(Note: When this story was originally written, the Cougars were scheduled to play Frank Phillips. But that game was cancelled because of the bus breaking down).
When the Western Nebraska Community College softball team hits the diamonds this morning to face Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas, they will be facing a team similar to them.
Frank Phillips enters the contest with the same type of team as the Cougars, low in numbers. Still, when the two butt heads at 9 a.m. at Borger, Texas, it will be anyone’s game.
“Last year when we played Frank Phillips, they were a spunky bunch last year,” WNCC head coach Maria Winn said. “We had them beat last year and they just fought their way back into it. We are going to play them three times while we are down there.”
Last season, the Cougars fell to Frank Phillips 7-6 after leading 6-3 in the fourth inning. What Winn is looking mostly from these games this year a chance to get the jitters out before Friday and Saturday’s Odessa Tournament.
“The nice thing is we will get the jitters out and see what we are made of before we actually get into tournament against Midland, Odessa, Howard and Vernon, who are are powerhouses,” she said. “You don’t match up scholarship-wise with these schools; you just hope you match up with them with heart.
“We are just going to go down and do the best we can and we hope we come back victorious in every game we play, but as long as we can go down and get some game experience and learn from it, I think we will be better as a program.”
After this weekend’s seven games, the Cougars will venture into Region IX action with road trips to Southern Colorado on back-to-back weekends. By playing in a tournament with teams that have qualified for the national tournament in the past, she is hoping that this year’s team gains some valuable experience before heading into Region IX games starting next weekend.
“I think we will see some of the toughest competition right off the bat. We will see some good teams and some good pitching, which will prepare us for the region games,” Winn said. “This season could be really exciting. The kids are working hard. We saw lots of progression offensively. Pitchers have gotten much better over the winter break.”
The Cougars will field a roster of 12 players with just one returner from last year’s 27-25 team in Ashley Eichelberger. The team also has a transfer from Highline Community College in Washington in Jessica Ventoza, who will be counted on for leadership as well.
Winn says while the pitching staff is solid with three freshmen hurlers in Natasha Dypchey, Jessica Pexton and Amanda Patton, she realizes that they won’t overpower anyone. That is why she said that offensive production is a must.
“I think we can score two or three runs a game and win a lot of ball games,” she said. “We will have to give the pitchers some run production, but they [pitchers] have really been working hard.
“I really couldn’t say anything more positive about the 10 freshmen we have. At the beginning, there were some things they had to tweak from high school ball and they weren’t too excited about doing that. Now they understand the method to our madness. I have never been around a team that I enjoy being around, that I enjoy spending time with them on the bus and off the field because they are good kids and very respectful and they don’t want to disappoint me.”
Last season the Cougars finished runner-up at the regional tournament, something that no other Cougar softball has come close to doing. This year, Winn said there are steps or goals they want to achieve. The first on the list is winning the league title so they can host the Region IX tournament. After that, doing well at regionals is right there.
“I hope at the end of the year we are playing the regional tournament in Scottsbluff, but if we are not, I hope that at the end of the regional tournament we are the winners and going onto the national tournament,” she said. “I think this team competes hard and they play well with each other, and have great team chemistry and that will get you far in this sport.”
Anything is possible this year in Region IX, who now have seven teams with Dawson Community College moving from Division III to Division I. Because of that move by Dawson, the winner of the regional tournament automatically qualifies for nationals without having to play a district playoff.
Winn said this year, Region IX is up in the air. “There are a lot of good teams out there. Right now, from what I saw in the fall, Lamar is the toughest. They got back some really good returning players and they have a nice freshman class,” she said. “I think for us, we have 11 new kids in the program and one that understands our tradition. She understands my philosophy, work ethic and that I want to win. All these kids are passionate of what they want to do and they work hard every day and they just want to go out and win.”
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