WNCC softball team set for national tournament opener

                [May 16, 2012] ST. GEORGE, Utah -- The Western Nebraska Community College softball team has one objective when they open the NJCAA national softball tournament on Thursday and that is to win some games.

                Mariah Faifer, sophomore from Albuquerque, N.M., said, at their last practice back home on Monday before departing for the national tournament in St. George, Utah, the team came up with a goal of making a tradition at nationals. The tradition involves starting to win games.

                “At our last practice on Monday, coach [Maria Winn] had us metaphorically bury our fears and bear our individual goals,” she said. “We came up with a team goal of ‘Make a Tradition at Nationals,’ which means we want to go out there and win a game. We want to do something different than any other team has done before.”

                The Cougars will begin the trek to make a difference at the national tournament when they open play Thursday at 1 p.m. against No. 2 seed Salt Lake Community College, a team they faced in last year’s national tournament first round.  Tournament games can be heard on the Internet at www.njcaa.org.

                Salt Lake enters the tournament with a potent 55-7 record, while the Cougars enter with a 45-24 record. The Cougars, however, have been playing some of their best ball as of late. They enter with a 16-game winning streak.

                WNCC also wants to put behind them last year’s tournament opener against Salt Lake that saw the Bruins drop the Cougars 5-1 in a game that was postponed after a couple innings until the next day because of rain.

                Faifer said the sophomores remember last year’s contest with Salt Lake and they just want to compete. And, they can as each team is similar in style.

                “The sophomores have an ideal of what it is like to play against them,” she said. “But, we only know what coach has told us and she told us that this team is probably our best matchup. They play like we do. I think it will be a really good game, and I think if we come out on top and come out ready we will get the win.”

                One positive the Cougars have going for them is they have played in 21 one-run ball games, winning 12. Most of the team’s 1-run success has been during their 16-game winning streak where they have won five one games. WNCC’s biggest win during that stretch was a 2-1 against No. 20 ranked Iowa Western Community College and also a 10-inning affair against Trinidad State Junior College 1-0.

                Faifer sees playing in those close games a plus entering the tournament. She said she thrives in intense contests.

                “I personally like 1-0 games. I like the close game because there is so much more intensity and so much more on the line, then just beating a team and run-ruling them,” she said. “I think those close games are important because it makes you stay focused the entire time; you can’t let up or relax and just be content where you are because you have to keep fighting. Any hit, any mistake, or anything can be a game changer.”

                While WNCC has played in 21 one contests, the Bruins have encountered just seven of those contests with a record of 3-4. The Bruins enter the tournament with a 5-game win streak and have won 32 of their last 33 games. In those 32 wins, the team has scored double digits in 11 of the games.

                Faifer said defense will be the key in stopping the Bruins potent offense.

                “Defense is really important because we have to back up our pitchers who throw really well,” she said. “Consistently and we have to keep them from scoring. Offense is just as important because you can’t win without scoring.”

                The Cougars do have some offensive threats. WNCC enters the tournament with a .307 batting average, where they have smashed 56 home runs and 99 doubles. Freshmen Bianca Duran and Kasey Cash lead the offensive production hitting 15 and 12 home runs respectively. Duran, however, hasn’t had a jack since April 17 against Northeastern Junior College. Duran has had just two home runs since April 1.

                Cash, on the other hand, has had six home runs during the team’s 16-game winning streak, including a 3-game streak of hitting a home run.

                Salt Lake is very similar to the Cougars. The Bruins have hit 55 home runs and 108 doubles. Maddie Woodard leads the team with 14 dingers. No other Bruin has more than seven.

                Faifer said that the key for the Cougars offense is stringing hits together and not necessarily getting a solo home run.

                “To come out on top to win games, it doesn’t matter how many individual home runs you hit, you have to string hits together to bring runners in,” she said. “Coach said that if you hit a home run that brings in one run, but if you have people on base and string together four hits, that is four runs. So we just need to string it together, offensively we will be unstoppable.”

                WNCC hasn’t had a problem getting runners on as of late, it is getting them in. In the regional tournament, especially against Trinidad State, the Cougars had many opportunities to score in regulation but miss-fired with either a ground out or a fly out.

                Faifer said that if they want to make a difference this season, they need to put everything together and play at the top of their game.

                “Ii am going there with a revenge mentality,” Faifer said. “They got us last year and although they didn’t make us look silly, we didn’t give them a very good game. This year I think it will be a whole different story.”

First Round Pairings
10 a.m.

Game 1 - Chattonooga State CC (Tenn) vs. Aiken Technical College (SC)
Game 2 - Wallace State CC-Hanceville (Ala) vs. Seminole State College of Florida
Game 3 - State College of Florida - Manatee-Sarasota vs. Temple College (Tex)
Game 4 - Butler County CC (Kan) vs. Pima CC (Ariz)
1 p.m.

Game 5 - Blinn College (Tex) vs. Gordon College (Ga)
Game 6 - Crowder College (Mo) vs. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
Game 7 - Howard College (Tex) vs. Lake Land College (Ill)
Game 8 - Western Nebraska CC vs. Salt Lake CC (Utah)