13th seeded Chiefs set to play highly touted LSU-Eunice

Waubonsee Community College’s softball team will have a tough task in the program’s first game ever at the NJCAA Division II Softball National Championship Tournament. The Chiefs (36-18) received the 13th seed and will face highly touted LSU-Eunice (48-11) in their opening game on Wednesday, May 17, beginning at 1:30 p.m. CT. The fourth-seeded Bengals are the defending National Champions and have won the title four times in the last six years.

The winner will take on the victor between fifth-seeded Des Moines Area (IA.) Community College (46-7) and 12th seeded Mercyhurst (PA.) North East (42-8) on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT. The losers will play each other on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in an elimination game. All the tournament games are being played at Clinton’s Traceway Park in southern Mississippi. Additional information on the tournament can be found on-line at www.NJCAA.org/sports/sball.

Waubonsee is making its first ever appearance in the 16-team, double elimination National Tournament. The Chiefs are coming off a thrilling 2-1 win over Madison (WI.) College (37-19) in the Region IV Division II District B Championship. Waubonsee was the top seed in the District B bracket after capturing the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) title for the seventh straight year. LSU-Eunice blanked Mississippi Gulf Coast College (40-14) in the Region XXIII title game 8-0 to keep alive their hopes of another National Championship.

Coach Perry Clark’s Waubonsee team is led by speedy sophomore centerfielder Courtni Neubauer who is second nationally among all NJCAA Division II players in stolen bases (69) and runs scored (91). The Chiefs’ left-handed leadoff batter is also first nationally in walks (45) and sixth in on-base percentage (.588). Sophomore Ally DeLuca is batting .478 with seven home runs, a team-leading 61 runs batted and a .750 slugging percentage. In addition the right-hander has gone 14-5 in the circle with an earned run average of 2.80, with 119 strikeouts in 117 innings pitched. Freshman Nicole Krupp leads the Chiefs in batting average (.484), hits (75), and slugging percentage (.761) while also smacking seven homers and driving in 53 runs. Additionally Krupp has a dozen pitching victories to her credit over 106 innings pitched. Sophomore catcher Mary Wackerlin is batting .430 with six home runs and a .694 slugging percentage.