BY Chandler St. Louis
Staff Reporter
The Central Washington University softball team has been selected for the NCAA Division II West Regional tournament as the No. 7 seed. The Wildcats will take on Dixie State University this Friday in St. George, Utah at 3:30 p.m. Mountain time
The Wildcats enter the tournament playing well, winning 11 of their last 15 games. The Wildcats finished their season with an impressive 30-18 record. Central looks to continue their strong play as they enter the Regional tournament.
Senior pitcher Maria Gau and senior second baseman Jill McDaniels led the charge for the Wildcats. Gau and McDaniels were both chosen for first-team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honors. Gau was also awarded the GNAC pitcher of the year, finishing the season with a 19-8 record with a 2.95 era and 135 strikeouts. She continues to stay as the workhorse for the Wildcats and looks forward to facing the difficult hitters in the upcoming games.
“My plan is to mix up my pitches to try and keep the hitters off balance,” Gau said. “I know my defense has my back.”
McDaniels plays second base and leads the Wildcats in about every offensive category. She has a .359 batting average, 11 home runs, and 43 RBIs on the season.
As long as these seniors continue their good play, the Wildcats should have a great chance in advancing against Dixie State.
The Wildcats played in the GNAC Championship last weekend where they fell to Western Oregon. However, Central and Western Oregon both qualified for the Regional tournament. Western Oregon earned a spot as the eighth and final seed despite winning the GNAC championship. Western Oregon will play California State Monterey Bay in the first round.
“It was a tough loss in the GNAC Championship but we have mentally refocused and are fired up for the tournament,” Gau said.
The Wildcats are determined to forget about the loss in the GNAC tournament championship and only focus on the regional tournament. The team knows that they can beat anyone when they are playing at full potential. The Wildcats are very excited about being chosen and plan on taking full advantage of the invitation.
Central has played Dixie State only two times and Dixie was victorious each time. The two teams last played in 2011.
Sophomore outfielder Michaela Hazlett has high hopes for the Wildcats.
“We worked really hard this year and deserved this invitation,” Hazlett said. “We have proved that we can always come back no matter the circumstances.”
The formation for the tournament is double elimination. Each team must lose two games to be eliminated. The winner of the Central and Dixie State game will play the winner of Humboldt State against the University of California San Diego.
