From VCSU Athletics
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (VCSUAthletics.com) – The Valley City State softball team has earned a No. 2 seed for the North Star Athletic Association Postseason Softball Tournament scheduled to be played May 5-7 at the PREMIER Softball Complex in Watertown, S.D.
VCSU (29-15, 16-5 NSAA) opens the tournament against Presentation College (12-28, 6-19 NSAA) on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Live video and stats will be available for all tournament games. The NSAA Softball Tournament will feature a double elimination format.
The Vikings recently defeated the Saints in a pair of games by mercy rule, 10-0 in 5 innings and 9-1 in 6 innings. VCSU batted .455 against Presentation with six doubles and two home runs in the doubleheader sweep on April 28.
Entering the postseason, the Viking offense ranks best in the conference with a .356 batting average, 345 runs scored, and ties top-seeded Bellevue with 54 team home runs so far this season. The Vikings also hold numerous top-five spots in key batting categories.
Individually, Joelle Aiello leads the conference in both home runs (14) and RBIs (55), while Ashlynne Copinga holds the top spot in the conference with 18 stolen bases this season. Marissa Hawkins ranks second in batting average (.443) and fourth in home runs (10), and Jessica Husband ranks fifth in batting average (.436) and third in RBIs (45).
Joelle Lamontagne leads the North Star with 18 wins in the circle and ranks third in the NSAA with 95 strikeouts this season. She also holds a 2.66 ERA which ranks fourth in the conference.
Bellevue (Neb.) won the North Star Athletic Association softball regular-season outright title with 24-2 league record with a winning percentage of .923 (38-11 overall record). The Bruins will be the No. 1 seed in the conference postseason tournament.
Valley City State (N.D.) will be the No. 2 seed for the tournament with an overall record of 29-15 and 16-5 NSAA conference record (.762 winning percentage). Dakota State is the No. 3 seed with 13-10 NSAA record (.565 winning percentage) and 18-24 overall record, followed by Dickinson State (N.D.) with No. 4 seed (10-10 NSAA record – .500 winning percentage – and 18-24 overall record).
Mayville State (N.D.) holds the No. 5 seed after completing their regular-season schedule with 13-24 overall record and 10-12 NSAA conference record (.455 winning percentage). Waldorf (Iowa) is sixth with 9-24 overall record and 9-12 NSAA conference record (.429 winning percentage).
Presentation (S.D.) had secured the No. 7 seed with an overall record of 12-28 and 6-19 NSAA conference record (.240 winning percentage), thanks to an extra-inning walk-off victory in the NSAA four-game series finale over Viterbo (Wis.) Monday afternoon. The V-Hawks will be the No. 8 seed with an overall record of 9-37 and 5-23 record in the league.
The NSAA softball postseason tournament begins at 10 a.m. (Central Time) with Dickinson State taking on Mayville State on Field No. 2, while Dakota State plays Waldorf (Iowa) on Field No. 4. The other two opening round games are set for 12:30 p.m. with Bellevue taking on Viterbo and Valley City State facing Presentation.
All eight teams will be playing two games on the first day of the tournament. The first two loser’s out games are scheduled for 3 p.m., while the other two winner’s bracket contests are scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
The tournament continues Friday with a pair of loser’s out games at 11:30 a.m., with the winners advancing to another loser’s out game at 2 p.m. A pair of undefeated teams will battle out at 2 p.m. on Field No. 2, with the winner advancing to the championship game set for Saturday afternoon.
There will be three teams remaining on Saturday, starting with an elimination game at 11:30 a.m. The winner of that game will advance to the championship game scheduled for 2 p.m. If the undefeated team loses in the first championship game, then the second championship game is set for 5:30 p.m. The rain out make-up date set for Sunday.
The tournament champion receives the NSAA’s automatic berth to the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round, which will be played on May 16-18 on campus sites announced by the NAIA. The national opening round winners will move on to the 41st annual NAIA Softball World Series at South Commons Softball Complex in Columbus, Ga. on May 26-June 1.