COLUMBIA, Tenn. — Walters State enters the 2019 TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament at Columbia State's Eddie Campbell Field in the same position it was in last year, as the No. 2 seed.
Lady Senators coach Larry Sauceman and his team hope things work out just like it did last year, as WSCC swept through the tournament at Chattanooga State and defeated Cleveland State in the championship game for its third NJCAA National Tournament appearance in program history.
Walters State (32-17) has won all three Region VII titles in the last seven seasons, claiming the first in 2013 and the second in 2016. In order to make it four this week, the Lady Senators will need to continue their recent torrid streak which saw them win their last seven games, five by the mercy rule, while scoring at least eight runs in each of those seven wins.
The Lady Senators do not know their first opponent, but it will be one of three teams, as the No. 2 seed will take on the highest remaining seed of the two play-in games, which will be contested on Sunday. WSCC's opening game will be Monday at 12:30 p.m. CT, and they will face either No. 7 Cleveland State (22-20), No. 8 Roane State (14-22) or No. 9 Jackson State (17-29).
Roane State and Jackson State play in the tournament's opening elimination game on Sunday, while Cleveland State faces No. 10 Southwest Tennessee (29-26) in the second elimination game. If Southwest Tennessee wins its game, the Lady Saluqis would take on No. 1 seed Chattanooga State (38-8) on Monday morning. Chattanooga State will face the lowest remaining seed of the play-in winners, with Walters State getting the other play-in game victor.
Sunday's other opening round games will feature No. 4 Motlow State (22-22) taking on No. 5 Dyersburg State (22-17), while No. 3 Volunteer State (25-16) will battle No. 6 and tournament host Columbia State (20-25) in the final game of the day.
The tournament will see two teams eliminated on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before the final two elimination games happen on Wednesday and set up Thursday's championship game at 12:30 p.m. If the winner of the championship game comes from the loser's bracket, then the if necessary championship game would follow at 3 p.m.
The Lady Senators are led at the plate by sophomore Keeley Quillen, who has batted .452 this season while bashing 14 home runs and driving in 40 runs in 48 games. Freshman Kallyn Newport added eight homers this season, while freshmen Lauren Brickey bashed seven round trippers and Mia Edwardson took the 240-foot slo trot six times this campaign. Freshman Sydney Dukes follows Quillen in batting average at .395, while rookie Jenica Brown is at .369, Newport at .341 and fellow freshman Sydney Fox at .338. Fox was a late season catalyst, upping her home run total to four and RBI total to 35, which is tied with Dukes for second on the team.
Delilah Malczewski and Brickey will be the workhorses inside the pitcher's circle, with Malczewski compiling a 16-8 record and 3.30 earned run average in 146 1/3 innings this season. The sophomore lefty allowed 172 hits, 104 runs (69 earned), 36 walks and had 81 strikeouts this season. Brickey is 11-4 on the year after working 96 2/3 innings with a 2.82 ERA and giving up 90 hits, 47 runs (39 earned), 21 walks and notching 58 strikeouts. Raylon Smith (5-4) is another option, having posted a 3.55 ERA in 49 1/3 innings, allowing 42 runs (25 earned) on 62 hits with 17 strikeouts and 12 walks.
The Lady Senators finished the regular season at 22-9 in league play, while Chattanooga State was tops in the league at 23-5. Volunteer State (19-13) and Motlow State (16-13) were the only other teams in the league to have a winning record in region play.
The winner of the tournament will qualify for the NJCAA Division I Softball National Championships to be held on May 22-25 at the Canyons Complex in St. George, Utah.