So close, yet so far... that was the case for the Lady Trojans softball team's quest for a Region IX championship against defending champs Western Nebraska Community College. The Lady Cougars used a 3-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning to capture a 4-3 win over Trinidad State on Saturday in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
The game was a pitching duel between Trinidad's Jessica Salbato and Western's two pitchers Andy Hancock and Whitney Fields. Between the three pitchers, the two teams only managed five hits all day. TSJC had two with one being a 3-run homerun from freshman Olivia Muniz while WNCC scattered three hits, one being a 3-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth inning that sealed the win.
The day before, TSJC split with WNCC winning game one 7-4 behind a 2-run homerun from sophomore Elizabeth Aguilar and dropped the second game 6-2 to force a deciding game on Saturday.
Trinidad State advanced to the championship series with a sweep over McCook Community College earlier in the week by the scores of 11-3 and 3-1.
The Lady Trojans ended their season with most wins in school history (39). They also set new all-time school hitting records with home runs (79), hits (546), runs scored (407) and highest team batting average of .355.
Salbato put herself in the schools record books with 39 wins over her two years at TSJC. She was 22-7 this year, and the 39 career wins ties her with former TSJC standout pitcher Kaycee Prevedel on the all-time charts for most wins in a career. She was also selected for the second straight year as an All-Region pitcher.
Sophomore Samantha Glover hit .390, had 7 homeruns, 10 doubles and 62 hits. She earned All-Region honors as an outfielder.
Isabella Navarro was selected All-Region as an infielder and also was voted "Freshman-of-the-Year" by the Region IX coaches. Navarro led the team with 17 homeruns and that put her second in school history for homeruns in a season. She also had the highest batting average this season hitting .477 and most hits with 82, tied for doubles with 16 and second in RBIs with 51.
Other players who had outstanding seasons were sophomore Elizabeth Aguilar, finishing second in batting average hitting .436 with 9 homeruns, 79 hits and 16 doubles. Freshman Olivia Muniz hit .404 with 10 homeruns and 36 RBIs. Sophomore Courtney Vigil hit .388 with 9 homeruns, 69 hits and 39 RBIs. Freshman Chelsey Runyon was second in homeruns with 13, led the team in RBIs with 55, had 57 hits and ended the year hitting .377, and sophomore pitcher Demi Madalena finished the season with 15 wins in the circle for the Lady Trojans.
"I couldn't be more proud of these great young ladies who gave me their all," Coach Steve Swazo said. "Their drive and commitment was awesome. They came together as a team and it showed all year. To my graduating sophomores, thank you for two awesome years and some great memories. To my returning freshmen, let's get it done next year; it's your turn. One thing I know is that each of these young women will be successful in life and for me, that means more than wins or championships."