The Western Nebraska Community College softball team will be looking for a Region IX title when they begin play at the Region IX tournament on Friday in McCook.
The Cougars will open the double-elimination tournament Friday morning at 10 a.m. when they face Northeastern Junior College, a team they have beat four times this year.
"I think for us to win and bring home a title, we will just have to play together and play from the heart," Emma Schweitzer said. "That is the main thing about Cougar softball is playing from the heart and really being together as a team and doing stuff for each other and not ourselves. We have to not have selfish at bats. We just have to take one for the team and doing stuff for each other and not individualize anything."
Still, no one team in the Region IX tournament can be taken lightly as this year's tournament is up for grabs.
NJC and WNCC kick off the tournament at 10 a.m. with the winner facing the top seed McCook Community College at 3 p.m. in the winner's bracket. The other game pits Otero College against Trinidad State College at 12:30 p.m. The winners of the two afternoon games will face each other in the winner bracket finals on Saturday at 11 a.m.
The loser of the NJC/WNCC contest will face the loser of the Otero/Trinidad game on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The championship is slated for Sunday with an if-necessary game later that day.
The winner of the Region IX title will host the winner of the Kansas region next weekend with the winner qualifying for the national title in Yuma, Arizona.
WNCC is one of the hottest teams in the region along with several other teams. WNCC enters regionals with a 24-28 record. WNCC ended the regular season falling three times to McCook. Before that, though, the Cougars had a five-game winning streak. WNCC also took four of five from NJC.
NJC will be a team WNCC knows a lot about. WNCC lost 10-6 to the Plainswomen on April 15 and then won the next three in the four-game series at Volunteer Field 7-5, 11-3, and 10-9. Two of those wins came on walk-off hits. WNCC then topped NJC 5-2 at Sterling in a make-up game on April 19.
"Our first-round opponent is NJC and they obviously are a tough team, but we have beat them before," Schweitzer said. "I think as long as we come out playing our game and staying in control of us, we will be perfectly fine."
Schweitzer said the team is playing well and they need to continue playing like they are capable of.
"After McCook last weekend we were a little rough, but I think it will make us stronger in the end anyway," she said. "I think at the moment and going into this weekend, we are going to be extremely strong."
WNCC is led by seven players that have a batting average over .300. Victoria Wharton leads the team with a .451 average and the outfielder has scored 46 runs and swiped 30 bases. Erin Hanafin is next at .390 with 49 RBIs and 39 runs scored with for home runs.
Also in the mix of 300-plus hitters are Macyn Hartman at .376, Bella Coffman at .257, Taylor Klein at .329, and Lexi Butterfield at .303.
WNCC had his 35 home runs this season led by Hanafin with 11 followed by Butterfield with five, and four each from Hartman, Klein, and Bella Mumford.
But while the Cougars have had home runs, the thing that stands out about this team is the ability to get base hits. WNCC has 88 doubles on the season as Hartman leads with 17 followed by Butterfield with 14, Klein with 12, and Wharton with 10.
WNCC's speed is also a factor as the Cougars have swiped 101 bases this season.
The last time the Cougars won a Region IX title was 2019 when they beat McCook 14-5 in the championship game that was played at Volunteer Field. WNCC then hosted Butler Community College in the district finals and fell to the perennial national tournament team 5-4 and 8-5.
This season, it is possible for the Cougars to bring home a regional title, but Schweitzer said the team just needs to stay within what they do best.
"I think the biggest keys is controlling what we can control, staying together, and probably going all out every single inning," she said.