FSW softball team to open tourney play
ST. GEORGE, Utah – With the third-most wins (52) of any team in the field, Florida SouthWestern State earned the No. 5 seed in the 16-team, double-elimination National Junior College Athletic Associa-tion (NJCAA) National Tournament that starts today.
The Buccaneers (54-12) take on No. 12 San Jacinto-South (36-23) in first round at 5 p.m. at the Canyons Complex.
A win advances the Bucs on to face the winner between No. 4 Butler (48-4) and No. 13 Howard (44-15) on Thursday. The losers of those two games drop into the consolation bracket to play each other on Thursday.
Led by Suncoast Confer-ence Coach of the Year Robert Iamurri, the Bucs won the program’s first-ever Suncoast Confer-ence Championship with a 19-1 mark in conference play and locked up the program’s first berth to the National NJCAA Division I National Tournament by finishing as the runner-up at the FCSAA State Tourna-ment.
Courtney Gettins (38-4), the Suncoast Conference Pitcher of the Year, leads the Bucs with three saves and a 1.49 ERA, while limiting the opposition to a .197 batting average.
FSW’s offense is led by Molly Roark, Marta Fuentes, Mikayla Wera-hiko, Kayla Rangiawha, Criza Bulanadi Hollianne Dohrn and Graysen Gladden.