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 Follow @MCCTigers_SB, 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 |
ICCAC - New Article - Division I Softball Tournament To Begin Monday
— ICCAC Sports (@ICCACSports) April 28, 2017
- https://t.co/BGa4Brg4hw pic.twitter.com/S31xuJuSTD
