The MCC softball team opens up the four-team Region XI Tournament Friday morning
The MCC softball team opens up the four-team Region XI Tournament Friday morning
April 27, 2017

PREVIEW: Tigers gear up for another Region XI Tournament run

There are far worse ways to enter postseason play than to end the regular season on a four-game winning streak, but that is the route the Marshalltown Community College softball team has taken as the Tigers open up the NJCAA Region XI Division I Tournament Monday afternoon in Council Bluffs, IA.

2017 NJCAA Region XI Division I Softball Tournament Bracket

There are far worse ways to enter postseason play than to end the regular season on a four-game winning streak, but that is the route the Marshalltown Community College softball team has taken as the Tigers open up the NJCAA Region XI Division I Tournament Monday afternoon in Council Bluffs, IA.

Despite dealing with multiple schedule changes and adjustments due to unfavorable weather, MCC enters the double-elimination tournament as the No. 4 seed and will square off with top-seeded Indian Hills Community College at 2:00 PM Monday afternoon at the Reiver Sports Complex in Council Bluffs, IA. Tournament host Iowa Western Community College will be the No. 2 seed followed by third-seeded Southeastern Community College.

The Tigers (23-17/3-9) capped off a strong run to end the regular season with two wins at Ellsworth Community College on Wednesday. The 23 wins this year, paired with 29 wins from a year ago have made it the most successful two-year run in program history.

Making the program's third appearance at the Region XI Tournament as members of the NJCAA Division I, the Tigers look to build off of a thrilling run through the 2016 tournament. Playing as the No. 5 seed in last year's tournament, the Tigers rattled off a pair of wins to finish third.

A new year has a similar feel to it as this year's team has been led by a series of Tigers who played exceptionally well as freshman last year. Sophomores Courtney Fudge (Pleasant Hill, IA/Des Moines East), Lexie Valentine (Des Moines, IA/Saydel), and Tess Cheetham (Oceanside, CA/Oceanside) are all batting .358 or higher, an improvement on each player's mark from last season.

Along with the sophomore class, the Tigers will rely heavily on the bat of freshman sensation Shaena Robinson (Gardnerville, NV/Douglas) who boasts the top offensive numbers in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC). Robinson finished the year with a slash line of .496/.550/.985 which all rank first in the conference along with a league best 16 home runs.

A pair of sophomores- Paige Taylor (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Terry Fox) and Jordan Carter (Sigourney, IA/Sigourney) carry the Tigers into postseason play in the circle, combining to win 22 games while striking out 157 batters.

Indian Hills, winners of the regular season Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) crown for the third-straight year, enter Friday's matchup having taken four regular season games from the Tigers.

Live video coverage along with live stats will be available throughout the tournament.

With unfavorable weather looming over the  Council Bluffs area on Monday, be sure to stay up to date with all of your MCC softball news, schedule changes, and more at www.mccathletics.com, follow the Tigers on Twitter , like Marshalltown Community College Athletics on Facebook, and follow the Tigers on Instagram: MCC_Tigers

Category      MCC    IHCC    IWCC    SECC
Overall Record    23-17   25-13 34-12 26-18
     Conference 3-9 9-3 8-4 4-8
     Non-conference    20-8 16-10 26-8 22-10
     Home 7-5 10-3 14-1 5-5
     Away 9-7 14-10 18-10 10-10
     Neutral 7-5 1-0 2-1 11-3
Runs Scored 274 229 372 298
Batting Average .355 .345 .363 .343
On Base Percentage .413 .412 .413 .400
Slugging Percentage     .553 .521 .540 .504
Home Runs 39 40 31 36
Extra Base Hits 133 94 158 130
Earned Run Average 4.17 3.26 2.50 3.22
Pitching Strikeouts 163 148 258 230