The Miami Dade College softball team\u2019s season ended with back-to-back losses in the second round of the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament at Canyons Complex in St. George, Utah, on May 20.<\/p>\n
It was the Lady Sharks third national appearance and second in a row. The Lady Sharks came into the tournament as the defending National Champions, but with their offense faltering their repeat bid fell short.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we could have done much better,\u201d said Lady Shark\u2019s captain Veronika Fukunishi. \u00a0\u201cOur defense was good, but our offense just was not there. It was disappointing for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lady Sharks started the tournament with a 7-5 win against Darton College of Georgia. After trailing early on, they mounted a comeback in the fourth inning to cinch the win.<\/p>\n
But that was the last win the Lady Shark\u2019s could muster, falling to Tallahassee Community College 4-0 and to Blinn Community College 6-3 in the double elimination tournament. They ended the season with a 35-22 record.<\/p>\n
Lady Sharks Head Coach Carlos Caro believes his team played each game close, but the other teams simply played better.<\/p>\n
Tallahassee Community College pitcher Emily Smethurst struck out ten to keep the Lady Sharks off balance.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the last five years coaching, she has been one of the best pitchers we\u2019ve ever faced; Smethurst had a great control and threw 64-60 mph pitches against us.\u201d Head Coach Carlos Caro said.<\/p>\n
Freshman pitcher Allora Miller said she isn\u2019t making excuses, but wonders if the outcome might have been different if play had not been delayed because of a rain delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team was ready to go against Tallahassee. We were in our comfort zone, however, due to the rain delay Tallahassee\u2019s pitcher was able to return fully rested, and so it makes you wonder what it might have been,\u201d Miller said. \u201cStill a majority of players are freshmen, so it was nerve wracking.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lady Sharks finished ranked No. 8 overall in the tournament. They repeated as Atlantic District winners and earned the college\u2019s first NJCAA State Championship in softball.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf\u2019 course they were disappointed, but we have to be satisfied with our accomplishments,\u201d Caro said. \u201cI thank our MDC administration for their support of our team and next year we\u2019ll be working hard to make another run.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Miami Dade College softball team\u2019s season ended with back-to-back losses in the second round of the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament at Canyons Complex in St. George, Utah, on May 20. It was the Lady Sharks third national appearance and second in a row. The Lady Sharks came into the tournament as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":7101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2803],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"category-softball"},"yoast_head":"\n