Central softball wins GNAC tournament, headed west to regional

There have been 14 GNAC conference tournaments since the conference’s inception during the 2001-2002 school year, and in order to win the conference tournament title, the Wildcats had to make history.

Five days after celebrating their third regular-season conference title in six seasons, Central was staring into the face of being eliminated after its 2-0 loss to Saint Martin’s University.

No team has ever won the double-elimination GNAC Tournament after losing its first game.

“We hit that pitcher pretty well here, but couldn’t get it done there,” said first basemen Kailyn Campbell.

In order to guarantee an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats would have to win four games in a row.

“What I told them was, ‘If there’s anybody that could come back and win this thing, we can,’” said head coach Mike Larabee.

The Wildcats’ mindset was taking the games one at a time, and not worrying about how many games they would have to consecutively win in the GNAC tournament.

Central’s first task was to beat Concordia University, with whom the Wildcats split their four-game season series with.

“The most important game was the very next game we’re gonna play,” Larabee said. “If we can take care of business there, we’ll be playing teams coming off losses.”

Both teams combined for 15 runs on 24 hits. The Wildcats were tied 5-5 going into the fifth but outscored Concordia 4-1 the rest of the game, eliminating them from the tournament.

The Wildcats had to face a familiar foe, Saint Martin’s, in the second game of the day. It was a different result this time for the Wildcats. They won 8-0 behind a three-hit complete game shutout by freshman Kayla Smith.

“I had a pretty confident feeling they weren’t going to be able to come back and shut us down again,” Larabee said.

Even though their goal was winning the GNAC Tournament, Larabee was confident his team could obtain an at-large bid going into the championship game.  

The Wildcats had to beat Western Oregon University twice to win a GNAC Tournament Title. The Wolves won 15 of their last 20 coming into the game.

“You gotta go all out, can’t leave anything on the field,” third basemen, Alexa Olague told GNACSports.com after the team’s win over Saint Martin’s.

The Wildcats won both games, while the offense erupted to out score the Wolves 20-5.

The pitching was just as solid for the Wildcats. Smith pitched a two-run, five-hit complete game moving her record to 8-0 overall. Kiana Wood pitched game two and gave up three runs on five hits moving her record to 18-6.

“[Kiana] really wanted the ball and she threw phenomenal,” Larabee said.

At the end of the weekend, the Wildcats eliminated every team that participated.

“I think it’s pretty impressive, that’s something hard to do,” Larabee said. “You’ve got to play more games than everyone else. It really shows the fight in our players playing for something [that’s] never been done before.”

Olague was the MVP of the tournament. She hit .538 with seven RBIs and three runs scored.

“I’m really happy for Alexa,” Larabee said. “Very well deserving. She’s been solid for us.”

On Monday, the 64-team NCAA Tournament field was announced. The Wildcats got the two-seed in the west. Central was the lone GNAC team in the field. The PacWest had four teams and the California Collegiate Athletic Association had three.

Central opens up against last year’s national championship runner-up Dixie State University on Thursday. In 2014, the Wildcats played the Trail Blazers twice in the West Regional and beat the Wildcats 8-6 and 8-0 in both contests.

“We’re looking to get some revenge on them,” Campbell said.

The Wildcats have a potential rematch against two teams they played this year in the Tournament of Champions.

Central played Azusa Pacific University and beat them 2-1 in eight innings, and in the final game Central lost 3-1 to the University of California San Diego.

What stands out to Larabee about both teams is they have tough left-handed pitchers.

“We definitely have our work cut out for us,”  Larabee said.