Chattanooga pitcher Kala Cooper delivers a pitch in her team's win this morning over Jefferson College.

11 MORE GAMES IN THE BOOKS, NATIONAL CHAMPION TO BE CROWNED TOMORROW
2006-05-19

Plant City, Florida -- Chattanooga State Technical Community College, Gulf Coast Community College, Indian River Community College, and Pima Community College have all survived from the original field of 16 teams that began play here yesterday at the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) Division I women’s (fast pitch) softball national championship. A new title holder will be crowned tomorrow, with games scheduled at 10 a.m., 12 Noon, and 2 p.m., all in Plant City Stadium. The tournament, which is taking place at the world headquarters of the International Softball Federation (ISF), did not include last year’s national champion, Central Arizona College, who were prevented from coming to the Sunshine State when they lost to Pima (Tucson, AZ) in the qualifying tournament.

Gulf Coast (54-9), the #3 seed from Panama City, Florida, advanced to tomorrow’s first game by shutting out #1 seed Temple College of Texas (55-5), 2-0. The winners got the only run they’d need in their first at-bat. Natalie Vogler hit a two-out solo home run in the bottom of the first inning and the Lady Commodores added an insurance tally in the bottom of the sixth to support winning pitcher Sarah Dooley, who threw a complete-game three-hitter with eleven strikeouts.

Gulf Coast’s opponent tomorrow morning will be #6 Chattanooga (55-13), thanks to the latter’s 5-0 win tonight over ninth-seeded Odessa College from Texas (42-23). Two Chattanooga pitchers combined on a one-hitter for a fourth straight win after having begun the tournament Thursday with a loss.

The winner of tomorrow morning’s game will stay on the field to play #2 Indian River (Ft. Pierce, Florida), by virtue of the Pioneers’ 4-0 loss to Pima this evening. The 12:00 game’s winner will go on to play for the national championship against the Aztecs, thanks to tonight’s nightcap that saw Pima win for the fourth time in as many tries so far at this tournament. Single tallies in the second and fifth innings and a two-run third accounted for all the offense that upped the winners’ record to 59-10. Indian River (57-12) tried to rally in their last at-bat, getting two runners on base with no outs, and then using a Pima fielding error to load the bases with two outs, but a strike out ended the game as the Pioneers fell short in their attempt to dent the scoreboard.

Indian River defeated Gulf Coast earlier today, 3-1, having broken a 1-1 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh. Gulf Coast took an early 1-0 lead with a RBI double by Kelyn Mendoza in the bottom of the second but stranded seven baserunners the rest of the way to suffer their first loss after having opened the tournament with two wins yesterday by a combined score of 18-7.

This afternoon Pima needed extra innings to beat Odessa, 4-2. Catcher Amanda Duran hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to give the Aztecs their third straight win at the tournament. Duran finished 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Teammate Jessica McNamara went 3-for-5 and winning pitcher Dana Alcocer went all ten innings and struck out eleven.

Meanwhile, Chattanooga had advanced to their evening showdown with Odessa by way of a 4-0 win that eliminated #16 Louisburg of North Carolina (29-16). The writing was on the wall early when Kala Cooper – the game’s winning pitcher – opened with a triple to start a three-run first inning for the Lady Tigers.

Chattanooga had opened the day with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Missouri’s Jefferson College, the #12 seed (42-30). All four runs came in the top of the seventh inning, with three of them coming on one swing of the bat by India Turner.

On an adjacent field, Louisburg was eliminating the #10 seed, Blinn College (40-22), from Texas, 3-2. The winners got all their runs in the top of the fourth inning and then had to hold off the Buccaneers, who got single tallies in the sixth and seventh innings, but couldn’t solve winning pitcher Ashley Raynor, who struck out eight in a complete-game performance.

Temple, the #1 seed, won their first two games of the day by shutout. First they sent #7 Eastern Oklahoma (56-17) home with a 4-0 decision. Losing pitcher Marjorie Johnson, who one day earlier set the all-time single season NJCAA strikeout record, tacked 12 more onto her total in six innings of work. Katie Garnett picked up the win.

Then, the Leopards blanked #11 Southeastern Community College of Iowa (43-14), 5-0, sending the Blackhawks home after they’d stayed alive with a 4-0 victory over #5 Otero Junior College from Colorado (51-10) to begin play on Friday.