BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW May 20, 2011
When a team has won four consecutive city championships, confidence can be seen when they step onto the softball field. Lane showcased its confidence Friday as it defeated rival Taft 5-0 in the city championship game at UIC. Continue reading
BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW May 19, 2011
Sometimes all it takes to win a big game is a little luck in the right situations. Taft got all the luck they needed in extra innings as it held on for a 9-5 nine-inning win against top-seeded Northside in the first Public League semifinal at UIC. Continue reading
BY MICHAEL WOJTYCHIW May 18, 2011
Sometimes some revenge is pretty sweet. That’s exactly what Northside got when it defeated Lane in the second Public League semifinal Wednesday afternoon at Senn 25-22, 25-18. Continue reading
Sometimes all it takes from being dominated in one game to being the dominator is just a small change in the gameplan. Payton learned that Wednesday afternoon as it came back to defeat top-seeded Lincoln Park 14-25, 25-18, 26-24 in the first Public League semifinal played at Senn. Continue reading
Arizona – Arizona is historically one of the best teams year-in and year-out and that continues this year. Along with hosting two tournaments of their own, they participated in three prestigious tournaments (Kajikawa Classic, Cathedral City Classic and Judi German Classic). That was to get them ready for the grueling Pac-10 schedule. They faced 20 tournament teams throughout the season and came away with a 21-15 record. They had a hiccup in the middle of the conference season when stud pitcher Kenzie Fowler went out with an injury but she’s back in the circle for the Wildcats.
Arizona has knocked 72 balls out of the park, led by Stacie Chambers. Stacie Chambers has 18 bombs this year and 85 for her career, which ties her for the school record. Her 66 RBI also lead the team. Brigette Del Ponte has knocked 16 out of the park. She also has a team-high 21 doubles and is second on the team with 57 RBI. Brittany Lastrapes has 16 doubles, 11 home runs, 38 RBI and a .415 average. Lini Koria adds 13 homers and 33 RBI to the powerful lineup, which has outscored opponents 345-183.
The Wildcats use a two–woman pitching rotation, featuring Fowler, a sophomore, and Shelby Babcock, a freshman. Fowler has the better record and ERA (23-7, 1.75), but Babcock has been an integral part of the team as well. Fowler has struck out 211 opponents, while Babcock has 116 punchouts.
Harvard – The Crimson come into the tournament after winning their fifth Ivy League titles, first since 2007. Harvard has also won 14 of their last 15 games. Their 36-14 record includes only three games against NCAA teams, ones in which they went 1-2.
The Crimson throws a lineup at you that may not look that impressive, but are a well-balanced squad that does the little things. Kasey Lang leads Harvard in pretty much offensive category with a .444 average, .483 on-base percentage, .804 slugging percentage, 11 home runs 20 doubles and 65 RBI. In fact, her RBI total is 30 more than the next highest. Oh yeah, Lang is only a freshman. Ellen Macadam leads the team in hits (76) and runs (52), while Ashley Heritage leads the squad with 21 stolen bases.
Rachel Brown leads the pitchers with a 21-6 record, 1.9 ERA and 291 strikeouts. In fact, she has an almost 5:1 K:BB ratio. The other pitcher joining her as a mainstay is freshman Laura Ricciardone, who has put together a nice first season, racking up a 13-5 record.
Texas Tech – After making the NCAA Tournament only twice before current coach Shanon Hays took over in 2010, the Red Raiders have now qualified for the second consecutive season. The team finished the season 40-14, only the second time the school has reached the 40-win plateau.
Texas Tech boasts six players who are hitting .343 or greater. Tow players, Sandy James and Cydney Allen, are in double digit home runs. Allen has knocked 15 out of the ballpark, while knocking 59 runs in. James has 13 bombs on the year and 52 RBI, third highest on the team. Emily Bledsoe is hitting a team-high .384 and is second on the team in both steals (13) and doubles (14). Logan Hall has a team-high 62 hits, 11 doubles and 55 RBI.
The Red Raiders employ Brittany Telley and Kelsey Dennis as their top two pitchers. Telley has a 14-6 record and 2.70 ERA. She has 73 K’s on the season. Dennis has a 12-5 record and 2.85 ERA. She leads the squad with 74 punchouts. So its easy to say the two are truly 1 and 1A.
New Mexico State – The New Mexico State softball team made history Saturday afternoon by clinching the program’s first NCAA Tournament bid after defeating Fresno State 5-0 in the 2011 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Softball Tournament Championship. A tough nonconference schedule, which included games against Oklahoma, Arizona, Arizona State and Nebraska, seems to have paid off for the Aggies, who come in having won 16 of their last 19 games.
New Mexico State has nine players hitting over .300, including star Hoku Nohara, who leads the team with a .43o clip. She also has an impressive 23 home runs and 7o RBI. Tiare Jennings is right behind her with 15 home runs and 56 RBI. Valerie Swedberg rounds out the double digit home run hitters with 11. She also leads the team with 13 doubles and has 48 RBI. Kylie Randall is a terror on the basepaths, having been caught only twice in 38 attempts.
Alex Newman has a 22-6 record to lead the team and also has a team-low 3.39 ERA. She also leads the team with 83 strikeouts
*Florida – The Gators are looking to make their fourth consecutive trip to the College World Series, a place they have been quite comfortable at, going 7-6 in three consecutive trips, including a runner-up finish two years ago. As in previous seasons, the Gators faced a challenging schedule, one that saw them go 22-9 against the 17 NCAA teams they faced.
To say Florida has a powerful lineup would be an understatement. Four players have hit more than 15 home runs and those same four have over 50 RBI. Megan Bush leads the way with 20 dingers and 72 runners batted in. Fellow senior and SEC Player of the Year Kelsey Bruder (17 home runs, 63 RBI) is right behind her. Other power hitters in the lineup include Aja Paculba (15 round trippers and 54 RBI), Brittany Schutte (17 homers, 52 RBI) and Cheyenne Coyle (13 home runs, 46 RBI).
The Gators use a two-pitcher rotation, headlined by stud freshman Hannah Rogers and Stephanie Brombacher. The team has relied heavily on Rogers, as Brombacher was out for an extended period of time with an injury. Since Brombacher has come back, however, Florida has tried to use both of them, usually in the same game. Rogers has a 30-5 record and 1.6 ERA, while Brombacher has impressive stats as well (17-2, 1.08).
UCLA – The defending national champions come into the NCAA Tournament unseeded after going 33-17. The Bruins have never been to the state of Florida for the postseason or played in Gainesville. UCLA has appeared in five tournaments in Florida and owns a record of 30-2. Against their Regional opponents UCLA is 3-2 vs. the Gators, 1-0 vs. Bethune-Cookman and has not faced Jacksonville. They’ve faced 15 teams that made the Tournament and went 13-17 against those teams.
The Bruins have six players hitting over ,300 on the season. They are a power hitting team, having knocked 64 balls out of the park, compared to 25 for their opponents. Andrea Harrison leads the team in average (.392), hits (58), home runs (13), RBI (46), slugging percentage (.730) and on-base percentage (.503). Kellie Fox is hitting .352, knocked out 11 homers and brought in 45 RBI, all second best on the team. GiOnna DiSalvatore leads the team in doubles, while B.B. Bates is the third member of the double-digit home run club (10) and third with 39 RBI.
Two pitchers on the Bruins staff, Donna Kerr and Jessica Hall, have similar stats. Hall has started 24 games, while Kerr 23; Both have appeared in 31 games. Hall has accumulated a 16-8 record and 2.61 ERA. Kerr has a 12-record with 2.46 ERA. Kerr has punched out 167 batters, while Hall has 113 K’s.
Bethune-Cookman – Bethune-Cookman earned their invite when they defeated Delaware State for their second consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title. It is also the second consecutive year they have gone to Gainesville for the NCAA Tournament and third overall. Their first time, in 2005, they defeated the Gators and South Florida twice to win the Regional and move on to the Super Regional round.
Allison Garcia is the team’s offensive stud. She hits .374, has 61 hits, nine home runs and 56 RBI, all team highs. Michelle Banuelos-Smith is second on the team with a .367 average. She is tied for second in RBI with 40, with Ashton Hinds. Hinds leads the team with 20 steals
Not only is Garcia their top hitter, she is also the team’s top pitcher. She has a 26-11 record and has a 3.54 ERA. She has struck out 133 batters on the season.
Jacksonville – A 7-1 victory over Lipscomb secured the program’s first A-Sun Tournament Championship. The title also seals the Dolphins (43-14) first NCAA Tournament berth. The team comes in on a 15-game winning streak, their last loss coming to Lipscomb at the beginning of April. The Dolphins do have an impressive win over Texas A&M earlier in the season.
Sarah Simon and Amanda Schmidt lead the team offensively. Both women have a team-high nine home runs, but Schmidt leads the team with 48 RBI, while Simon has 40. Schmidt boasts a .301 average and leads the team with 12 doubles, while Simon leads the team with a .371 average and added 10 doubles. Kayla Ouellet leads the team with 21 steals.
Sarah Sigrest and Olivia Kline make up the Dolphin pitching staff. Sigrest has put together a 26-5 record, while boasting a nifty 1.01 ERA. She has also struck out 200 opponents. Kline’s put together a 15-6 record and 1.5 ERA.
Texas – Since going to the College World Series, the Longhorns have not advanced past the Regional stage. But that looks to change this year, as it seems that Texas is back. After starting the season 16-3, the Longhorns went on an 18-game winning streak before Stephen F. Austin upset the team 1-0. Texas faced 21 NCAA teams, finishing with a 23-7 record against them.
The Longhorns have been quite the potent team on offense, with three players in double digit home runs and six players with 25 or more RBI. Also, all but one of their regulars is hitting over .300. Taylor Hoagland leads the squad with 14 home runs and adds 34 RBI, 24 steals and nine doubles. Amy Hooke has 12 dingers and 35 RBI. Taylor Thom has 11 doubles, 11 home runs and a team-high 41 RBI. Her 11 two-baggers are tied for the lead with Lexy Bennett, who has a team-leading .455 batting average and 40 RBI. Breja Washington leads the squad with 35 steals.
What might hinder Texas in the postseason is the amount that the Longhorns have relied on pitcher Blair Luna. Luna has been the team’s horse, especially in Big 12 play, as her ERA is up nearly .6 over her overall ERA and her K:BB ratio is much smaller in conference play as well. Luna has an overall record of 27-6 and ERA of 1.27, with 298 K’s compared to 80 walks. The team does have a capable backup in Rachel Fox, who has an 18-1 record overall with a 1.10 ERA, but she has only seen action in seven games since the start of conference play.
Houston – There must be something in the water in Texas, because the Cougars are just one of too many Texas teams that will qualify for the NCAA Tournament. With a shocking semifinal loss to East Carolina in the conference tournament, Houston finished the regular season at 40-16. The Cougars went 7-4 against ranked teams in the regular season.
Houston knows how to swing the bats, with six players hitting .290 or better, led by Holly Anderson, who is hitting at a .340 clip, tied for the team lead with 51 hits and leads the team with seven steals. The big boppers, however, are Melissa Gregson and Brooke Lathan, who lead the team in home runs and RBI. Gregson leads the team in both with 16 round-trippers and 43 runs batted in, while Lathan has 13 dingers and 36 RBI.
You know you had a top-tier pitching staff when a stud transfer, Donna Bourgeois is your number two hurler. Bourgeois, a Louisiana-Lafayette transfer, was named the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year in 2009 and first-team All-Sun Belt two years straight. She was also named to the All-Region second-team last season. But her 16-6 record, 1.68 ERA and 130 strikeouts are only good enough for second on the team because Amanda Crabtree is just having a spectacular season. The senior has an 18-8 record and a miniscule 0.94 ERA. She has also fanned an impressive 314 batters.
Louisiana-Lafayette – The Cajuns come into the tournament having won their 11th Sun Belt Tournament Championship. The team loaded up in the preseason, playing in two prestigious tournament, going against the likes of Alabama, Oregon, Notre Dame, Arizona and Arizona State. They went 2-3 in those games. The Cajuns come into the NCAA Tournament having won their last 11 games.
None of the regulars are hitting worse than .250. Christi Orgeron (.418) is having a monster season, with 23 home runs and 97 RBI. The crazy part is those 97 RBI are only good enough for fifth-highest in the country. Her teammate, Gabriele Bridges (.380), has knocked 22 balls out of the park and has 76 RBI. Sarah Draheim has 50 RBI on the season. Nerissa Meyers, who is tied with Orgeron for a team-high 73 runs, leads the squad with 21 stolen bases. Katie Smith is second in stolen bases with 20
Ashley Brignac is the team’s ace. She went 30-5 in 38 appearances and holds a team-best 1.24 ERA. She has punched out a total of 228 opponents this year, only walking 64 hitters. The win in the conference title game gave her 30 wins for the second time in her three years at ULL.
Texas State – Texas State softball captured the 2011 Southland Conference Tournament Championship Saturday, ensuring the Bobcats their fifth NCAA Tournament berth. The title is the second in three years for Texas State as it earns the automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The team usually plays a relatively tough schedule, including games against many 0n-state rivals and play them tough. That trend continued this year, as they played Baylor, Houston (beating them once), Texas and Hawaii tough.
The Bobcats aren’t a team that swings for the fences, but they know how to drop balls in the gaps for doubles and singles. The team features five players who have driven in 20 or more RBI, with the high being 29, set by McKenzie Baack. Anna Hernandez is next with 28 and she’s also second on the team in steals with seven. Jenna Emery, who leads the team with six homers, is tied with Haley Lemons, who leads the squad with 12 doubles, with 25 RBI.
Texas States’ two two pitchers, Chandler Hall and Anne Marie Taylor, have started 29 and 24 games, respectively. Taylor has a 17-5 record, with a 1.77 ERA and 146 punchouts. Hall is 15-15 with a 2.75 ERA and 173 K’s.
Baylor – The Bears got off to an extremely hot start in the 2011 season, winning 24 of their first 27 games, including wins over Illinois, UCLA, Fresno State, San Diego State and two wins over Arizona. This just prepared Baylor for the grueling Big 12 season, one which would see them face eight NCAA teams from their conference alone. They compiled a 11-5 record against those conference foes, and a 19-10 record against all NCAA Tournament opponents. Continue reading
Washington – Washington is another one of the national powers that resides in the Pac 10. To show you how difficult the conference is, the Huskies earned the 12th seed nationally and that’s after going 9-12 in conference. 
They did load up in the preseason, however, as they played in the San Diego Classic, the Cathedral City Classic and Judi German Classic. Including conference play, Washington played 14 NCAA Tournament teams, going 13-12 against them.
Niki Williams is the statistical giant for this year’s Huskies, knocking 13 balls out of the yard and driving in 50 runs. Both are team highs. She also has 11 doubles, which is good for second on the squad. Jenn Salling is hitting .373, with a team-high 15 two-baggers, 53 hits and 43 RBI, both of which are second best on the squad. Kimi Pohlman is the only Huskie hitting over .400, as she has a team-high .443 average. She also has 74 hits, scored 52 times and stolen 22 bags, all of which are tops on the team.
Kaitlin Inglesby is the team’s top pitcher, having racked up a 21-7 record. She has a 2.25 ERA this season, having pitched 183.2 innings. In her 38 appearances, she has struck out 137 batters
BYU – The Cougars won their third consecutive Mountain West title when they swept a doubleheader from Utah this weekend. The team played 14 games against ranked opponents in the preseason and went 5-9 against them, defeating tough teams like UCLA, Texas A&M and California. The Cougars come into the postseason having won 14 of their last 15.
BYU has six players hitting over .300, but none is having as impressive of a season as Jessica Fitu, who is second on the team with a .382 average. She has 63 hits, 11 doubles, 12 home runs, 64 RBI and a .691 slugging percentage, all team bests. Caschjen Atagi has knocked around 10 doubles, 10 home runs and 44 RBI. Delaney Willard has 11 bombs, nine doubles and 40 RBI
Paige Affleck is the team’s ace. She compiled a 24-11 record during the season and has a nifty 1.97 ERA. She’s retired 207 opponents via strikeout.
Portland State – Portland State captured its third Pacific Coast Conference title after having done so in 2006 and 2009. They matched Loyola Marymount, the team they defeated in the finals to win the title this year, for the most conference titles in the nine-year history of the league. The trip to the NCAA Tournament marks the second in three years for the Vikings. Portland State faced seven teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament, and while only winning one of those matchups, they played teams like Stanford, UCLA and Oregon tight.
Jenna Krogh leads a balanced Viking offense with a .405 average, 38 runs and 64 hits. She also has legged out an impressive six triples. Lacey Holm swings a big stick for Portland State, as she is second on the team with five round-trippers and leads the squad with 40 RBI. Carly McEachran leads the team with six home runs and has added 30 RBI, one of two players to have that total. The Vikings also have three players who have hit four home runs each.
Nichole Latham and Anna Bertrand have identical 16-8 records. The closeness in statistics is eerie. Latham has started 24 games and appeared in 28, while Bartrand has started 23 and appeared in 30. Latham has pitched exactly two more innings (155.2-153.2). Bertrand has more strikeouts tho with 161, while Latham has 98.
Auburn – While the Tigers’ 39-17 record might not impress people, the wins they have accumulated towards the end of the season show how much they have evolved into a team heading into the postseason. But in the last three weeks, they have defeated top-10 Georgia twice and upset number three Florida in the SEC tournament’s first round. They also gave Tennessee a tough time in the semifinals.
Auburn is an even balanced team offensively, as four of their players have at least 44 hits and seven total have 30 or more. Morgan Estell is hitting .378 and leading the team with 59 hits, including a team-high 17 doubles and tied for the team-high in home runs with six. Kyndall White and Amber Harrison are also tied for the team lead in home runs with six each. Harrison also has 16 doubles, making 22 of her 36 hits either doubles or home runs.
If anyone is looking for the true definition of a three-woman pitching rotation, look no further than the Auburn Tigers. Their three starters have started 19, 19 and 18 games, respectively. Angel Bunner, who has started 19 games, leads the squad in wins with 16 and also has a team-low 1.58 ERA. While Lauren Schmalz has 14 wins, she also has the highest ERA, at 3.11. Jenee Loree is the third on the team with nine wins. The eerie part is that all three have extremely similar strikeout numbers. Schmalz has 143, Bunner 113 and Loree 107.
Tennessee – With their comeback win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, the Vols secured their second conference title, first since 2006. UT has posted some nice wins this year, including one over the Dutch National Team. Including the SEC tourney, the Vols have now defeated LSU, Auburn and Georgia three time each. Continue reading
Michael Wojtychiw 