Lady Cardinals are two wins away from Nationals

PARK HILLS — After Saturday’s stunning recovery to win the Region 16 championship, the Mineral Area College Lady Cardinals softball team still has some work cut out for them before they secure a berth in the NJCAA Division 2 National Championship Tournament to be held in Bloomington, Illinois, starting May 14.

In their path stands the Murray State Lady Aggies who will play the Lady Cardinals in a best-of-three series starting on Friday at 3 p.m. to be played at the Farmington Sports Complex.

Several Lady Cardinals received special honors for their play so far this season. Eight of the team’s first year players were selected by the MCCAC Conference Softball Coaches with infielders Amy Allgier, Jessica Bartlett, and pitcher Jackie Higdon being named to the  All-Conference First Team. Outfielder Kayla Usher, infielders Hannah Hummel, Kelly Kruse and Marilyn Oquendo and pitcher Kayla Ruess received Honorable Mention.

Allgier, who leads the team in hitting with an average of .462, and Bartlett who leads in home runs with 10, were both selected to the Region 16 All-Region team, and Oquendo, Hummel and  Higdon earned Honorable Mention. 

Coach Dave Guemmer was named Region 16 Coach of the Year.

The Lady Cardinals District J games with Murray State Community College, from Tishomingo, Oklahoma, for Friday will be at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. If necessary, the third game will be at 12 p.m. on Saturday. 

(In the event of rainouts on Friday, the games will be moved to Saturday at 12 and 2 p.m., and the 3rd game moved to Sunday at 2 p.m.)