To the surprise of very few people, the Lady Wranglers are officially the No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Division I Softball World Series.
The Odessa College softball team learned of its spot in next week’s tournament while watching a broadcast of the bracket release at a watch party Friday morning at the Saulsbury Campus Center.
The Lady Wranglers, who are the No. 1-ranked team in the nation- were the first team to pop up on the screen as the top seed in the bracket, as the players began to cheer.
“I’m excited but not surprised,” Odessa College head coach Jeff Jackson said. “I think our girls have done a really good job of deserving that opportunity. I was glad to see that they got rewarded.”
The Lady Wranglers enter the tournament with a 51-4 overall record, having won 29 straight and are coming off this past weekend’s Region V West Tournament title, defeating Midland College 11-2 in the championship.
It is the third consecutive appearance in the NJCAA World Series for Odessa College as the Lady Wranglers finished third in last year’s tournament.
They will face the No. 16 seed Gordon State (23-22) at 12 p.m. May 23 in the first game of the tournament at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.
“We weren’t really doing any sort of deep dives in the bracket or into the matchups until we figured out what the actual bracket was,” Jackson said. “We don’t want to assume anything. I don’t know much about them but we’ll find out soon.”
The seeding may not have been a surprise but the players were still excited to see themselves as the No. 1 seed.
“It’s pretty cool,” Odessa College shortstop sophomore Kawehi Ili said. “It’s nice seeing us at the No. 1 seed. It’s something that we’ve worked very hard for. It’s cool to see everything paying off.”
The Gordon State Highlanders are coming off a 4-2 upset win over Georgia Military College in the Region XVII Tournament championship last weekend.
The Highlanders began the tournament with an 8-2 win over Georgia Military in the first game, then defeated Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, 8-7.
Georgia Military College defeated Gordon State 13-9 to force a winner-take-all showdown on May 13 in the double-elimination tournament format where the Highlanders managed to hold on for the two-run victory.
“I know Georgia Military is always coming out of that district,” Jackson said. “Gordon State upsetting them, I thought they played some really good games. Now we’ll dive deeper into who they are and how we match up against them.”
A victory over Gordon State College in the first round could set up a potential matchup against NJCAA powerhouse Butler College.
The Lady Grizzlies won back-to-back national championships back in 2016 and 2017 and are regulars to the NJCAA World Series each year.
Butler College (45-10) enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9 seed Southern Idaho (45-16) on May 23.
The Lady Wranglers faced the Lady Grizzlies earlier this year, defeating Butler, 11-3 in a tournament game on Jan. 29 in Waco.
“Butler’s a historic program,” Jackson said. “They have a lot of success. We were fortunate to match up with them in the opening weekend. We run-ruled them. We played great softball against them. They’re also a different team as are we. Who people are at the beginning of the season isn’t the same at the end of the season. We’re going to take everything with a grain of salt and not assuming anything. We’re not going to overanalyze things and play our game.”
For now, the Lady Wranglers are only focused on their first round game.
Ili was a part of last year’s team that made it to the semifinals.
“I think we just need to go in with each other,” Ili said. “Going in as a team and playing every game like we have been playing the whole season is the goal. We just need to stick to our game and our mindset and that’ll help us get as far as we can.”
Odessa College will leave for Alabama early Saturday morning to begin the 16-hour drive.
“We’re trying to break everything up into a couple of breaks every six or seven hours,” Jackson said. “Then hopefully, after we get some dinner, we’ll have about a three-hour trip to finish it out. It’ll be a late night, that’s for sure.”
The location of this year’s NJCAA World Series is a change in scenery.
Last year, Yuma, Ariz hosted the national championships.
Jackson and his players don’t care where the tournament is, as long as they’re competing for a championship.
“I’ve heard nothing but good things about the ballpark in Oxford, Ala.,” Jackson said. “We’re excited to get out there. It’s a different climate than it is here. Everything that I’ve heard goes back to it’s a really beautiful facility and they do a good job of maintaining the place and that it’s a great experience.”
On the other side of the bracket is defending national champions Florida Southwestern (49-5) as the No. 2 seed as the Buccaneers will face 15-seed Gaston.
Florida Southwestern defeated Odessa College in an elimination game last year.
However, the Lady Wranglers are hopeful that last year’s run can help them go one step further next week.
“I’m excited for it,” Ili said. “We went a long way last year. We want to complete what is expected of us this year. Having experienced is probably the biggest thing for us this year.”
