Softball Team Fourth at Nationals

FORT DODGE, Iowa — The Lady Tiger softball team had its magical season come to an end with a fourth-place finish at the national championships in Fort Dodge, Iowa. After winning two of three games on the first day of the tournament, the Lady Tigers began day two with a thrilling 2-1 win over Oakland Community College of Michigan. Cowley trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but rallied for a run in both the fifth and sixth innings to win. Winfield native Mandy Huffman’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth turned out to be the game winner. Ashly Bright picked up the win on the mound as she allowed just five hits and one run, while striking out seven and walking one.

Cowley then picked up its third run-rule win of the Division II National Junior College Athletic Association tournament as it beat Owens Community College of Ohio 10-0 in five innings. Bright pitched the first three innings to earn the win. With the victory, Bright broke former Lady Tiger Linzee Roby’s school record for wins with 35. Cowley, which finished third in the final regular season national poll, advanced to play second-ranked Parkland College (Ill.) in the final game of the day. The Lady Cobras hit three home runs off Bright (35-6), and scored four runs in the third inning, one in the sixth, and four in the seventh as they built a 9-0 lead. After managing just two hits off Parkland pitcher Holly Walden through the game’s first six innings, Cowley kept fighting and scored four runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh inning before Walden got Cortney Channell to fly out with runners at first and third.

Cowley opened the tournament with a 12-0 win over the Community College of Baltimore County (Catonsville, Md.), and then lost to the eventual national champion, Phoenix College (Ariz.), 5-0. The Lady Tigers advanced to the second day of play by beating Kankakee Community College of Illinois 11-0 in their third game of the tourney. Bright, who was named to the all-tournament team along with Angela Meeker, finished her freshman season at Cowley with a record of 35-6. Bright picked up all four wins at the tournament and went 8-for-21 with a home run and five runs batted in at the plate. Meeker went 9-for-16 with four doubles and six runs batted in during the tournament.

After starting the season with a 9-6 record, Cowley won 44 of its final 49 games to finish with a record of 53-11. The 53 victories tie the school record set in 2003. Cowley also went unbeaten in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division (18-0) for the first time in the program’s history. Cowley head coach Ed Hargrove, who earlier in the season picked up his 700th win at the school, was named the Jayhawk East Coach of the Year.

Summer 2005