to PLU out of North Kitsap High School because of the school's academic reputation, proximity to home and softball program.
Her favorite memory of Lutes softball could be summed up in the word team. "The experience of being part of a team, working toward a shared goal. Witnessing everyone coming together, utilizing their unique skills and abilities to create a cohesive and effective unit was remarkable," she says. "All of us being on the same rollercoaster of rallies and slumps, winning and losing streaks. The camaraderie and unity we shared was an unforgettable experience. Oh, and the centerfield couch crew."
As far as her favorite non-athletic memory, the answer might be the same. "Sharing a bond with people you couldn't get away from. We lived together, threw a ball together, ate together, whined together, got in trouble together. My friends who also happened to be my teammates, the experience of so closely sharing such a unique and fleeting period in our lives."
In addition to her teammates and the caring athletic training staff that kept "our arms, knees and shoulders going," Melissa points to assistant coach Phil Scott as having a significant impact on her life.
"His dedication, sacrifice and calm kindness was and is a gift I still think about regularly nearly 21 years since my last pitch."
The biggest life lesson she learned at PLU? "It's the hard that makes it great," she says, recalling a Lutes softball theme throughout her years in Parkland.
