WNC finishes tourney 2-5 vs. top teams

Western Nevada College softball coach Leah Wentworth was happy with her team's offensive production in a preseason tournament in Las Vegas over the weekend.

Even better for the Wildcats was that much of the offense came against nationally ranked teams.

"I thought we played extremely well," Wentworth said. "We played some of the top teams, and we out-hit them. We need to work on pushing runs across the plate."

On Friday night, WNC lost 14-9 to Pima College. Pima, the No. 9 team in the nation, scored seven runs in the sixth inning to ice the game. The Wildcats out-hit Pima 16-14.

Jennifer Quam led the team, going 4-for-5 with three runs and three stolen bases. Melanie Pfeiffer was 2-for-5. Jordan Thomas was 2-for-4 with two RBI. Ali-Marie Lostra added three RBI, and Taleas Marble went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Courtney Lange had two hits and an RBI, and Alia Cox had a solo home run.

Alexia Alley took the loss.

On Saturday, the Wildcats beat Phoenix College 9-5. Phoenix is the ninth-ranked team in Division II. Pfeiffer was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Quam added a hit, two runs and a stolen base. Alley picked up the win.

Shortly after picking up their first win, the Wildcats topped Gateway 4-3.

Alley picked up the win for WNC in the circle. Wentworth praised Pfeiffer, normally an outfielder, for pitching strong innings for the Wildcats.

Thomas led the way with a 2-for-4 effort with two RBI. Pfeiffer went 2-for-3 for the Wildcats.

The competition got harder for WNC as they fell 8-0 to South Mountain, the No. 4 ranked team in D-II. Alley took the loss. Mikaela Henshaw picked up WNC's only hit.

In the final game of the tournament, WNC lost 11-1 to defending college world series champion Yavapai.

Lostra took the loss for WNC. Pfeiffer, Cox and Emily Nagel all picked up hits.

WNC plays in another tournament starting Thursday in Yuma, Ariz.