Grizzlies head to Yuma as the No. 6 seed
The Butler Grizzlies will head to Yuma, Arizona as the No. 6 seed next week as they return to the NJCAA National Softball Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. The Grizzlies will take on the No. 11 seed Central Florida, winners of the South Atlantic A District, on Tuesday, May 24th at 4:00pm at Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex.
The Grizzlies head to Yuma on the back of a 48-2 record, and a 30-2 conference record that saw the Grizzlies clinch their 11th straight KJCCC regular season title. They went to Dodge City for the Region VI Tournament and defeated Northwest Tech, Barton, and Seward in consecutive games to clinch their sixth straight Region title, before punching their ticket to the national stage with a pair of victories in Nebraska against the McCook Indians.
The Grizzlies have been led all year by their third year players, including KJCCC MVP shortstop Madi Young and KJCCC First Team second baseman Emily Adler. The two super sophomores will return to Yuma with a new focus as they try to wrap up the title after placing fifth at Yuma a season ago.
"I just feel like we overhyped nationals last year," said Young. "I came in very amped up, but it's just five more games. This year, I'm just trying to say 'Hey, it's just five more games to have fun and play with your team and just don't overcomplicate it.'"
"I'm blessed to be here for a third year and just have another chance to play since that COVID year with this team and with the coaching staff," said Adler. "We just have to play our game and stay within ourselves, and then you know, success will happen."
It will be nothing new for Head Coach Doug Chance, the winningest head coach in Butler softball history. It will be his twelfth trip to the national stage in his 18 years as a head coach. The Grizzlies are 22-18 in National Tournament games and are 5-2 against teams from Florida.
"I was asked after the Region Championship why we didn't just go crazy, and I think the majority of our girls know that the region title was just another box to check. With a lot of third year kids on this team, there's so much maturity that they just take care of business."
The Grizzlies make it back to Yuma despite replacing the entire 2021 pitching staff. Freshmen Emma Koeneke and Allyson Montgomery came in as starters and dominated all season in their first year of collegiate softball, as they each made the KJCCC All Conference first team. Koeneke finished with a record of 25-1 while Montgomery finished undefeated, with 22 wins and 0 losses in 24 appearances.
"Pitching was the biggest question mark coming in, whether or not we'd pitch well against the better teams," Chance said, "and we faced them up against the University of Arkansas and Kansas and Louisiana Tech and great teams like that in the Fall, it slows the game down for you. They've steadily progressed all year long and I think next year is going to be even better."
The Grizzlies will be the six seed in the tournament. They will start play with a game on Tuesday against the 11th seeded Central Florida Patriots. The Patriots come into Yuma with a 45-16 record and the No. 11 seed.
"You can look at stats and find video but you never really know until you get there," Chance said. "So we don't really worry about the other team. We just have to go out there and be the best that we can at any given day."
"Our goal is just to have fun," Young said. "Doesn't matter who we play, we're just going to go out there and do our thing."
"We definitely have good chemistry. I think everyone is learning to play for the people beside them, and we've all embraced that," finished Adler.
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