TOP SEED REMAINS UNDEFEATED, UPSETS OCCUR AS TOURNAMENT GETS UNDERWAY
2007-05-17

The National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) Division I women’s (fast pitch) softball national championship got underway today at the world headquarters of the International Softball Federation (ISF). An early upset by #14 ranked Louisburg against three-seeded Chattanooga State in a 4-2 victory kicked off the morning of many exciting match ups. Louisburg set the tone of the game with an early lead of 2-0 in the first inning. Even with a tying run resulting from Kim Patterson’s sacrifice fly ball in the bottom of the fifth, Chattanooga came up short due to Louisburg center fielder Kimberly Lamm’s two-run home run in the top of the seventh.

The event, which runs through and including Saturday, is being played in Plant City Stadium and the adjacent Randy L. Larson Softball Fourplex, which will also host the tournament in May 2008.

Twelfth-seeded Butler County Community College also pulled off an upset, against #5 Otero Junior College early this afternoon, holding off their opponent in a 5-4 victory. All five runs were scored in the top of the fifth inning with a double and two RBIs by right fielder Candi Madill, two RBIs by third base player Andrea Weiss, and an RBI from second base player Sadie Ball.

Over at the Randy L. Larson Softball Fourplex, top seeded Chipola backed up their high ranking by defeating Crowder College in an eight inning, 3-0 win. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, in which Chipola took advantage of Crowder errors, bringing home three runs that enabled them to move closer to the national championship game to be played on Saturday.

Four games will take place at 12 Noon tomorrow, followed by three at 2 p.m., one at 4:00 (in the stadium), two at 6:00, and one at 8 p.m. (in the stadium).

Also early this afternoon, # 7Texarkana defeated #10 West Texas College, 5-1, in a game that was dominated by the seventh-seeder.

A short rain delay at the start of the afternoon games did not put a damper on teams’ spirits. Eleventh seed Georgia Perimeter did, however, put a damper on #6 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M’s national championship dreams with a 6-4 win. Five of Georgia’s six runs came in the seventh inning, with the help of catcher Shelley Jenkins’ two-run home run.

Two runs in the bottom of the third inning, along with seven more in the bottom of the fifth sent second-seeded Eastern Arizona past #15 Lincoln Trail, 9-1. Pitcher Tiffany Garofano got the win with eight strikeouts.

The afternoon games came to an end with #9 McLennan Community College defeating #8 North Idaho, 2-1. A wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning sent first base player Strohm Fouty home. This would be North Idaho’s only run of the game, causing them to fall to McLennan.

A win by fourth-seeded Miami Dade over #13 Wallace State Community College, 4-2, concluded the afternoon games. Winning pitcher Kristina DeMello contributed to her team’s victory, striking out 13 batters while surrendering only six hits.

The two-run homerun and two RBIs in the bottom of the fourth inning by designated hitter Cassie Lassiter gave unbeaten Chipola another victory in their second match up of the day against McLennan Community College, with a final score of 2-1.

The evening games marked the end of the road for Crowder College, who fell short to North Idaho, with a final score of 4-3. Chattanooga State Technical Community College was also eliminated tonight after losing, 2-1, to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M.

Georgia Perimeter came out strong in the first inning against Louisburg, scoring five runs, leading to a 7-4 victory against the fourteenth-seeder.

Two more teams were eliminated during the final games of the night. Wallace State Community College dominated Otero Junior College with a 9-0 win ending in the fifth inning. West Texas College also sent Lincoln Trail College home, defeating them 12-0.