The bats of outfielder Heather Mauldin and her Tallahassee teammates couldn't muster enough offense to stave off elimination in their 2-1 loss to Southern Idaho this morning.

NEW NATIONAL CHAMPION TO BE CROWNED TOMORROW
2008-05-16

To borrow a phrase from another sport and another association, they're down to the final four at the 2008 National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 women's (fast pitch) softball national championship, being played (for the third year in a row) on the grounds of the International Softball Federation's world headquarters complex in Plant City, Florida.

Three games will take place tomorrow, although there could be a fourth at 4:00, if necessary. At 10 a.m. San Jacinto will take on Santa Fe. The winner will play Chattanooga at 12 Noon, and then the winner of that game will play Wallace-Hanceville at 2 p.m. for the national championship. (Should Wallace-Hanceville lose however, another game between the two teams would be played at 4:00 to decide the 2008 NJCAA champ.)

The first four contests this morning were all elimination games. Top-ranked Santa Fe Community College (Gainesville, FL) sent #10 Butler Community College back to El Dorado, Kansas, by way of a big 9-1 decision. The Saints came out swinging, building up a 6-0 lead after the game was just two innings old. Center fielder Brittany Cannon went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored while designated hitter Whitney Mills went 2-for-2 with three RBI. The Grizzlies managed just three hits in the game called after five innings due to the run-ahead rule.

Meanwhile, the other Florida entry, #5 Tallahassee, was on an adjacent field being eliminated by #6 Southern Idaho (Twin Falls), 2-1. Catcher Anna Sorrell led off the bottom of the eight inning with a solo home run to ice the win after Tallahassee had tied the game at one in the top of the seventh on an RBI double by Rebecca Smith. To that point the only scoring had been a run back in the bottom of the third. Jody Zillner pitched all eight innings to pick up the victory.

Number 12 San Jacinto College-South (Houston, TX) broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the top of the sixth inning to eliminate #11 McLennan Community College (Waco, TX), 3-1. The winners took advantage of a couple errors in the sixth and then survived the bases being loaded by McLennan in the bottom half of the inning to move on. Right fielder Sierra Gale had two RBI for the winners, who got a complete game performance from pitcher Kelsey McClain.

The morning's other saw game #7 Wabash Valley (Mt. Carmel, IL) end the hopes of Midland College (Midland, TX) with a 4-2 win. The Warriors took a 2-0 lead only to have Midland come back to tie the game before Wabash got back-to-back RBI singles in the top of the sixth to pull away. Shortstop Megan Shadrick was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the winners.

As the day progressed so too did four more teams, while two others did, though in defeat. Southern Idaho and Wabash Valley, on the other hand, were eliminated.

Wallace-Hanceville defeated Spartanburg, 6-4, to make it three wins in a row for the Lady Lions. The loss was the first for the Pioneers and was particularly tough since they rallied from a 3-1 deficit to take a 4-3 lead, only to see Wallace-Hanceville not only tie the game, but get two runs in the top of the seventh en route to the win. The winners got a two-run homer from Rachel Baucom with one out to continue their streak. The Pioneers had gotten a 3-for-4, one RBI, one run performance from center fielder Alyssa Starkey.

Chattanooga State also got their third straight triumph, a 4-2 victory over Iowa Western. The Reivers had scored ten runs in each of their first two games, but managed just two - and those not until the top of the sixth inning - against Courtney Alvarez, who went the distance for the Tigers and allowed just four hits. Chattanooga's Megann Sallinger hit what would be the game-winning home run with a shot that led off the bottom of the sixth. An insurance run crossed the plate shortly thereafter to seal the victory. Center fielder Meagan Masingale went 3-for-4 with two RBI in the win.

Number one Santa Fe eliminated Southern Idaho in convincing fashion, 12-1. The game was only 2-1 after an inning and a half but the Saints put up three runs in the bottom of the second and then had a big seven-run fourth en route to a run-ahead rule shortened decision. Brittany Cannon and Jean-Francois Belourse each had three hits and were joined by two others in driving in two runs each.

Wabash Valley was sent packing thanks to an 11-6 loss to San Jacinto. Despite their being no home runs in the game, the teams - besides their 17 runs - combined for 32 hits. The Coyotes started quickly, scoring three times in the top of the first and twice more in the top of the third before the Warriors cut the deficit to two after three complete. San Jacinto did most of the damage with a five-run fifth inning highlighted by a two-RBI single by Janet Rendon, who fniished with four RBI. Krystal Plummer and Alex Naschke each had four hits.

Santa Fe made it three-for-three on the day when they edged Iowa Western, 5-4, to advance to tomorrow morning's first game. The Saints fell behind quickly, with Iowa Western putting up three runs in the bottom of the first, including a lead-off home run from Toni Dance and a two-RBI single from Samantha Buchanan. A half-inning later the Saints cut the lead to 3-1, then had a four-run fourth inning to pull away. Jean-Francoise Belourse's two-RBI double clinched it and the top-ranked Saints were on their way to the final day of play.

The second day of play began winding down early this evening when San Jacinto thumped Spartanburg, 9-0. Scoreless after two-and-a-half innings, the game quickly took on a different complexion when the Coyotes put up five runs in the bottom of the third, followed by four more an inning later. The game ended after five innings due to the run-ahead rule and Spartanburg finished with just three hits. Designated hitter Tasha Rotramel (2-for-2, three RBI, one run scored) and infielder Janet Rendon (3-for-3, two RBI, two runs scored) did the bulk of the damage for San Jacinto in their third win of the day in as many games.

The night ended in dramatic fashion as Wallace-Hanceville's Hannah Strength hit a two-run triple in the bottom of the seventh to lift her team past Chattanooga, 4-3. Five of the game's seven runs came in the last two innings as the teams were tied at just 1-1 after four-and-a-half innings. The Lady Lions' offense was spread throughout the order, while two Tigers went 2-for-3 in the loss. Winning pitcher Jennifer Sexton threw a complete game with six strikeouts while Brittany Fox took the loss for Chattanooga.