Plains District Championship Preview: vs Northeastern (CO)

Plains District Championship

Northeastern (CO) vs #15 Butler

May 13th-14th

Game One: 1:00 PM, May 13th

Game Two: 3:30 PM, May 13th

Game Three: 12:00 PM, May 14th (If needed)

Location: East Park, El Dorado, KS

Watch Live: butlergrizzlies.com/watchlive

Massey Ratings Series Prediction: Butler wins 2-0 (Game One: Butler 9-8, Game Two: Butler 10-5)

Massey Ratings Chance to Win Series: Butler 83%, Northeastern 17%

OPENING NOTES

• The Region VI Champion and 15th ranked Butler Grizzlies and the Region XI Champion, Northeastern Plainswomen with the teams battling to secure a place in the NJCAA Div. I Softball National Tournament in Oxford, Alabama
• The series is best of three, with games one and two taking place on Saturday and an if needed game three being played on Sunday
• #15 Butler defeated #14 Hutchinson to win the Region VI Title, making it nine wins for the Grizzlies over nationally ranked opponents this season 
• With the two defeats of Hutchinson in the region tournament, Butler saw their Massey Ratings RPI rise three spots from 21st to 18th in NJCAA DI Softball
  • Butler has the highest RPI of any team in Region VI, the next closest team being Hutchinson who is 26th
• The Butler Softball team has now won 40+ games in seven consecutive years
• Butler has won 14 straight games and has not lost since April 12th at Colby
• Butler has now won 21 straight Region VI Playoff games
• The Grizzlies have been ranked as high as #13 in the national poll this season
• Butler is 9-7 against ranked opponents this season and 36-3 against unranked opponents (losses are at Barton, at Colby, and at Cowley) 
• Butler is ranked 13th in power to score in NJCAA Division I
• Butler's strength of schedule (SOS) is ranked 62nd by Massey Ratings, Northeastern's SOS is 133rd
• Against common opponents, Butler is 8-0 and Northeastern is 4-4. Those teams being Seward and Garden City

Last action for the Grizzlies 

Sunday, May 9th | Region VI Championship | #2 Butler 6, #1 Hutchinson 5

• The Butler Softball team claimed their seventh straight Region VI Title with a win in the championship over Hutchinson last Sunday
• Emma Koeneke collected the win, her 15th of the year while Allyson Montgomery earned her second save of the season
• Cady Dickey recorded the go-ahead and game winning RBI single in the top of the seventh when she drove in Briona Woods from second
• Amayiah Hall had a game saving throw out at home from right field in the sixth that preserved a 5-5 tie
• Kendyl Anderson hit a huge pinch-hit, two RBI single in the fourth
• The Grizzlies finished the year going 4-2 against Hutchinson
• Butler is the first non-KJCCC Champion to win the Region VI Title since 2015 when Barton won it as a four-seed

THE OPPONENT

• The Region IX Champion Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen hail from Sterling, Colorado, about an eight-hour drive from El Dorado
• Northeastern finished with an overall record of 38-12 and went 28-5 in Region IX play this season
• The Plainswomen won both the Region IX Title and had the best record of all teams in the region
• This is the first Region IX Softball Title that Northeastern has won
• Northeastern defeated #2 seeded Trinidad State to win the title
• The Plainswomen have won four straight games and eight of their last ten
• Northeastern has a Massey Ratings RPI ranking of 87th, up two spots from last week
  • For comparison, Trinidad State is ranked 83rd, and Barton is ranked 78th
• Northeastern is 4-4 against opponents that Butler also played, those opponents being Seward and Garden City
• The Plainswomen are 17-9 on the road this season
• Four different Plainswomen are batting over 0.500 on the season (Ayva Mccomas, Addy Deal, Rylyn Nelson, and Jacquelynn Siefken)
• Mccomas is tied for second in the nation in home runs with 35 and is fourth in nation in batting average, hitting 0.562
• Northeastern is ranked 53rd in power to score

A STRING OF DOMINANCE

• Butler Softball has won seven straight Region VI Titles and 13 in program history
• Since the creation of the Region VI/IX Plains District Championship in 2013, Region VI has won eight of the nine district titles
• Butler has won all eight of those district titles
• The Grizzlies are 16-1 in district championship games over that time

FLAMIN' HOT CHEETO

• Butler pitcher Emma 'Cheeto' Koeneke has been excellent in her last nine appearances
• Over those nine appearances, she has a 5-0 record, has thrown 32.1 innings, has an ERA of 1.74, has struck out 33 batters
• Since her 0-3 start to the year, Emma has a pitching record of 15-2 with an ERA of 2.58 

ALL HAIL THE STRIKEOUT QUEEN

• Starting pitcher Allyson Montgomery is the all-time strikeout leader in the history of the Butler Softball program. She now has 383 strikeouts in her Grizzly career, breaking the record of 374 set by Lauren Supak this past Saturday against Colby
• Her 231 strikeouts this season are the second most by a Grizzly pitcher in a single year. She now only trails the great Maggie Ham's masterful 2012 season where Ham struck out 288 batters
• In 32 appearances this season, Montgomery has a record of 24-3, 149.2 innings pitched, an ERA of 1.96, and a K/7 of 10.80
  • Across her last six starts, Montgomery has a record of 5-0, pitched 21.2 innings, has an ERA of 0.33, and has struck out 38 batters
• Montgomery is t-7th in the nation in wins with 24, her 231 strikeouts is 7th in the country this year, and her K/7 of 10.80 is 7th

REECE'S PUFFS

• Over her last 31 games played, sophomore Reece Briggs has been on fire at the plate. She has a batting average of 0.523 (45-86), recording 42 RBIs with 10 doubles and 9 homers

A BAT THAT'S HOT

• Shortstop Aly Hageman extended her hit streak to nine games on Sunday against Hutch
• In her last nine games, the freshman is batting 0.518 (14-27), with two doubles, nine RBIs, and has drawn five walks

SPEED KILLS

• Jakeyla McDaniel and Amayiah Hall have combined to steal 70 bases this season and the Grizzlies as a team rank 16th in all of NJCAA DI with 147 stolen bases

TEAM LEADERS AS OF 5/9:

HITTING

Batting Average: Briona Woods: 0.453

RBIs: Ryanna Valdivia: 77

Hits: Tied: 73 by Briona Woods and Jakeyla McDaniel

Runs Scored: Briona Woods: 70

Doubles: Ryanna Valdivia: 20

Triples: Jakeyla McDaniel: 5

Home Runs: Ryanna Valdivia: 21

Walks Drawn: Ryanna Valdivia: 32

PITCHING

Innings Pitched: Allyson Montgomery: 149.2

Wins: Allyson Montgomery: 24

Saves: Lena Walter: 4

Strikeouts: Allyson Montgomery: 231

ERA: Allyson Montgomery: 1.96

Fewest BBs Issued (Min. 50 IP): Emma Koeneke: 47

Complete Games: Allyson Montgomery: 13

LOOKING AHEAD

If the Grizzlies win the series, they will advance to the national tournament for the seventh straight year and lay claim to their seventh straight Plains District Championship. The NJCAA Division I Softball National Tournament is in Oxford, Alabama and runs May 23rd-27th. A loss in the series would end the Grizzlies season, as there are currently no at-large bids to the softball national tournament