Posted: May 07, 2012
The NCAA Division III Softball tournament consists of 61 teams from across the country. There are eight regional sites that will compete from May 10-14. The teams that emerge victorious from those regionals will come to Salem, VA from May 18-22 to compete in the finals, held at the Moyer Complex. The finals are hosted by the City of Salem and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC)
The Maroons enter the tournament with a record of 29-9 and earning an automatic bid by winning the OADC Tournament. Forty other teams received automatic bids from their respective tournaments and 18 schools received at-large bids, including Messiah who finished the season with a 35-8 record. The final two schools come from either independent schools, or do not meet the automatic-bid criteria.
With a small squad, Roanoke had to produce big numbers consistently to be able to be in contention for the ODAC and NCAA Tournaments. Felice Lowery led the team this season in hitting, batting .452 over 38 games, with 11 doubles and 37 RBIs. Leona Rainey and Alea Bier each hit over .400, as Rainey led the team in runs (53), home runs (8) and stolen bases (40). Bier ranked second on the team in doubles (15) and on base percentage (.481). Eight Maroons batted at .330 or above, and Kellie Higbie was just short of cracking .300 (.296).
The Maroons had a tough run in the ODAC Tournament, with only 12 players, playing a double-elimination style tournament over the course of four days. Roanoke stayed in the winner's bracket, defeating Randolph (4-1), Eastern Mennonite (7-5) and Bridgewater (3-1). In the Championship game, the Maroons had to play against Bridgewater again to take the title. Roanoke put three runs on the board in the first inning, proving to be the go-ahead runs as the Maroons won the ODAC Championship 7-2 in the Sunday contest.
Roanoke had four players on the ODAC All-Tournament Team. Freshman pitcher, Higbie was named the 2012 Most Outstanding Player, while three other Maroons earned All-Tournament honors for their positions: Lowery (catcher), Stephanie Clark (short stop), and Rainey (center field).
It has been an outstanding season for the Roanoke Softball team as many players have broken or are close to breaking single season and career records for both the school and the ODAC. For example, Higbie picked up her 24th season win against Bridgewater, tying the ODAC record for wins in a season. Also in the ODAC Tournament, Rainey became the third ranked Maroon in history for runs in a season, and is two runs shy of moving into seventh all-time in career runs scored. Before the ODAC Championship game, five Roanoke players combined had cracked the top-10 of 21 career or season records.
When the All-ODAC Softball awards came out on May 4th, three Maroons earned top awards. Head Coach Mike Mitchell was named ODAC Co-Coach of the Year. If Roanoke wins the first round game of regionals, Mitchell will have coached Roanoke to its 10th 30-win season. Higbie was named ODAC Co-Rookie of the Year and Alea Bier was named ODAC/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Top nods in the All-ODAC awards went to seven players being named to the All-ODAC team. Higbie (Pitcher), Lowery (Catcher), Bier (First Base), Rainey (Outfield) and HolleeWarlitner (outfield) were each named to the All-ODAC First Team, while Katherine Kouri (Third Base) and Rhea Schleicher (Outfield) were members of the All-ODAC Third Team.
Roanoke will play at Noon on Thursday May 10th against Messiah. If the Maroons win, they will play at 2:00 PM on Friday, May 11th. If they lose, they will also play on Friday, but in an earlier, 10:00 AM game.
The Regional portion of the tournament will consist of eight teams in a double-elimination format. To see the Maroons' Regional Bracket, Click HERE
For More information on the NCAA Tournament, click HERE. For more information on the regional tournament at CNU, click HERE
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