A spring of dugout cheers, home runs, long bus trips and strikeouts all has led to one place: Grand Junction.
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks finished in first place of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference softball standings, giving the team the right to host the RMAC Tournament. Action begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday at the Colorado Mesa University Softball Field.
The Fort Lewis College Skyhawks sputtered down the stretch, losing 11 of their final 13 games. That dropped FLC (23-27, 19-19 RMAC) into eighth place and the final seed in the tournament. That means the Skyhawks will have to face the top-seeded Mavericks (27-19, 26-12 RMAC) in the first round of the tournament.
“Going to the postseason tournament is what you work all year for. It is nice to see that hard work paid off,” FLC head coach Kira Zeiter said. “We are excited to play this week, because it looks like it is anybody’s tournament to win.”
The two teams split their four-game series April 5-6 at Aspen Field on the FLC campus. The Mavericks outscored the Skyhawks 30-23 over the course of those games. The Skyhawks lost the final game of that series, kick-starting an eight-game losing streak.
“We have a lot of confidence. We split with Mesa earlier this season, and it is a good rivalry game,” Zeiter said. “Every time we play Mesa, it is great competition.”
Mesa is on a three-game winning streak entering the tournament. FLC gained some confidence by winning its final game of the regular season 12-5 in nine innings against No. 3 seed Chadron State (27-21, 23-11 RMAC).
Led by senior third baseman Chelsea Rodriguez, the Skyhawks have a potent offense that combined for a .316 team batting average, good for sixth in the RMAC. Mesa was third in that department with a .335 team batting average.
Both teams have a lot of power, but the Mavericks have the advantage in that department with a conference-leading .558 slugging percentage after belting 54 home runs, tying them for the conference lead with Chadron State.
Mesa is led by Makayla Kovac’s 17 home runs. She has a .490 batting average with 20 doubles, 63 runs batted in and 53 runs scored in 46 games.
Jessica Severinsen also is a tough out. She is batting .435 with 14 home runs and 48 RBIs.
FLC finished fourth in the conference with 44 home runs. Rodriguez led the team in that department with 11 home runs while hitting for a .398 average. She has 11 doubles and 43 RBIs to go along with a team-leading 45 runs scored.
Missy Fundora and Myndee Thompson both have seven homers this year for the Skyhawks, and Thompson has scored 37 runs while collecting a team-high 44 RBIs.
Skyhawks shortstop Adriana Rosthenhausler has a .376 batting average.
“I think both teams are very strong offensively. It is going to come down to getting the key outs when you need them,” Zeiter said.
“We have to minimize any damage that might occur, because we know we can score runs, too.”
Both teams have had their struggles in the field this year. The Skyhawks finished the regular season with the third-most errors in the conference with 76, and Mesa is right behind them with 73.
Mesa had the fourth-best team earned-run average in the league this season at 4.30. FLC was eighth with a 4.86 team ERA. Severinsen had a 12-10 record and a 3.08 ERA for Mesa, while her teammate Ashley Puliod was 12-5 with a 5.04 ERA.
Victoria Johnson and Kiley Raica were the two main starters for FLC this year. Johnson has an 8-11 record with a 3.37 ERA, and Raica has a 10-12 record with a 4.53 ERA.
“It is very important to win that first game. It’s not that you can’t recover from that, because I’ve seen teams do it in the past, but it makes the path that much easier when you can win Game 1 in a double-elimination tournament,” Zeiter said.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
Rodriguez recognized by RMAC
The No. 8-seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament, the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks placed one player on the All-RMAC team: third baseman Chelsea Rodriguez.
Makayla Kovac of Colorado Mesa was the Player of the Year, and Jessica Severinsen of Colorado Mesa was co-Pitcher of the Year.
No. 8 FLC will play No. 1 Colorado Mesa at 3:15 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the RMAC Tournament in Grand Junction.
Kovac, the Mavericks’ sophomore shortstop, led the league in batting average (.490), hits (76), runs (57), runs batted in (63) and slugging percentage (1.000).
Severinsen, who shared top pitching honors with Metro State senior Aubree Maul, led the RMAC in earned-run average (2.94).
Kennedy Smith, the CSU-Pueblo catcher, was named Freshman of the Year, and Robert Stack of Chadron State was named Coach of the Year.
Rodriguez led FLC in batting average (.405), home runs (12), runs (47), runs batted in (44), total bases (101) and walks (37).
“She has earned the respect from the conference for her four years of softball at Fort Lewis,” FLC head coach Kira Zeiter said in a news release to The Durango Herald.
“She has rewritten the record books with her bat.”
Rodriguez is the FLC all-time leader in assists (418), hits (198), home runs (41), runs (167), runs batted in (145) and walks (135).
heraldsports@ durangoherald.com
FLC Softball
College Softball
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
RMAC Tournament
May 1-3 at Colorado Mesa
Grand Junction
Thursday, May 1
Game 1: No. 8 Fort Lewis (23-27, 19-19 RMAC) at No. 1 Colorado Mesa (27-19, 26-12 RMAC), 3:15 p.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Metro State (26-14, 20-11 RMAC) vs. No. 5 Adams State (26-23, 24-15 RMAC), 8:30 a.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Chadron State (27-21, 23-11 RMAC) vs. No. 6 UC-Colorado Springs (25-17, 21-14 RMAC), 10:45 a.m.
Game 4: No. 2 CSU-Pueblo (26-19, 23-11 RMAC) vs. No. 7 Regis (22-26, 21-17 RMAC), 1 p.m.
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 7:45 p.m.
Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, May 2
Game 7: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 10:45 a.m.
Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 a.m.
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 1 p.m.
Game 10: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 3:15 p.m.
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 7:45 p.m.
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 4
Game 13: Game 11 loser vs. Game 12 winner, noon
Game 14: championship, Game 11 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 2:15 p.m.
Game 15: championship (if necessary), 4:30 p.m.
Durango Herald
