MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- The Wabash Valley softball team is in Oxford, Alabama this weekend for the National Preview Tournament.
The Lady Warriors, 2-2 on the season, will play two games each on Friday and Saturday at Choccolocco Park. First up Friday is a morning matchup with Three Rivers, Missouri (5-3) at 10 a.m. CST. Then, at 2 p.m., first-year coach Jade Montgomery's club faces Snead State, Alabama (9-13).
On Saturday, WVC meets Gordon State, Georgia (4-0) at 10 a.m. followed by a 12-noon matchup with Indian Hills, Iowa (1-1).
Wabash Valley has had two weeks to prepare for the tourney after finishing 2-2 in games played at Volunteer State.
"For the first weekend out, I thought we looked really good," said Montgomery of the opening games of the season. "We came out in the first game swinging. We were taking it right at people. That is all you can ask for. We were in a good spot for the first weekend."
The Lady Warriors won the opener, 12-4, over Jackson College, Michigan, giving Montgomery a victory in her first game as a head coach. Her team scored five runs in the first inning then added four more in the second inning for a quick 9-0 lead.
Abbi Mocaby had five RBIs to lead the way at the plate, including one of two Warrior home runs (the other coming from Kinsly Heichelbech).
Jayley Akers drove in two runs, with single RBIs coming from Heichelbech, Marisa Lane, Abby Schreiner, and Kamille Johnson.
Demi Wolfe got the win in the circle, going all five innings. She struck out three batters and walked two while giving up seven hits. Jackson scored all their runs in the fifth after WVC had built a 10-0 lead.
In the second game, Volunteer State (6-2), a perfect 4-0 on the weekend, defeated the Lady Warriors, 10-1, scoring six runs in the second against starter Lexi Burris.
WVC, outhit 10-4, avoided the shutout with a single run in the fifth inning, on an RBI double by Schreiner.
The highlight of the weekend came the next day, when the young Lady Warrior squad fought its' way back from a 7-0 deficit to knock off Jackson, 8-7.
In the fifth inning, WVC scored four runs, then added one in the sixth and three more in the seventh for the comeback win.
Akers shined at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Mocaby drove home two runs as well, while Heichelbech, Schreiner, and Taylor Wilke also produced run-scoring hits.
Wolfe picked up the win again, but this time in relief. Burris, the starter, worked 2 2/3 innings, followed by Kyrsten Whie for two innings, before giving way to Wolfe, who came on with two outs in the fifth and blanked Jackson the rest of the way in the seven-inning game.
Jackson (0-4) was ranked 12th in the NJCAA Division II pre-season poll.
In the tourney finale, Volunteer State downed Wabash Valley again, 13-3, opening up a scoreless game with five runs in the third inning and moving on from there.
Adie Nolly cracked a 3-run homer in the fourth inning for the single biggest hit of the game for the Warriors, but Schreiner also went 2-for-2 at the plate.
In addition to finally getting outside for consecutive days of practice since returning home, Montgomery has spent time working with her team on "in the moment situations" that are tough to replicate indoors.
After this weekend, Wabash Valley heads to Columbus, Georgia for the NFCA Leadoff Classic, and matchups against two nationally ranked opponents: 14th-ranked Chipola, Florida (10-9) on Friday, Mar. 3, and No. 1-ranked Florida SouthWestern State (9-2) on Saturday, Mar. 4.