by Tyler Scott, KCKCC sports information director
Charlotte, North Carolina – After winning its first district championship since 2004, the No. 16 KCKCC softball team was awarded the No. 9 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Division II Softball National Tournament, which will take place at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama.
The Blue Devils enter the tournament with a 43-14 overall record and open with No. 8 seed and 10th-ranked Triton College out of River Grove, Illinois.
The tournament is double-elimination with the first games beginning Tuesday and the championship game taking place on Saturday.
KCKCC will be counting on its offense to continue where it left off at the district tournament, where it outscored its opponent 19-5 in three games played.
Three Blue Devils in particular are batting at least .400 in McKenna Lester, Bradi Basler and Mckenzie Ogden. Basler (17) and Lester (12) have also each hit double-digit home runs, while Ogden sits two triples away from breaking the program record for most in a Blue Devil uniform.
Lester, Savannah Maynard, Basler and Maya Sheldon have all hit at least 10 doubles on the season. Lester also has a team high 87 hits and 85 RBI.
Basler and Breanna Droge have formed a tandem with a total of 42 wins in the circle and 321 strikeouts.
For Triton College, the Trojans are 49-7 overall. Celeste Boshold is batting .500 to lead the team with 14 home runs and 65 RBI. Katlyn Cherry is second on the team with a .456 batting average and leads the Trojans with 15 home runs. Alyssa Stramaglia and Claire Stillwell are the top two pitchers for Triton with Stramaglia posting a 23-1 record and Stillwell boasting a 12-2 mark. Both have also combined for 402 strikeouts.
If the Blue Devils win, they face a potential match with No. 1 overall seed Des Moines Area College on Wednesday. A loss would put KCKCC in must-win mode for the duration of the championship.
For information on the entire NJCAA Division II Softball National Tournament, visit https://www.njcaa.org/championships/sports/sball/div2/index.
For a look at the entire bracket of teams, visit https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/r/i/havw6yruqhwymp/2022_DII_Softball_Championship_-_Bracket_v3.pdf.