The No. 19-ranked Western Nebraska Community College softball team will begin defending its Region IX title when it kick offs the season this weekend at the Midland Classic in Midland, Texas.
The Cougars, who have back-to-back Region IX titles and three of the last four championships, enter this season with lots of optimism since they boast a good nucleus, along with some talented freshmen to aim for that third-straight trip to the national tournament.
Maria Win-Ratliff, who is in her eighth season as WNCC’s head coach, said her team is eager to get the season started.
“It is tough where you practice for 35 days and you don't have an opportunity to play anybody,” she xaid. “They are excited to play to match themselves up with someone else. We will see some tough competition to give us an idea where we are at and what we still need to work on.”
Last season the Cougars finished with a 51-15 record and featured a team that hit for power with 77 combined home runs. The Cougars lost two of the hitters to graduation in Megan Bourdon (19 home runs) and Jacqui Cappuccilli (16 home runs), but return some heavy hitters in Jocelyn Stubbs, who hit 16 a year ago, along with Bree Bitton with seven dingers and Mariah Faifer with six.
Winn-Ratliff said she never knows what kind of offensive team they will have from year-to-year.
“Early on we will be more of a doubles-type team and the longer the season goes the better the home run hitters will,” she said. “Do we have a replacement for Megan Bourdon? I would never have told you we had a replacement for Katie Groves. I think you just have to see how the year goes. Do we have the potential to hit more home runs than we ever have? To the flipside of that, we tell the kids that it is not about hitting home runs out of the park, it is about making good contact and putting pressure on the defense.” The Cougars will also have some depth in the pitching circle with two sophomores and a freshman. Bianca Duran, a freshman from Westminster, Colo., will see plenty of time in the circle as the No. 1 hurler. But, sophomores Aria Agle, from Mapleton, Utah, and Amanda Jones, from Las Vegas, Nev., will provide plenty of depth. Jones saw plenty of innings a year ago, while Agle was mainly an outfielder last season.
“Bianca, Aria and Amanda will have to give us good opportunities in the circle and we will need timely hitting to go along with that,” Winn-Ratliff said. “We will juggle the line up a little bit this year as well and do some things differently than we did in the past. We are thinking about putting a slapper in the middle of our lineup, trying to rebuild the top of the lineup in the middle and get some speed in there.”
The Cougars also have good depth at the other positions. Winn-Ratliff said Danielle Hearn, a freshman from Las Vegas, Nev., has stepped up at shortstop, along with Faifer and freshmen Kasey Cash, of Wellington, Colo., and Kimmie Widick of Greeley, Colo. Those four could also play second base as well.
Third and first base have plenty of depth. The players making an impact at the corner positions include sophomores Stubbs, Bree Bitton, of Clinton, Utah, and freshmen Duran, Mariah Shepherd of Grantsville, Utah, Brandi Percival of Roosevelt, Utah, and Widick.
The rest of the team includes sophomores Sarah Hawryluk of Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada, Kayla Romey of Gering, Gabi Palacios of Colorado Springs, Colo., Shalese Connary of Neola, Utah, Melanie Rowson of Surray, British Columbia, and Haley Paxton of Greeley, Colo. These players will battle for outfield positions.
The Cougars will see this weekend which combination works the best as they get seven games in three days. At the Midland Classic, the Cougars will meet up with El Paso Community College, Midland College and Vernon College on Friday, before taking on Clarandon College and Western Texas College on Saturday. WNCC will then have a doubleheader against Frank Phillips on Sunday.
“We are just super excited to play,” Winn-Ratliff said. “We have been outside a lot early on and unfortunately, now, with the [snow and cold] weather the last couple of days, it is tough to go outside. The team is working extremely hard and every day we try to get better.”
The Cougars first home game won’t be until March 7, but Winn-Ratliff said all she wants for this team to do is play and give themselves their own identity and not worry about past teams.
“I heard a saying a long time ago that a real champion is determined when they can find a way to stay at the top,” she said. “For us, the dynamics of every team is different. One year we might have more speed or more power, and another year we might have more pitching depth. We try to talk about tradition of excellence. We set a standard for this program that we are going to do everything in our power to go out and play the best that we can. We firmly believe that the only team that can beat us at the end of the day is ourselves.”
2012 WNCC Softball Schedule
February
17-18 – @ Midland Classic, 19 -- @ Frank Phillips College, 25 – @ Lamar Community College, 26 -- @ Trinidad State Junior College.
March
3-4 – @ Cloud County Tournament, 7 – North Platte Community College, 14 -- @ Gateway Community College, 15 -- @ Arizona doubleheader, 16-17 -- @ Central Arizona tournament, 21 -- @ McCook Community College, 22 – Trinidad State Junior College, 24 – Otero Junior College, 25 – Lamar Community College, 29 -- @ North Platte Community College, 30-31 -- @ Butler Tournament.
April
4 -- @ Northeastern Junior College, 6-7 -- @ CCC-Columbus Tournament, 10 – McCook Community College, 14 -- @ Otero Junior College, 17 – Northeastern Junior College, 21 -- @ Dawson Community College, 22 -- @ Dawson Community College, 25 @ Iowa Western Community College (in Kearney, Neb.), 28 – Garden City Community College, 29 – Garden City Community College.
May
4-6 -- @ Region IX Tournament (in La Junta, Colo.), 17-19 -- @ NJCAA National Tournament (in St. George, Utah).
1 comment:
Go Cougs. Three-peat!
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