Western Nebraska Community College's Stephanie Townsend couldn't have asked for a better 20th birthday present on Sunday than what she received. All the sophomore pitcher for the Cougar softball team wanted was a Region IX championship. Her teammates delivered that present to her in dramatic fashion with an 8-run seventh inning that helped WNCC capture its second championship in three years with an 11-2 win over Trinidad State Junior College Sunday at Volunteer Field in Scottsbluff.
Townsend was also the driving force in the Cougar's victory Sunday in Region IX tournament as she was the winning pitcher in the title game, scattering eight hits and striking out three, including the final out of the game, to send the players in a frenzy in mobbing Townsend and each other.
"All I asked for was to win a regional title. That is all I wanted," the right-handed pitcher from Roosevelt, Utah, said. "We are extremely happy right know. We worked so hard for this. We have been through some rough times and through some easy times. We just had to push through today [Sunday]."
It wasn't an easy road to the title for the Cougars against a hot-hitting Trinidad State squad that pasted the Cougars 13-2 in the first championship game, setting up a second if-necessary championship game.
"It was a little scary after the first game that we lost," Townsend said. "We just had to believe in each other because we knew we could do it as long as we came together like we have all year. We just had a rough game the first game."
Rough is an understatement as the Cougars gave up nine hits and committed six errors in letting the Trojans run all over them. The second game, was a totally different Cougar team as the team used some clutch hitting and a solid defense. WNCC pounded out 12 hits and used a key double play in the sixth inning to thwart would could have been the go-ahead run for Trojans.
Townsend, who found herself in a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning and up 3-2, got out of the pickle by snaring a line drive back to her and quickly threw to first base to finish the double play and end the inning. That play was a huge motivation in the team's win.
"That was a big motivation factor for us because she [the batter Amanda Snyder] had three balls already on her and I just threw it on the plate to make sure she could hit it because I didn't walk a run in to tie it. It was nice to have that out and shoot our confidence way up."
That inning-ending double play lifted the Cougars' intensity heading into the top of the seventh inning. Before that, though, the Cougars found themselves in a dogfight with the Trojans. Trinidad scored twice in the first inning as Snyder singled and scored on a Shelbi Long double. Long came around to score on a Leah Hanson single for a 2-0 lead.
WNCC didn't tie the game until the fifth inning when they manufactured two runs. Allie Alverson led off with a double that nearly cleared the fence for a home run. Brittany Chacon followed by reaching base on an error. After a sacrifice bunt, Megan Bourdon unleashed a towering shot that hit the top of the fence and came back in for a double, scoring Alverson and Chacon to tie the game at 2-2.
The Cougars went ahead in the fifth inning with a single run. Jacqui Cappucilli led off by getting plunked by a pitch. Pinch runner Amanda Saldivar then scored on an error in the outfield to put WNCC up 3-2.
Trinidad had a prime scoring opportunity in the sixth inning as Ariel Navarro walked and Katie Kerr and Krysten Lopez had singles to load the bases with just one out. That was when Townsend helped turn the inning-ending double play.
After that, the Cougars' opened up its offense by scoring eight times on five hits in the seventh inning. It all started as as Region IX Player of the Year Jordan Schoepflin lined a shot down the thirdbase line. Cappucilli followed in dramatic fashion, taking the first pitch from Trinidad pitcher Jessica Apodaca and planting it 225 feet over the left-centerfield fence for a 2-run home run.
The Cougars continued excelling offensively as Adena Hagen delivered a 2-run scoring single to right field. Katie Groves and Shoepflin followed with doubles that plated the final three runs of the inning.
Cappuccilli, who said she was due to break out of her hitting slump, said her home run was just part of a team that woke up offensively.
"That home run was phenomenal," the freshman shortstop from Las Vegas, Nev., said. "I hadn't been hitting very well so I went up there thinking I might as well go and swing for it. I did it, but without everybody else doing what they did, it wouldn't have meant nothing."
Cappuccilli is right, there were a number of players that stood out in the win, whether it was offensively or defensively. The Cougar defense left six Trojans stranded in scoring position as they stopped potential threats in the second, third, fourth and sixth inning.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Cougars pounded out 12 hits, including five extra base hits. Groves led the way with a 4-for-5 game, including a double, a run scored, and two RBIs. Also collecting two hits in the contest was Bourdon, Schoepflin, and Alverson. Bourdon went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs, while Schoepflin went 2-for-4 with a double, run scored and a RBI. Alverson went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored.
Schoepflin, who was lost for words in describing her player of the year honor, said it feels good to be Region IX champs.
"This win feels awesome. We went out and gave it our all so we couldn't feel better," the freshman from Arvada, Colo., said. "We wanted to come out and show them that we weren't going to back and we wanted this win. We deserved to win this. We have practiced real hard and we really wanted it."
Trinidad State also wanted the win as well and they fought back through elimination to get a chance to play for the regional title. The Trojans started the day with a 4-0 win over Otero Junior College as Jordyn Randolph baffled the Otero hitters in allowing just three hits while striking out 10. Trinidad also pounded out eight hits in the win.
The Trojans kept that hitting alive against WNCC in the first championship game as they had nine hits, including a six-run second inning on four hits. Long nearly hit for the cycle as she was a home run short from accomplishing that feat.
WNCC, 43-19, will next take part in the NJCAA national tournament scheduled for May 20-22 in St. George, Utah. The players are ready for the trip as one of the top 16 teams in the nation.
"It is going to be exciting because I am from Utah," Townsend said. "There will be a lot of people there supporting all the Utah people on the team and others."
Cappuccilli said that this team is beyond excited.
"Winning regionals is huge. It is amazing and it is tradition in the making," she said. "The first game against Trinidad we didn't play Cougar ball at all and the second game we played Cougar ball. This was definitely a good birthday present for her [Stephanie]."
Trinidad 100 210 0 -- 4 8 1
Otero 000 000 0 -- 0 3 2
WP -- Jordyn Randolph, LP -- Shannon Traxinger. 2B -- Otero (Yolanda Montano), 3B -- Trinidad (Amanda Snyder).
Game Two
Trinidaid 060 205 -- 13 9 1
WNCC 000 200 -- 2 6 6
WP -- Randolph, LP -- Taylor Anderson; 2B -- WNCC (Allie Alverson), Trinidad (Shelbi Long, Cecely Rodriquez, Ariel Navarro); 3B -- Trinidad (Long); HR -- Trinidad (Leah Hanson).
Game Three
WNCC (43-19) 000 210 8 -- 11 12 1
Trinidad (33-23) 200 000 0 -- 2 8 4
WP -- Stephanie Townsend, LP -- Sara Permenter; 2B -- WNCC (Alverson 2, Megan Bourdon, Katie Groves, Jordan Schoepflin), Trinidad (Long); HR -- WNCC (Jacqui Cappuccilli).
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