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PANAMA CITY, Fla. — Louisiana College beat a pair of American Southwest Conference rivals Sunday to win the prestigious Leadoff Classic softball tournament.
“It's a nice tournament to win,” LC coach Tim Whitman said. “I'm happy to come home with the trophy but I told the girls that this doesn't do anything to help us win a single game in our conference.”
The Lady Wildcats, getting strong pitching performances from Carli Wheeler and Renè Schwartzenburg, downed Texas-Tyler 5-3 semifinal and defeated East Texas Baptist 10-1 in six innings in the championship game.
“It feels great to win this,” senior outfielder Jodi Montagnino said, “especially to beat Tyler and ETBU. But it really doesn't mean anything. We know we are going to play both of those teams four more times then probably see them in the conference tournament and maybe see them again in the (NCAA) regional.
“This tournament is just a stepping stone for our season.”
LC, ranked No. 3 in NCAA Division III, went 6-0 in the Leadoff Classic, which is played once every three years and features 24 of the top programs from around the nation. The Lady Cats defeated No. 2 Texas-Tyler, No. 4 ETBU and No. 9 Gustavus Adolphus in the tourney.
“We played good defense and we hit the ball well,” LC senior shortstop Mary Alice Roy said. We hit the ball hard all weekend.”
Schwartzenburg, a junior All-American from Marksville, was named Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament after going 4-0 over the weekend. She pitched 20 innings, allowing just one run, it was earned, on eight hits with two walks and 31 strikeouts.
“It's a honor,” Schwartzenburg
Roy also was named to the all-tournament team after batting .500 in six Leadoff Classic games. She had nine hits, two of them doubles, and seven RBI. She also scored seven runs, walked three times and stole three bases.
“It's an honor just to be nominated for something like this,” Roy said. “This is very special to me.”
Wheeler, a freshman from Parkview Baptist, allowed three runs over the first two innings against Tyler then pitched shutout ball over the last five innings to earn the victory.
“I can't say enough about Carli,” Schwartzenburg said. “We are all very proud of her. She was under a lot of pressure and she pitched great.
“The coaches can say all they want that this game didn't really mean anything but it's Tyler. All of us want to beat them. Carli knew that. That's a lot of pressure for a freshman. I remember what it was like to be in that situation.”
LC scored three runs in the bottom of the second against Tyler to go in front 4-3. Montagnino increased the lead to 5-3 with a long home run to right in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“I really wanted to give our pitcher a little cushion,” Montagnino said. “That is big when you are facing a team like Tyler.”
Montagnino went 3-for-6 with four runs scored and two RBI.
“She should have been on the all-tournament team,” Schwartzenburg said. “She deserved to be on that team. She played great all weekend.”
In the championship game, LC scored two runs in the first and six runs in the second to take control. Schwartzenburg was never challenged, throwing a shutout to improve her record to 11-0.
