The Western Nebraska Community College softball team put together a stellar defense en route to winning the North Platte Fall Classic tournament Sunday. The Cougars, in getting the tournament title, defeated Lamar Community College 6-3, the University of Nebraska-Kearney 2-0 and then Chadron State College in the championship 4-2.
“We played really well,” Cougar coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said. “We had timely hitting and played good defense. The pitchers really stepped up their game.”
WNCC, who went 2-1 in pool play on Saturday, opened the upper bracket play with a 6-3 win over Lamar. The Cougars trailed 3-2 after one inning after giving up a 3-run home run. But, they didn’t fold tying the game with a single run in the second and then adding two runs in the fourth and one run in the fifth for the win.
Sophomore Natasha Dypchey earned the win in the circle, scattering five hits. The right-handed thrower from Surrey, British Columbia, also struck out four and walked three.
Amanda Torimaru paced the Cougars with a huge game from the plate. The sophomore from Ft. Collins, Colo., went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, a run scored and a double. Lauryn Smith chipped in a 2-for-3 performance with runs scored. Lauren Mills went 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
WNCC then faced UNK, who defeated the Cougars 9-2 on Saturday, in the semi-finals. This time, freshman pitcher Kelsey Garner of Regina Saskatchewan, threw a strong game, scattering six hits while striking out six and not walking a batter.
The Cougars scored all the runs they needed in the first inning on RBI hits by Torimaru and Kara Ryman. Torimaru finished the contest with a 2-for-3 performance.
WNCC finished off the tournament with a 4-2 win against Chadron State. Freshman pitcher Allie Griffin picked up the win scattering seven hits, while Garner picked up the save getting the final out of the game. Chadron’s Casey Williams took the loss.
The Cougars scored first getting two runs in the fifth inning before scoring two more in the seventh inning. In the seventh, it was singles by Smith and Jessie McNabb collected run-scoring singles to score the runs for a 4-0 lead.
Chadron State came back and scored two runs in the seventh and the tying run at the plate before Garner came in for the final out.
McNabb, who had a eye-popping seventh-inning catch, led the team with a 2-for-4 day including three RBIs and a run scored. Griffin went 1-for-1 with a walk, sacrifice and a run scored.
The Cougars, 8-3 during the fall season, will return to action Friday when they face the University of Northern Colorado in a doubleheader in Greeley, Colo.
1 comment:
Way to go lady cougar softabll team! I look forward to great things from you in the spring! Is a Region 9 Championship in the making?
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