The Western Nebraska Community College softball team will have something extra special to play for when they open the season next week in Texas.The Cougars, who finished last season with a 36-21 record, are the 11^th ranked team in the National Junior College Athletic Association pre-season softball poll that was released Friday.
The ranking marks the first time a Cougar softball team has made an appearance in the national polls. It also means the team has plenty to play for during the season.
“It is a good accomplishment to be ranked that high,” sophomore Whittany Foster said. “It is something to be the first team [in softball] at Western Nebraska to do this because no other teams have done this.”
The ranking, in fact, comes at a surprise to the team. Sophomore pitcher Natasha Dypchey of British Columbia, Canada, didn’t realize that this honor was a possibility this early in the season.
“It is pretty amazing to be ranked,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting it and I don’t think any of us were this year. We are going to go in and get our job done and play Cougar softball.”
Sophomore pitcher Jessica Pexton said, the team won’t let the ranking go to their head and they will not change how they practice or play.
“We are still going to practice the same and play games equally hard as we have been,” she said. “It is really amazing and I like being ranked.”
Dypchey said that the team chemistry is one of the reasons they have gelled as a unit the last two years.
“We have really good team chemistry [from last year], which I think we are carrying on into this year,” she said. “We practice hard and do everything that coach tells us to do with no questions asked. We just hustle wherever we go and stick to the game plan that she gives us.”
The Cougars will see just how good they are next weekend when they will face three other ranked teams at the Odessa Tournament Friday and Saturday. The Cougars will will tangle with Midland College, Odessa College and Navarro. Before that tourney, the team will open up on Thursday facing Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas.
Garden City Community College, who the Cougars play later this month, is ranked 17th in the nation. Also, defending Region IX champions Otero Junior College comes in at No. 20.
Eastern Arizona College, 46-15 a year ago, is the top team in the pre-season polls followed by Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Midland College and Indian River Community College.
Rounding out the top 10 are Chipola College, Central Arizona College, Butler Community College, College of Southern Idaho and McLennan Community College.
“The tournament will be a chance to see where we are at [against other teams] and where we need to be,” Foster said.
While it is the first time in school history that the softball team has achieved this kind of notoriety, the team realizes they are part of school history. But they won’t let that deter them from accomplishing another goal – winning regionals and going to nationals.
“I don’t think it will change how we go into the season,” Dypchey said. “We are just going to go out and play Cougar softball and have some fun out on the field.”
2008 Pre-season Softball Poll
1, Eastern Arizona College
2, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M
3, Chattanooga State Technical
4, Midland College
5, Indian River Community College
6, Chipola College
7, Central Arizona College
8, Butler County Community College
9, College of Southern Idaho
10, McLennan Community College
11, Western Nebraska Community College
12, Salt Lake Community College
13, Santa Fe Community College
14, Wallace State Community College
15, Miami Dade College
16, Gulf Coast Community College
17, Garden City Community College
18, Crowder College
19, Middle Georgia College
20, Otero Junior College
21, Texarkana College
22, Odessa College
23, Spartanburg Methodist College
24. Southeastern Community College
25, Vernon College
26, Wabash Valley College
27, Georgia Perimeter College
28, Jefferson College
29, Walters State Community College
30, Navarro College
No comments:
Post a Comment