By Monty Franks
sports@joplinglobe.com
PLANT CITY, Fla. — After earning their second consecutive trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I Fast Pitch Tournament at the Plant City Softball Complex, Northeastern A&M;’s Lady Norse received the ninth seed to start the three-day tournament.
Coach Eric Iverson’s Lady Norse open the 16-team double-elimination tournament today by facing eighth seed Midland, Texas at 10 a.m.
The Lady Norse have won six straight games while compiling a 36-11 season record. NEO defeated Connors State 7-6 to win the Region II crown on May 4 in Oklahoma City.
Last season the Lady Norse made the 26-hour trek to Plant City as the sixth seed in the tournament. A no-hitter by Kelcey Caven led the eighth seeded North Idaho College Lady Cardinals to a 4-0 victory over the Lady Norse for fourth place in the nation with a 54-7 overall record.
“We’ve constantly coached our girls to go out and play their game,” Iverson said. “They did that after we got off to a 1-6 record to start the season and they really did it in sweeping the regional in four games.
“We aren’t going to change who we are,” Iverson said. “Our strong points are good pitching, fundamental defense and timely hitting.”
After finishing the regular season ranked 17th in the nation, the Midland Chaparrals are 41-17. Coach Tommy Ramos’ Lady Chaps won the Region V Western Texas Junior College Athletic Conference title with a 7-5 decision over Clarendon.
The Lady Chaps are led by freshman pitcher Alex Riedeman of Snohomish, Wash. Riedeman has a 14-2 record with a 2.75 earned run average in 103.2 innings.
“On paper, this appears to be a continuation of our regional in that neither team has a true power pitcher,” Iverson said. “We match up very well with them if we go out and play our game.”
Sophomore right-hander Faith Richmond of Greenwood, Ark., leads the Lady Norse pitching staff with a 14-5 record and a 2.05 ERA in 109.1 innings. Richmond has recorded 99 strikeouts. Freshman Brittany Plaisted of Grove has a 13-3 record and a 2.16 ERA in 87.2 innings.
Another freshman, Taylor Rolland of Broken Arrow, has posted a 9-3 mark in 89 innings with a 2.67 ERA. Rolland won three of the four regional games.
“Our pitching staff is so versatile that we can throw a different look with each pitcher,” Iverson said. “They each have an effective out pitch.”
The Lady Norse offense is led by sophomore shortstop Shea Peterson of Broken Arrow. She’s batting .474 with team-high totals of 37 RBI, eight home runs and 36 runs scores.
Sophomore right fielder KaeLani Bryan of Picher has a .363 average with 14 RBI and 18 runs scored.
Freshman first baseman Ali Seibel of Enid is hitting .348 while leading the team with 10 doubles and 26 RBI.
First-year catcher Cara Dearmore of Coweta has a .363 average with five home runs, 33 runs batted in and 26 runs scored.
Sophomore left fielder Tia Reich of Broken Arrow is hitting .361 with 14 RBI and 19 runs scored.
Miami product Kyrie Panter, a freshman third baseman, leads the Lady Norse with 13 stolen bases and 37 runs scored while hitting .277 with 17 RBI.
Sophomore rightfielder Leslie Hobbs of Bristow is hitting .326 with two home runs and nine stolen bases. Hobbs has eight doubles with 23 RBI and 26 runs scored.
Veteran centerfielder Erin Eddy of Broken Arrow bats in the ninth position for NEO. Eddy has the only Lady Norse triple with six doubles and two home runs while hitting .258.
“We’ve got seven sophomores that made this trip last year,” Iverson said. “They should be a stabilizing factor going into the tournament.”
Elimination games start at 5 p.m. Thursday. The NEO-Midland loser faces the No. 1 seed Santa Fe, Fla. (56-3-1)-No. 16 seed Spartanburg, S.C. (34-11) loser.
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