Underway this week in Oxford, AL (near Anniston). The State of Florida sends two teams. This year they are: 2-time defending NJCAA champion and #2 ranked Florida Southwestern College (from Fort Meyers) who are trying to 3-peat, and - making their first-ever NJCAA tournament appearance - upstart #5 ranked Northwest Florida State College from Niceville (Sam Roe's hometown). Both teams are still alive in the double-elimination tourney as it progresses through today's elimination rounds. This morning, NWF dropped their quarterfinal game 6-4 against top-ranked Odessa College. FlaSW then won their quarterfinal game against #6 Grayson College and will face Odessa in tomorrow's winner's bracket semifinal. NWF will play a loser's bracket quarterfinal elimination game this evening (Thursday) at about 9pm EDT. Their opponent is TBD.
Friday morning update: only 4 teams remain. Florida Southwestern plays at 1pm EDT againt Odessa College for a spot in the national finals. Late last night, NW Florida played a tense elimination game against Seminole State (Oklahoma). Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th, NWF loaded the bases with 2outs. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, their battter grounded a sharp 2-run single up the middle and NWF walked off with a 3-2 win. NWF will play an elimination game against Grayson College at 3pm EDT. The winner will play for the other spot in the national finals at 6pm against the loser of the FloridaSW-Odessa game.
Friday evening update: the teams in the NJCAA national finals are set for Saturday. In the winner's bracket finale, #2 ranked and defending NJCAA champs Florida Southwestern completely dominated #1 ranked Odessa College. The Buccaneers scored 4 runs in the 3rd inning, 6 more in the 4th, and 1 more in the 5th while shutting out Odessa enroute to an 11-0 run-rule decision. The loss dropped Odessa into the loser's bracket semifinal later that evening. In the loser's bracket, #5 NWF continued their first-ever tournament appearance by handling #6 Grayson College 7-4. Soon thereafter, the loser's bracket semifinal saw NWF jump ahead of Odessa 4-0 in the 2nd inning. Odessa chipped the lead down to 4-3 by the 6th inning, but NWF scored an insurance run in the bottom of the 6th and Odessa went quietly in the 7th for a 5-3 NWF win. So, the NJCAA softball championship will be an all-Florida affair - FSW vs NWF - and a repeat of the Florida junior college championship just two weeks ago in Clermont. There, FSW beat NWF 8-2. Now, undefeated FSW needs just one win to claim the national trophy, while once-beaten NWF would have to win twice against FSW. The game will be at 1pm EDT. As a NWF fan, I hope the second game will be needed. It would start at 4pm.
Why? Because the only other college softball team in this state that I care about underperformed all year and then got their butts unceremoniously bounced out of the post-season a week ago. Final update: it was a slugfest with five homeruns between the two teams. NW Florida almost tied it with a grand slam in the 5th, but it was caught at the fence. Congrats to Florida Southwestern, who defeated NWF 10-6 to win their third consecutive NJCAA championship.
Thank you for the update and play by play. These young ladies work as hard as the 4 year school players but do so for the love of the game. Talent is not there but the desire sure is!
