Triceratops claim Great Lakes District A Championship with 5-1 win over Mott C.C.

FINDLAY, Ohio (athletics.tri-c.edu) – The Cuyahoga Community College Triceratops (33-6, 16-1 OCCAC) are bringing home hardware from the NJCAA Region XII Great Lakes District A tournament, winning the championship game 5-1 in a rematch over Mott Community College (34-13, 24-6 MCCAA), May 9.

The District Championship win puts Tri-C into the field for the NJCAA Division II Softball World Series, May 19-24 in Spartanburg, S.C. This marks the fourth time the Tri-C softball program has made an appearance in the national tournament and third under head coach Bryan Komlos. It is the first time since 2019 that the Triceratops will make the trip to the World Series.

The Triceratops were led by Tournament MVP Julee Phillips (So./Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio), who pitched all 19 innings across the tournament for Tri-C, allowing only one unearned run and striking out 20 hitters across three games. Her stellar performance cut her already sterling ERA down to 0.32, the second-best mark in the nation. Phillips also saw her strikeout total climb to 208, good for fourth in the nation. Komlos was also named Coach of the Year for the Region.

Three other Triceratops were named to the All-Tournament Team for their stellar play across the week in Findlay – Sophie Durbin (So./Mansfield, Ohio/Mount Vernon Nazarene), Lexi Gray (So./Tallmadge, Ohio/Baldwin-Wallace), and Reese Adkins (So./Oak Harbor, Ohio).

Durbin had a hit in each of the Triceratops' games, moving her batting average to 0.451 across the season and going 3-for-7 in Findlay. Her game two RBI double sealed the first win over Mott and sent the Triceratops to the championship game. Gray was stellar throughout the tournament, both behind the plate and in the box. She went 4-for-8 at the plate with three runs scored, two RBIs and a solo home run that energized the team in the first showing against Mott. Adkins also added great defense at shortstop with a clutch RBI double in the win over Muskegon Community College.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• As with the first game against Mott, the offenses struggled to get started against Phillips or the Bears' Arika Hanes. Both pitchers came out of the gates strong, keeping the game scoreless through four innings with only five total baserunners.
• The Triceratops finally got to Hanes in the home half of the fourth, when Gray and Josi Miliken (Fr./Beloit, Ohio) roped singles to put two runners on. A double by Adriana Guarnieri (Fr./Chillicothe, Ohio) brought Gray home and a sacrifice fly by Jayliana Wilt (Fr./Youngstown, Ohio), coupled with aggressive baserunning by Guarnieri, put the Triceratops on top 3-0.
• The Bears struck back in the top of the fifth, with one run coming in unearned to bring Mott within two, 3-1.
• As they have done all season, Tri-C immediately responded to the Bears' offensive work. Two walks to start the inning were capitalized on with a sacrifice fly by Gray knocking in Aaliyah Thammachak (Fr./Stow, Ohio) and an Isabelle Kepple (So./Miamisburg, Ohio) double off the center field wall scoring Durbin to cushion the lead to 5-1 through five.
• Phillips turned off the Mott offense in the top of the sixth, sitting down the side 1-2-3.
• Once again, the Triceratops led off the inning with two walks by Guarnieri and Wilt, but three straight outs left Tri-C off the board and kept the score at 5-1 heading into the final frame.
• Mott started their final at bats strong, with a single to put one baserunner on. But Phillips, as she did the rest of the tournament, locked in and put the next three Bears down in order to seal the 5-1 win and District Championship for the Triceratops.

UP NEXT

Tri-C will take the week off to rest and prepare for the NJCAA Division II Softball World Series, May 19-24 at Tyger River Park in Spartanburg, S.C. With district tournaments and at-large selections still occurring, the bracket and entrant teams will be decided early next week.

Once at Spartanburg, all games will be broadcast live on the NJCAA Network.

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Follow the softball team on Instagram at @tri.c_softball.