WNCC softball ranked 19th in pre-season softball poll

                 The Western Nebraska Community College softball team has a little bit more incentive for the season after the NJCAA released the pre-season polls on Friday.

                The Cougars, who finished last season with a 51-15 record and won its second straight Region IX title, enter the season ranked No. 19 in the nation. The ranking is an honor for a WNCC program that has enjoyed plenty of success lately, but WNCC head coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said the team needs to play to that nationally recognized level on the field.

                “It is always nice to get nationally recognized, but we have to go out and play our best every day,” she said. “We want to be number one, so it looks to me like we have to go out and prove that we are better than 18 other teams.”

                Yavapai College, the defending national champs, open the season as the pre-season team to beat. The rest of the top five include Salt Lake Community College, Tallahassee Community College, Blinn College, and Indian River State College.

                The Cougars, who have been practicing for three weeks, will open the season Feb. 17-18 at the Midland College tournament. They will face two ranked teams in the first month of the season when they take on No. 6 Howard College in the Midland Classic followed by No. 13 Iowa Western Community College at the Cloud County Classic the first weekend in March.

                Winn-Ratliff said this year’s schedule is one of the toughest in school history, which should benefit the team in a run for a third straight national tournament appearance.

                “I think this seasons schedule is the toughest that we have played since I have been at WNCC,” she said. “It is hard when you get to the national tourney and your strength of schedule plays a part in the bracket. So, I decided if we are lucky enough to get back to Saint George [Utah], I want to make sure we have played the toughest schedule possible.”

                Winn-Ratliff said the team really hasn’t talked about the ranking since they are approaching the season one game at a time.

                “Honestly, I haven’t talked to them about it,” she said. “We stress within our program to work hard every day and control our attitude and effort.”

                She said while every team’s goal is a trip to the national tournament in St. George, Utah, it will take a complete team effort to realize those goals.

                “Our goal like every year is to be successful in the conference and give ourselves the opportunity to have a good seed in the tourney,” she said. “It is all about getting hot at the right time and playing well on one weekend. Like every year it is going to take solid pitching and defense as well as timely hitting.”

                The Cougars return five players from last year’s regional championship team in catcher Jocelyn Stubbs, outfielder Sarah Hawryluk, pitcher/outfielder Aria Agle, first baseman Bree Bitton, pitcher Amanda Jones, and utility player Mariah Faifer.

                The Cougars will be bolstered by a freshman class of 12 that will fill plenty of holes vacated from last year’s graduating class. Winn-Ratliff said the team has been taking advantage of the recent warm January weather.

                “The weather has helped out a lot and given us an opportunity to get outside more than usual. So we have been able to scrimmage and get more game-like practices,” she said. “The young ladies have been working hard day in and day out. Anytime that you can simulate game-like drills and so forth it obviously helps. We still work on fundamentals every day and in the gym more than we would like, but we want to take advantage of any opportunities that we can to get better by going outside.”

                The Cougars first home contest is slated for March 7 when they host North Platte Community College followed by a conference home doubleheader March 9 against Trinidad State Junior College.

NJCAA Pre-season Softball Poll

1, Yavapai College

2, Salt Lake Community College

3, Tallahassee Community College

4, Blinn College

5, Indian River State College

6, Howard College

7, Chipola Colege

8, Temple College

9, Pima Community College

10, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

11, Chattanooga State Community College

12, Navarro College

13, Iowa Western Community College

14, Wallace State C.C.-Hanceville

15, Florida State College at Jacksonville

16, Odessa College

17, College of Southern Idaho

18, Darton College

19, Western Nebraska C.C.

20, Lake Land College