WNCC falls to Wallace State 4-1 in first round of national tournament

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team will have to earn a national championship the hard way after dropping their opening round game to Wallace State Community College Thursday at the NJCAA national tournament in Plant City, Fla.

The Cougars, despite making a late-game run, fell to the Lady Lions 4-1. WNCC, 54-9, drops to the loser’s bracket and an elimination game against either San Jacinto College-South or Tallahassee Community College at 4 p.m. today in an elimination game in the double elimination tournament.

WNCC fought hard in the game, but couldn’t string together enough back-to-back hits. Wallace State, in the mean time, took advantage of a 4-run third inning to claim the victory. The Lady Lions scored their four runs in the third inning on four hits, one error and three walks to bolt to a 4-0 lead.

The Cougars, fought back in the sixth and seventh inning, getting to winning pitcher Jennifer Sexton. In the sixth, Mandy Pounds led off by drawing a walk. After Lauren Mills sacrificed Pounds, the speedy freshman scored on a Jessie McNabb double. Lauren Bourdon followed by stroking a single to centerfield, only to have McNabb tagged out at the plate to end the inning.

WNCC put together a run in the seventh. With one out, Kara Ryman singled followed by Alec Voci reaching base on a fielder’s choice to put runners at first and second. That was it as Sexton struck out the final two batters to end the game.

Sexton, a sophomore from Harvest, Ala., struck out 10 Cougar batters, while scattering five hits.

Kelsey Garner took the loss in the circle. The freshman scattered eight hits, while walking five and striking out four.

WNCC (54-9) 000 001 0 – 1 5 1
Wallace (65-8) 004 000 x – 4 8 0
WP – Sexton, LP – Garner; 2B – WNCC (McNabb), Wallace (Ashley Smith).

WNCC softball ready for national tournament action

It’s not hard to see the smiles on the Western Nebraska Community College softball players faces as they get ready for the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament in Plant City, Fla.
The players, however, are not just satisfied with being a participant at the tournament; they want to make a statement that they belong among the elite 16 teams in the nation.

WNCC will begin that trek for a national title today at 9 a.m. when they face 64-8 Wallace State Community College in the double elimination tournament that runs through Saturday. The game can be heard on KOZY 101.3 FM as well as the Internet.

“[I’m] nervous but excited,” sophomore Ashley Patton said. “I have never been to a big tournament like this but I am really looking forward to it. We just need to stay focused game to game, make sure our defense is good, get a good performance in the circle, and make sure our hitting is on.”

WNCC, who enters the tournament with an eye-popping 54-8 record, is fresh off winning its first Region IX tournament championship two weeks ago with a dominating performance. The Cougars, in getting the regional trophy, blanked 7-time defending champs Otero Junior College twice, 7-0 and 6-0.

Sophomore Jessie McNabb, who missed 12 games this year because of a broken jaw, was one of the catalysts behind the team’s success.

“We are real excited to be at the national tournament. It is like a lifetime experience that we never had before,” she said. “It is definitely an accomplishment because we have been working on it since last year and Coach [Maria] Winn has been working on it for a while. We finally got there.”

The Cougars went through a practice Wednesday to get adjusted to the Florida weather. Sophomore Whittany Foster said the team is pumped for their opening game.

“I think practice went pretty well, actually. It is pretty hot down here so we are adjusting to that,” she said. “We are excited to be here and we didn’t come down here to lose. We are just going to do what we do every day.”

The Cougars, though, aren’t overlooking any opponent but are gaining a positive attitude heading into the tourney opener today.

“The competition will probably be pretty good. This tournament is the 16 best teams in the nation, so we are excited to be a part of it,” Foster said. “We have enough confidence but we are not over confident. I think we will do well.”

The national tournament definitely won’t be easy. WNCC could play as little as six games to win a national title, if they stay unbeaten. If they drop their opening game, the team will need to win eight straight games to win a championship.

“I think we will do very well,” Patton said. “If we keep winning, we only have to play five games [for a championship]. If we lose, we can end up playing a bunch more. We just need to stay focused. But, if we have to play a lot of games, we will do what we have to.”

WNCC, win or lose, will have one more game today against either Tallahassee Community College or San Jacinto College-South. If they win, they will play at 6 p.m. and if they falter, they will play at 4 p.m. in an elimination game.

The players know they can’t overlook any opponent and the key for them to succeed is to take it one game at a time.

“It will take a lot of team work and we will all need to come out ready to play strong,” McNabb said. “I think we will all need to show up to play every game and not be worried who we are playing. Just play our game.”

The Cougars game is a stingy defense, a strong and deep pitching core, and an offense that has sparkled for 59 home runs, 22 triples and 134 doubles this season.

Freshman Kelsey Garner leads the pitching staff with a 1.13 earned run average and a 31-2 record. Garner has already struck out 254 batters in 198 innings of work. Garner also garnered Region IX’s Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors this season.

Garner will see the majority of the innings in the circle this weekend. However, sophomores Natasha Dypchey and Patton will be ready in a heartbeat when called upon. In fact, Dypchey and Patton have picked up clutch wins this season. Dypchey enters the tournament with a 12-3 record and a 2.31 ERA, while Patton has a 6-2 record and a 1.69 ERA. Patton said that all the pitchers have to be ready in case they are called upon at the national tournament.

“We have to be ready at all the time,” Patton said. “We need to stay focused, pay attention to the game of what is happening, and pay attention to the hitters. We need to understand what is going on at the point that you come in off the bench.”

As well as the pitching staff has sparkled this season, the offense has also come up clutch. The team has a .380 batting average, led by McNabb’s .509 average, including 53 RBIs and 60 runs scored.

The team is also paced by Kara Ryman, who leads the team with 69 runs batted in and 28 doubles. Ryman is also batting .446 on the season and is second on the team in home runs, tied with sophomore Lauren Bourdon.

Lauren Mills has also been dangerous as the team’s lead-off hitter. Mills leads the team with 13 home runs. She is also batting .462 with 67 runs scored and 54 RBIs. In fact, Mills’ has had a number of lead-off home runs, including a shot against Otero Junior College in the winner’s bracket final.

Bourdon and Amanda Torimaru are also two more hitters who have stepped up big this season. Bourdon is hitting .412 with eight home runs and 54 RBIs, while Torimaru is hitting .425 with 56 RBIs, five triples and five home runs.

But the one player that really has contributed the last few weeks of the season is sophomore Foster. Foster is batting .380 on the season, including batting .625 over the last two weeks of the season.

Foster said this team can do well; all they need is to play like they have in the 54 wins this season.

“We have to have good pitching for one thing. Then we will have to have good bats and good defense,” she said. “We usually feed off of each other pretty well. If the pitching is going well, we hit well and play defense well.”

WNCC Athletic Banquet Award Winners

Photos of the Athletic Award Night can be viewed by clicking following the following link -- http://wncccougars.albumpost.com/cougar-special

Western Nebraska Community College’s Soriana Pacheco continues raking in the honors after the WNCC Athletic banquet on Wednesday.

The setter from Venezuela earned the Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year honor after helping her team to the National Championship in November. Pacheco also garnered MVP honors off the volleyball team.

while Pacheco snared the Female honor, men’s soccer player Edwin Enriquez took home the top honors for the Male Athlete of the Year. Enriquez also earned another honor on the night; that of top Grade Point Average – Male.

The other big winners on the night included Gering High’s Stacie Meisner. Meisner received recognition for three honors. She earned the Cougar Award, which is given to an outstanding athlete that shows excellence off and on the court, as well as leadership. Meisner also earned the top Grade Point Average – Female. Meisner also picked up the volleyball team’s Cougar Pride Award. The Cougar Pride Award is given to a player that is the epitome of what a Cougar athlete should be with sportsmanship, and work ethic on and off the playing surface.

The softball team also garnered a huge award on the night, claiming their fourth straight team GPA honor.

The night also included each team presenting their MVP and Cougar Pride winner. MVP honors in the seven Cougar sports included Jessie McNabb, softball; Pacheco, volleyball; Tawny Drexler, women’s basketball; Steven Estrada, men’s soccer; Stacey Agnew, women’s soccer; and Rich Miller, baseball. Men’s basketball coach Brian Joyce didn’t give a MVP honor saying that all through the year, different players stepped up at times and picking just one player was to hard to do.

As for Cougar Pride winners, though, Joyce presented Chris Hamblin with that award. Other award winners included Lauren Mills, softball; Meisner, volleyball; Emma Beddome, women’s basketball; Zach Gillis, baseball; Aaron Oesterle, men’s soccer; and Amanda Arrant, women’s soccer.

athletic Director Jennifer Pedersen also presented Sports Racquet and TEAM Chevrolet the Patron of the Year awards. She also gave special recognition to women’s basketball coach Dave Harnish, who has won 20 games every season in his 20 years at the college.

WNCC softball team to face Wallace State in first round of national tournament

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team found out who their first round opponent will be at the NJCAA national tournament May 15-17 in Plant City, Fla.

And, the match-up with the No. 4 seed Wallace State Community College-Hanceville Lady Lions and the No. 13 seed Cougars will teams of similar proportions. The two will do battle at 9 a.m. (MST) Thursday at the Randy L. Larson Four-Plex in Plant City, located between Tampa and Orlando. The Cougars are making their first appearance at the national tournament after capturing the regional title with a 6-0 win over Otero Junior College, the 7-time Region IX champions.

“We had opportunities to see Wallace State play,” WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. “They were down in Texas when we were there, playing some of the teams that we played. I also have had an opportunity to work some events with their coach.”

The two squads, also boast similar records, Wallace State entering with a 64-8 record, while WNCC enters at 54-8. The two squads also boost sensational pitchers between the Lady Lions’ Holli Hill and WNCC’s Kelsey Garner, who each were named NJCAA Pitcher of the Week twice. The two flame throwers even shared the Player of the Week honors the same week.

“Obviously, Hill has done some nice things in the circle. She will do a nice job in the circle for them,” Winn-Ratliff said. “I talked to a couple of buddies of mine that have already played them and we just need to come out and put the ball into play and hope we can find a way to score runs.”

At the Odessa Tournament, Wallace State went 7-1 only falling to Central Arizona College 12-4. The Cougars, at that tournament, went 3-2 falling to Midland College and West Texas State College. WNCC lost 5-3 to Midland, while Wallace State won 6-5. The other two common opponents between the squads saw both beat Odessa College and Howard College. WNCC beat Odessa 7-5 and Howard 9-0. while Wallace State beat Odessa 7-3 and Howard 5-3.

“Regardless [of who we are playing], it really doesn’t matter where we are ranked [or seeded] or who we are playing,” Winn-Ratliff said. “The only team that matters is us. We have to come out and do the things that we have been doing all year no matter who our opponent is.”

The rest of the bracketing for the tournament has No. 1 Santa Fe Community College (56-3-1) against No. 16 Spartanburg Methodist College (34-11); No. 8 Midland College (41-17) against N. 9 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (36-11); No. 5 Tallahassee Community College (28-22) against No. 12 San Jacinto College-South (37-15); No. 3 Yavapai College (48-18) against No. 14 Iowa Western Community College (51-11); No. 6 College of Southern Idaho (45-20) against No. 11 McLennan Community College (39-17); No. 7 Wabash Valley College (46-3) against No. 10 Butler Community College (47-6) and No. 2 Chattanooga State Technical Community College (56-7) against South Georgia College (33-19).

Winn-Ratliff said it will be a tough tournament and the key is staying out of the loser’s bracket. The tournament in double elimination with the championship slated for Noon on Saturday
“We have our hands full. There are 16 teams that are in this tournament that are phenomenal and you don’t want anything more than that,” she said. “We are in the bracket with the No. 1 seed. A lot of people wouldn’t be happy with that, but we are happy to be here and we want our kids to know that no matter what ranking [seed] that we got, we just need to go out and continue doing what we have been doing all year, find ways to score runs, contain the other teams and play defense.”

Win or lose their opening game, the Cougars will face either Tallahassee or San Jacinto-South. If they lose, they will play Thursday at 4 p.m., and if they win they will play Thursday at 6 p.m.

Winn-Ratliff said it will take six games to win it all if you stay in the winner’s bracket. Otherwise, a team could be playing a lot of softball battling their way through the loser’s bracket.

“It will be tough. Obviously, any tournament you are in, you have to avoid the bottom bracket and fight as hard as you can in the top bracket,” she said. “It will make it a tough road for us if we can’t find a way to find a way to be victorious in game one, but we just need to go out and do the little things right.”

The Cougars are set to fly to Florida Tuesday morning for the 3-day national tournament.

Meisner inks with Alaska Anchorage, Jones signs on with Hawaii Pacific

The final three sophomores from the Western Nebraska Community College national championship volleyball team signed to continue their athletic careers at different institutions.

Shawntell Jones, a middle blocker from Lakewood, Colo., will be attending the University of Hawaii Pacific, while Gering graduate Stacey Meisner will be following former Cougar coach Chris Green to the University of Alaska Anchorage. Chelsea Lyles also signed, but instead of volleyball, she will be playing basketball at Division I Florida Gulf Coast.

Meisner and Jones are already joking around with each other when their two teams meet up in the NCAA Division II championship match.

“We already talked about that in that we will be playing against each other in the championship,” Meisner said. “I said ‘may the best team win,’ and then I look at her and said, ‘Don’t worry, it will be me.’”

WNCC assistant coach Amy Winters feels that both Meisner and Jones will bring success to their new programs.

“These two girls were huge leaders for our team as freshmen and sophomores,” she said. “I expect them to lead on the courts at the next level. They both work hard and they take on whatever role that is asked of them. Stacie, in high school, was an outside hitter and when she came here was a defensive specialist and did a great job in the back row for us. Shawntell dominates at the net, and both of them will do very well at the next level.”

Both players, who were a major force in the Cougars finishing second at nationals their freshman year and national championship this past year, are excited for the opportunity to be playing college volleyball at the next level.

“I just kind of lucked out with [going to Alaska Anchorage] because I hadn’t made a decision by the time [Coach Green] decided to go up there,” she said. “I was looking at a couple of other places, but after I went up to visit Anchorage, I loved it. Plus, the fact that Coach Green was going to be up there, it was really comforting to me that I was entering a program that I already know what the coach is like.”

It will be a different feel for Meisner when she heads up north to play volleyball. The Gering graduate has always had her family and friends cheering her on while playing athletics either for the Cougars or the Bulldogs.

“I guess for me what I am going to miss is having my entire family cheer for me every single game. It is always like I had my own cheering section, which was fun,” she said. “I have played in the Scottsbluff area my entire life and I will definitely miss the Scottsbluff community and all the support I got.”

Meisner is looking to take her leadership role up to Alaska Anchorage for the next two years.

“I am mostly looking at being a defensive specialist and maybe playing outside hitter,” she said. “Coach joked with me before he left that I might have to set because he hasn’t recruited a setter yet, but he got someone else to do that; thank goodness. I am also hoping to be a big leader on that team as well just I know they have been lacking in leadership over the past couple of years.”

Meisner definitely has plenty leadership capabilities inside her after winning several awards at the WNCC Awards banquet last month. Meisner garnered the Cougar Award, which is presented to an athlete that shows excellence on and off the court; the Board of Governor’s Award, which is given to an outstanding sophomore graduate showing leadership; the Journalism Excellence Award; as well as earning the female athlete highest GPA honor.

“I have never been there before until I went to visit a couple of months ago,” she said. “I really loved it up there and I heard really good things about Anchorage.”

Jones enjoyed her visit to the Islands of Hawaii over Christmas break and said that warm weather was a big selling point.

“I went there and visited and obviously I loved the place because it is Hawaii,” she said. “I got to know the coach and a few of the girls, and I love the atmosphere and that is where I see myself the next two years.”

Jones was recruited as a middle blocker, but realizes she has to work for a starting role. But, she is ready for the challenges; while at the same time will miss the tight-knit bond the Cougar team achieved.

“Obviously, I am going to miss the girls. We built a pretty good family over the past two years with the sophomores and this year’s freshmen,” she said. “I am going to miss the girls and the atmosphere and miss the WNCC family.”

Melo selected as the next Cougar volleyball coach, pending board approval

Giovana Melo spent two years as a setter for the Cougar volleyball team. Now, Melo has even bigger shoes to fill after being selected to succeed former coach Chris Green, who took a head coaching job at the University of Alaska-Anchorage.

All that is left before Melo can officially be named the head coach is approval from the Board of Governors at its May 21 board meeting. The announcement of the selection was made at the WNCC Athletic Banquet.

Melo was a setter for the Cougar team back in 2001 and 2002, earning second team NJCAA All-American honors her freshman year and first team All-American honors her sophomore year. She helped guide the Cougars to a 104-14 record in two seasons, including a third place finish at nationals in 2001.

After WNCC, Melo went on to play for Arizona State University, where she played two seasons, before tearing her ACL in her senior season for the Sun Devils and had to use a red-shirt season. She earned PAC-10 All-Academic honors in 2005.

But, it was Chris Green, who brought Melo over to the states from Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, and gave Melo a chance to flourish on the volleyball courts.

Once the Board of Governors officially approves the hiring, Melo will take over a Cougar program that went 54-2, and won the college’s first national championship. Green has guided the Cougars the past nine years, compiling a 453-35 overall record, including nine straight regional titles.

WNCC's Beddome, Lyles sign with Division One Florida Gulf Coast

Western Nebraska Community College’s Emma Beddome and Chelsea Lyles didn’t even now each other before they became members of the women’s basketball team two years ago. Now, after two seasons sharing the same court, the two teammates will be partners for another two years when they signed with Florida Gulf Coast, a NCAA Division I institution.

“I always think it is an honor and great accomplishment whenever we are able to send kids to the next level and these two kids is deserving,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “I think they have done very well this year and done the things necessary to get where they are suppose to be, and that is why they came to Western Nebraska.

“It is a joy for me and Coach Ped [Jennifer Pederson, assistant coach] to see them grow and develop, and have the opportunity to go down there and play at a Division One school. They just moved up from Division Two to Division One a year ago and did make it to the WNIT and won a game the first round and then lost by five to Florida. So, of all the schools they have been looking at, they have been the most successful.”

The Eagles, out of Ft. Myers, Fla., finished the season at 22-9 and winners of 17 of their last 19 games after moving to the Division I level. Both players said going to FGCU was a perfect fit.

“I liked the campus and I loved the weather, and I wanted to go someplace that wasn’t as cold as here,” Beddome said. “I knew there was a possibility that Chelsea was going there, and I knew that if we went there together, it would be a lot more fun. The program is really good and going Division I is something that I wanted to do.”

Beddome was also looking at University of Bridgeport, St. Francis in New York, Seattle University and Missouri Southern. Lyles, who was looking at attending Southern Illinois, San Jose, James Madison and New Mexico State, said that it will be an honor to play another two years with Beddome.

“It is nice to go with someone that you know and have that trust base with where you don’t have to come accustomed to again. She is always in your corner no matter what,” Lyles said. “When we went there, the weather was really nice and the campus was really beautiful. The team went to the WNIT tournament this year and did really well. I think I can be pretty successful there.”

Lyles said that coach is looking at her to become an impact player.

“He [head coach Karl Smesko] can’t guarantee any playing time, but he expects me to come in and be an impact player right away,” she said.

Lyles did, however, have an inkling to play volleyball, but had to settle with her first love. Lyles won a national championship with the Cougar volleyball team in the fall.

“There is always a thought in my mind to play volleyball, but I knew that basketball is my passion. It is what I love doing and I love being out there,” she said. “I might, however, play it for a fifth year just to get some money. Florida Gulf Coast has a really good volleyball program as well.”

For Beddome, she is going even further from home. Beddome, from Melbourne, Australia, said she has become accustomed to Scottsbluff after spending the last two years here. Beddome was also selected as the women’s basketball team’s Cougar Pride recipient at the Athletic Banquet Wednesday night.

“It was a big culture shock when I first got here,” she said. “Flying into here it looked like a big city with the lights. But once I got here, it was a big culture shock because of the size. I come from a town of about 3 ½ million and coming to a town of 14,000 is a big difference. I had to get used to it, but I am going to miss it. I really am.”

Harnish will also miss his two stars that helped lead them to the national tournament.

“It is always disappointing when you have sophomores that have contributed so much leave,” Harnish said. “What they did and what they accomplished this year in getting us to the national tournament in playing well at the right time, they had a lot of schools interested in them. They definitely will be missed. They will be tough to replace, but hopefully we will find someone like these two.”

Send-off celebration for Cougar Softball team Friday, March 9

There will be a send-off celebration to honor the Western Nebraska Community College softball team on Friday, March 9 at 9:50 a.m. in the "Pit" area of the college. The 10-minute celebration will give students, faculty and the community a change to wish the team good luck at nationals and congratulate them after claiming their first Region IX championship and ending Otero Junior College's 7-year reign as regional champions. The softball team will leave early next week for the NJCAA National Tournament in Plant City, Fla., which will be held March 15-17.

Where is Tanya Kluck now? Nice feature on former Cougar player from Windsor newspaper

Where is Tanya Kluck now?
Physical therapist raising trio in Kersey

From the Windsor Beacon

Three weeks ago Bret and Tonya Schissler erected a basketball goal in their driveway.

The main intent of adding the sports equipment outside their Kersey home is to hone the shooting skills of their three children - Ben 6, Cora 4, and Andrea 3.

However, since Tonya is a former high school and collegiate basketball standout, it took only a matter of minutes for her to chuck up a couple of jumpers to see if she still had it.

"My stroke has been long gone," said Tonya (Kluck) Schissler, a 1991 Windsor High School graduate. "The Greeley Rec Department recently had open gym for women's basketball and I couldn't shoot at all. I've lost my shot and I'd love to play again."

For the rest of the story, visit the Windsor Beacon website at --- http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080503/WINDSORBEACON02/805030320/1132

Softball team is Region IX Champs

The one goal the Western Nebraska Community College softball team had at the beginning of the year was to give the college a Region IX championship.

They certainly did that in thundering fashion this past weekend at the Region IX Tournament at Volunteer Field as the Cougar players definitely can say that now after blanking Otero Junior College 6-0 in the Region IX championship game to give the college and the community another Region IX title. WNCC, 54-8, will now compete at the national tournament in Plant City, Fla., March 15-17, after capturing the regional title.

“This is really exciting,” fourth-year head coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. “I woke up this morning and told the kids that this is a great day to be a champion. We worked our rears off all year to get here. Don’t be excited to just be here, go out and finish the job. We wanted to win it in three and we did. This is a great group and I couldn’t be any more proud of them.”

The regional championship is the first for the Cougar softball team after back-to-back runner-up finishes the last two years. This win definitely is sweet not only for the coach, but the players as well.

“This group is very special. To win 54 ball games is something that I don’t’ think we envisioned have being that good,” Winn-Ratliff said. “We have a saying ‘2008 national champions, get used to it.’ We have saying it all year and we hope that is the fourth piece of our puzzle. We just look forward going out every day doing what we have been doing all year long and hopefully to bring a national championship home.”

The championship game didn’t start out as a offensively slugfest, as the two Region IX powers hooked up in a defensive struggle. Winn-Ratliff was a little worried, at least for a couple innings.

“When we started, I got a little nervous,” she said. “Kelsey wasn’t getting the calls we got [Saturday night]. She seemed a little uncomfortable, but we found a way to contain them. For us, I knew eventually we were going to score, it was just when and how many. Once we put one across, I felt real comfortable. I thought which ever team scored first would come out with the victory.”

It was the defense early on that really sparked the Cougars. WNCC’s Kara Ryman turned a double play in the first inning to stop Otero from scoring first. Then, in the second inning, Region IX’s Freshman and Overall Player of the Year Kelsey Garner struck out two and got another out on a weak grounder back to the circle to stop another threat.

But, as well as the Cougar defense was playing, the Otero defense was also sparkling. In the third, after Whittany Foster singled and Mandy Pounds beat out a bunt, the Rattlers settled down and starting pitcher Jessie Lessard got the next three Cougar batters to fly out.

WNCC finally broke the scoreless game in the fourth inning with one run. Lauren Bourdon smacked a lead-off double and came around to score on a Kara Ryman groundout for a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars added to the lead in the fifth inning, plating four more runs on four hits. Foster led off by reaching on an error followed by Pounds beating out another bunt. Lauren Mills drilled a double to score one run followed by Jessie McNabb scoring two runs with other double. McNabb came around to score on a Ryman hit that the shortstop booted for the 5-0 lead.

WNCC added an insurance run in the sixth when pinch hitter Kayli Allen singled. Then, pinch runner Alec Voci scored on ground ball by Pounds to make the score 6-0.

In the seventh, the drama started to build for the Cougars as they neared their first regional championship since the team started 2001. Garner quickly put down the first two Rattler batters with her eighth and ninth strikeouts of the night. Garner then walked Kelsey Fuentes to slow down the anticipation of celebration a bit.

The Cougars finally got the third out as Amber Ray popped up a 2-2 pitch to Amanda Torimaru to seal the win.

"There was a lot of pressure [on that last out]. I knew that if I dropped it wouldn’t be the end. But I am glad I caught it because making the last out was very unbelievable,” Torimaru said. “[Winning regionals] was a goal for us for a really long time. This team in the end came together. I knew we could do it. It is the greatest feeling.”

Garner picked up her third win of the tournament, throwing a 2-hitter, while striking out nine. She also walked five in the game.

“I can’t explain how much this win means,” the freshman flamethrower from Regina, Saskatchewan, said. “Our defense was awesome today. They had my back the whole game, which is definitely all you can ask for.”

Offensively, the Cougars were just as sparkling, finishing the game with 10 hits. Four Cougars finished with multiple hits, including 2-for-3 performances from Mills, McNabb, Bourdon and Pounds.

Otero’s Lessard took the pitching loss, striking out three and walking none. Lessard and Noel Wees collected Otero’s only hits of the contest.

“This is a huge victory for us,” Ryman said. “The sophomores worked for this for two years and it finally happened. I hope the freshmen carry it on next year.”

Winn-Ratliff said the 10 sophomores were one of the big reasons for the Cougars’ success this year.

“It will be more hard to replace them as people then as players. They are phenomenal people and that is what made them such great players,” she said. “They came in here and I called them my average joes. They are a phenomenal group of young ladies and our freshmen group has big shoes to fill to come in and be leaders.

“We are trying to build a tradition here and we think we are starting to get there. We want to make winning a habit and when we can do it every day and do the little things right, that is our main goal. We want to have Cougar Pride. I couldn’t be more proud of the group. I hope we do well in Florida.”

Otero (43-14) 000 000 0 – 0 2 3
WNCC (54-8) 000 141 x – 4 10 1
WP – Garner, LP – Lessard; 2B – WNCC (Mills, McNabb, Bourdon).

WNCC softball moves closer to first regional title with 7-0 win over Otero

The Western Nebraska Community College softball team is one win away from securing a ticket to the NJCAA National Softball Tournament for the first time in school history after registering a dominating 7-0 win over Otero Junior College in the second day of the Region IX Softball Tournament at Volunteer Field in Scottsbluff on Saturday.

The Cougars received another stellar pitching performance from Kelsey Garner as the sophomore tossed a two-hitter and struck out 10 Rattlers in propelling the Cougars to the win. The victory sends the Cougars into the championship game today at 2 p.m.

Today’s tournament action will get underway at 10 a.m. with Dawson Community College taking on Lamar Community College in an elimination game. That winner will take on Otero at noon for the right to face WNCC in the championship.

Garner’s pitching performance on Saturday wasn’t the only thing that the Cougars benefited from as the WNCC offense exploded for 13 hits, including a pair of first-inning home runs by Lauren Mills and Lauren Bourdon that quickly pushed the team in front 3-0.

“This win is huge for the kids. We just preached to the kids this whole time to survive and advance to put us in a good situation going into day three where someone has to beat us twice,” said WNCC coach Maria Winn-Ratliff. “The kids fought hard. Kelsey was amazing in the circle. What a way to play in front of our fans. We had great community support and we couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Winn-Ratliff said Mills’ leadoff homer set the tone.

“She is not the typical leadoff batter. When she did that, I knew that put us in a good situation and gave us a little bit of momentum,” Winn-Ratliff said. “We carried it on from there and had a great first inning.”

After Mills’ 13^th dinger of the season, the Cougars continued to hit Otero starter Jessie Lessard. Jessie McNabb followed with a triple before Bourdon’s two-run homer put the Cougars in front 3-0.

WNCC added another run in the second inning as Mandy Pounds led off with a bunt single, followed by Mills reaching base on a bunt. With two outs, McNabb lofted a deep fly ball to leftfield that scored Pounds for a 4-0 lead.

The Cougar defense also shined, especially in the third inning when Mills laid out for a diving catch in centerfield to thwart a Rattler scoring opportunity.

“Lauren Mills came up with a huge diving play in centerfield and we made plays when we had to,” Winn-Ratliff said. “That is what we preach to them — play defense, get a good outing in the circle and push runs across. We found a way to do that. We hope we can carry that over to tomorrow.”

WNCC wasn’t through scoring as it added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In the fourth, McNabb connected on a run-scoring double to push the lead to 5-0. In the fifth, Amanda Torimaru singled and scored on a Whittany Foster single.

The Cougars’ final run came after McNabb doubled and scored two batters later on a Kara Ryman infield single for the final margin.

“This is one of the biggest wins of our season and now we have one more win to go,” said Mills. “Our defense did an excellent job. Kelsey pitched well in the circle and we backed her up. They only got two hits, one was a blooper and the other was a legit hit.”

WNCC had four players finish with multiple hits. McNabb went 3-for-3 with a triple, two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs. Mills finished the game going 2-for-4. Ryman went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI, while Foster finished the game 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI.

Games earlier in the day saw North Platte Community College defeat McCook Community College 8-3, Otero defeat Trinidad State 5-4 in 10 innings, Dawson top North Platte 7-5 and Lamar nip Trinidad State 4-3.

Otero 000 000 0 – 0 2 1

WNCC 310 111 x – 7 13 1

WP – Garner, LP – Lessard; 2B – WNCC (McNabb 2, Ryman, Foster), Otero (Lessard); HR – Mills, Bourdon).