WNCC softball ready for national tournament action

It’s not hard to see the smiles on the Western Nebraska Community College softball players faces as they get ready for the National Junior College Athletic Association national tournament in Plant City, Fla.
The players, however, are not just satisfied with being a participant at the tournament; they want to make a statement that they belong among the elite 16 teams in the nation.

WNCC will begin that trek for a national title today at 9 a.m. when they face 64-8 Wallace State Community College in the double elimination tournament that runs through Saturday. The game can be heard on KOZY 101.3 FM as well as the Internet.

“[I’m] nervous but excited,” sophomore Ashley Patton said. “I have never been to a big tournament like this but I am really looking forward to it. We just need to stay focused game to game, make sure our defense is good, get a good performance in the circle, and make sure our hitting is on.”

WNCC, who enters the tournament with an eye-popping 54-8 record, is fresh off winning its first Region IX tournament championship two weeks ago with a dominating performance. The Cougars, in getting the regional trophy, blanked 7-time defending champs Otero Junior College twice, 7-0 and 6-0.

Sophomore Jessie McNabb, who missed 12 games this year because of a broken jaw, was one of the catalysts behind the team’s success.

“We are real excited to be at the national tournament. It is like a lifetime experience that we never had before,” she said. “It is definitely an accomplishment because we have been working on it since last year and Coach [Maria] Winn has been working on it for a while. We finally got there.”

The Cougars went through a practice Wednesday to get adjusted to the Florida weather. Sophomore Whittany Foster said the team is pumped for their opening game.

“I think practice went pretty well, actually. It is pretty hot down here so we are adjusting to that,” she said. “We are excited to be here and we didn’t come down here to lose. We are just going to do what we do every day.”

The Cougars, though, aren’t overlooking any opponent but are gaining a positive attitude heading into the tourney opener today.

“The competition will probably be pretty good. This tournament is the 16 best teams in the nation, so we are excited to be a part of it,” Foster said. “We have enough confidence but we are not over confident. I think we will do well.”

The national tournament definitely won’t be easy. WNCC could play as little as six games to win a national title, if they stay unbeaten. If they drop their opening game, the team will need to win eight straight games to win a championship.

“I think we will do very well,” Patton said. “If we keep winning, we only have to play five games [for a championship]. If we lose, we can end up playing a bunch more. We just need to stay focused. But, if we have to play a lot of games, we will do what we have to.”

WNCC, win or lose, will have one more game today against either Tallahassee Community College or San Jacinto College-South. If they win, they will play at 6 p.m. and if they falter, they will play at 4 p.m. in an elimination game.

The players know they can’t overlook any opponent and the key for them to succeed is to take it one game at a time.

“It will take a lot of team work and we will all need to come out ready to play strong,” McNabb said. “I think we will all need to show up to play every game and not be worried who we are playing. Just play our game.”

The Cougars game is a stingy defense, a strong and deep pitching core, and an offense that has sparkled for 59 home runs, 22 triples and 134 doubles this season.

Freshman Kelsey Garner leads the pitching staff with a 1.13 earned run average and a 31-2 record. Garner has already struck out 254 batters in 198 innings of work. Garner also garnered Region IX’s Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors this season.

Garner will see the majority of the innings in the circle this weekend. However, sophomores Natasha Dypchey and Patton will be ready in a heartbeat when called upon. In fact, Dypchey and Patton have picked up clutch wins this season. Dypchey enters the tournament with a 12-3 record and a 2.31 ERA, while Patton has a 6-2 record and a 1.69 ERA. Patton said that all the pitchers have to be ready in case they are called upon at the national tournament.

“We have to be ready at all the time,” Patton said. “We need to stay focused, pay attention to the game of what is happening, and pay attention to the hitters. We need to understand what is going on at the point that you come in off the bench.”

As well as the pitching staff has sparkled this season, the offense has also come up clutch. The team has a .380 batting average, led by McNabb’s .509 average, including 53 RBIs and 60 runs scored.

The team is also paced by Kara Ryman, who leads the team with 69 runs batted in and 28 doubles. Ryman is also batting .446 on the season and is second on the team in home runs, tied with sophomore Lauren Bourdon.

Lauren Mills has also been dangerous as the team’s lead-off hitter. Mills leads the team with 13 home runs. She is also batting .462 with 67 runs scored and 54 RBIs. In fact, Mills’ has had a number of lead-off home runs, including a shot against Otero Junior College in the winner’s bracket final.

Bourdon and Amanda Torimaru are also two more hitters who have stepped up big this season. Bourdon is hitting .412 with eight home runs and 54 RBIs, while Torimaru is hitting .425 with 56 RBIs, five triples and five home runs.

But the one player that really has contributed the last few weeks of the season is sophomore Foster. Foster is batting .380 on the season, including batting .625 over the last two weeks of the season.

Foster said this team can do well; all they need is to play like they have in the 54 wins this season.

“We have to have good pitching for one thing. Then we will have to have good bats and good defense,” she said. “We usually feed off of each other pretty well. If the pitching is going well, we hit well and play defense well.”