LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team made some history Sunday by capturing back-to-back Region IX championships and they did it with another sparkling pitching performance from Region IX player of the year Ashton Hughes.
The sophomore hurler struck out 11 and tossed a 4-hitter in leading the Cougars to their third shutout of the tournament after topping Trinidad State Junior College 4-0 to earn a berth in the NJCAA national tournament in St. George, Utah, May 19-21.
Hughes, who was named the Region IX player of the year, struck out 26 for the tournament and allowed just 12 hits in three games. She lowered her ERA from just above 2.00 to 1.13 on the season after the weekend tournament.
The 20th-ranked Cougars also dominated the other Region IX awards that were announced after the tourney with Jocelyn Stubbs being named the Freshman of the Year, Maria Winn-Ratliff collecting the Coach of the Year honor, and the Cougar team capturing the Sportsmanship award.
Winn-Ratliff said she was proud of the way her team played in the tournament in not only collecting the schools third regional title in four years, but also becoming only the second team in school history to win over 50 games.
“We made some defensive mistakes, but we never allowed it to affect us,” she said. “I told them a quote that said errors are like scars; they remind us where we have been but they won’t dictate where we are going to go. I am just super proud of this team. They work extremely hard every day. It has been a unique year for us. They tell me they are going to be the first team to win a ball game in St. George, so I sure hope they can prove themselves."
What stood out about the Cougars' three wins at the regional tournament was that they didn't allow one opponent to cross home plate. Offensively, they got the runs when they needed. They scored just eight runs in the three games including collecting 21 hits.
"I thought Ashton was phenomenal in the circle. Runners got in scoring position and she found ways to get out of the inning," Winn-Ratliff said. "It did take us a little while to get going. I thought in the three games that we played the other teams did a good job of containing us, but hitting is contagious and it has been this way all year for us. I knew if we could get someone on, get some momentum, we would be OK."
The championship contest was another pitcher's duel early on between Hughes and Trinidad's Lauren Usry. Usry, in fact, was dominating the Cougar hitters, striking out 11 of the first 12 hitters. Hughes was also on fire, facing just 26 batters in the seven innings of work. Hughes also allowed just two Trojan runners to touch second base, which is a credit to her defense.
After a scoreless three innings, WNCC finally cranked up the offense in the fourth inning, scoring four times on three hits. Megan Bourdon started things with a 1-out double. Sarah Hawryluk and Jacqui Cappuccilli then each free passes to load the bases. Jordan Schoepflin followed with a run-scoring single to left field followed by a 2-run scoring double by Stubbs for a 3-0 lead.
The Cougars added a single run in the fifth as Allie Alverson singled and scored on a Bourdon base hit for the 4-0 lead.
A big momentum changer in the game came in the sixth inning as Cappuccilli snared a line drive and doubled up a Trinidad runner to stop a potential rally. After the double play, Trinidad's Jacqueline Booz ripped a double. After that, the next batter hit a deep fly ball to centerfield that Sarah Hawryluk hauled in to end the threat.
Stubbs, who was also a first-team all-Region IX selection at catcher, said, their defense played well.
"We played really well especially," the freshman from Roosevelt, Utah, said. "Defensively we did very well, but offensively we could have done better. Not allowing a run is what we wanted and a lot of the credit goes to our pitching staff. Ashton worked really hard in the circle."
Hughes said this team can be excited to capture back-to-back regional titles in the defensive manner that they did.
"We are definitely a proud group right know," she said. "This is what we wanted and what we were shooting for. This was our goal. Winning regionals is definitely is a good feeling and I didn’t expect anything else of our team."
WNCC had an opportunity to score a lot more runs in the contest, but left six runners stranded in scoring position. Winn-Ratliff said this team has opened up offensively late all season; it is something they like to do.
"Their philosophy is they want to make sure everyone gets their monies worth," the Region IX coach of the year said. "They think they get more at bats and get more opportunities. But, I just am proud of them. They played hard all weekend. They have never played in this type of heat [mid 90s on Sunday] because we didn’t take our Spring break trip. Hopefully, this is good preparation for us going down to the desert."
The Cougars finished the contest with 10 hits. Bourdon led the way with a 3-for-3 game with two doubles, a run scored, a RBI and a walk. Hawryluk also finished with two hits, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Stubbs had the only other extra base hit for WNCC with her double in the fourth inning.
Hughes said they will need to play just as tough, if not better, when they go to national tournament in two weeks.
"We definitely have to go out and hit the ball play like we did this weekend and play good defense," she said. "We were slow to start on offense [in the tournament] but hitting is contagious so once one of got a hit, others followed. Our defense was also solid in the tournament."
As for the individual honors Hughes, Stubbs and the coach were surprised that they received all the regional honors.
"I was a little bit surprised," Stubbs said of the honor. "That is what I was striving for and proud I got it. But, I was a little surprised, though, because there are a lot of good freshmen in the region."
Hughes was also taken back about being selected as the player of the year, an award that WNCC has won the last three years.
" I was surprised," The pitcher who needs 24 strikeouts to set a new season pitching strike out record, said. "I just go out there every day and try to do my best on the mound. I guess it worked."
Winn-Ratliff said she can't believe they won that many awards.
"We are tickled about the player and freshman year of the year award and I never thought we would get the sportsmanship award," Winn-Ratliff said. "Winnng any awards is a blessing and it is an attribute to those young ladies working hard every single day, doing the things that we ask them to do, and never giving up and believing in us. I would say we do things a little different than other programs and they bought into it and it has worked out for us. We are extremely happy."
Championship Game
Trinidad 000 000 0 -- 0 4 0
WNCC (51-13) 000 031 x -- 4 10 1
WP -- Ashton Hughes; 2B -- Jocelyn Stubbs, Megan Bourdon 2.
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