The Lady Sharks softball team is preparing to close the 2011 season, hoping to earn a trip back to the national tournament.<\/p>\n
Having already qualified for the Florida College System Activity Association Atlantic District Tournament, the defending champions 25-18, 13-6 in Southern Conference is trying to remain positive and healthy for the post season.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely many teams know our tradition of playing well in tournaments, that\u2019s why we play the regular season to get ready for state\u2019s,\u201d MDC head softball coach Carlos Caro said. \u201cIt\u2019s our ticket back to nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their tradition of winning the Southern Conference crown ended this year, losing out to Indian River State College.<\/p>\n
Assistant Coach Simone Suetsugu said injuries took its toll on the young team.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course it\u2019s different this year than last year, we had more experience, the injuries stopped us from winning the conference,\u201d Suetsugu said.<\/p>\n
Freshmen shortstop Kiara Nazario sprained her ankle after sliding toward home plate in game two versus Indian River during the fifth inning. She missed the remainder of the game.<\/p>\n
The loss helped clinch the Southern Conference title for their arch-rival the Lady Pioneers.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur team seemed to play that day like it was just another game, we were very tired,\u201d Nazario said. \u201cI consider myself being one of the key players on the team so it was difficult to watch us lose from the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of the players feel opponents are targeting them.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone in the state is going to want to kill us, we have to be confident and even cocky,\u201d said MDC sophomore outfielder Stephanie Buendia.<\/p>\n
After starting the season barely at .500 the Lady Sharks have flourished at the right time.<\/p>\n
Freshmen Rachel Meagley has a 2.23 ERA, and a 12 -10 record to be accompanied and 120 strikeouts; Aline Uehara has a 3.50 ERA, and a 5-3 record with 38 strikeouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to have to produce a lot of offense because we don\u2019t have enough pitching just four pitchers,\u201d team captain Veronika Fukunishi said. \u201cOur attitude has to be that we are the best, and stay focus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Lady Sharks softball team is preparing to close the 2011 season, hoping to earn a trip back to the national tournament. Having already qualified for the Florida College System Activity Association Atlantic District Tournament, the defending champions 25-18, 13-6 in Southern Conference is trying to remain positive and healthy for the post season. \u201cDefinitely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"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-7121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports","7":"category-softball"},"yoast_head":"\n