A long season for the SCC softball team, filled with tough losses and dramatic wins, will culminate on May 20 with the start of the 2011 NWAACC softball tournament in Portland Ore.

For Head Coach Lance Swehla, this season has been quite a success. The team suffered through the early season, with over 10 games cancelled due to the rain, limiting the at-bats for the women and the ability to iron out the kinks in the batting order. However, the women rallied past the slow start by ending the season with a record of 17-14 and a league record of 17-7.

The final stretch towards the playoff has been grueling. In the last week of the regular season, the lady Dolphins played six games, taking its toll physically and mentally. In order for the team to prepare for the first playoff game, Swehla is having the team take it pretty easy, focusing on batting practice and the mental preparations for the game.

The Dolphins first tournament game is against Green River Community College in game six of the day. Swehla looks forward to this match-up and believes that SCC has the edge on the field. He feels that this game will help prepare the team for further matches and allow the girls to get into the right mindset for the tournament.

If the Dolphins make it past the first game of the playoffs they will face either Mt. Hood Community College or the winner of the fourth place team of the East league, which could be Columbia Basin or Spokane CC, in a double header for the first day of the series.

The success that Swehla's team brings to the tournament has largely come from the self-determination of each individual player. The girls set their own goals for the season and have pushed themselves to do the best they can on the field. The sheer talent that the SCC softball team exhibits will help lead the girls to victory and hopefully take the team to the championship game on Monday, May 23.

Jesse Atkins - Sports Editor