The road to Oxford, Alabama and a return trip to the NJCAA Division II National Championships begins Tuesday for the Triton College softball team.
The Trojans, ranked No. 10 in the nation earned the top seed in the Region 4 District A tournament and will host No. 8 seeded Illinois Valley Community College in a best-of-three quarterfinal series Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.
The winner of the quarterfinal series will advance to the double-elimination four-team finals played at Read Park in Freeport this Saturday and Sunday.
Triton concluded the regular season with a 44-7 record after sweeping Rock Valley College, the No. 1 team in nation in NJCAA Division III by scores of 4-1 and 3-2 May 7 in River Grove.
Top starting pitcher
Alyssa Stramaglia struck out eight Golden Eagles en route to picking up her 20
th win of the season in the game one victory.
Claire Stillwell claimed her 11
th victory of the year after tossing a complete game in game two. Third baseman
Katlyn Cherry celebrated her 21
st birthday by blasting her 14th home run that was the difference in the win.
In addition to the postseason pairings being announced, the coaches voted for the all-region team and there is plenty of representation from Triton as six Trojans were selected.
Sophomores Stramaglia, Cherry and shortstop
Celeste Boshold all earned First Team All-Region 4 honors. The trio will be considered for NJCAA All-American status with Stramaglia ranked as the top player in the region among the coaches vote. Â
Catcher
Lucy Goodwin, outfielder
Taylor Schwartz and utility player
Samanta Nelson were voted Second Team All-Region 4.
If Triton can knock off the 9-15 Eagles, the Trojans will face the winner of the series between No. 4 seed Black Hawk College and No. 5 South Suburban College Saturday at 11:00 a.m. in Freeport.
Triton's playoff series with Illinois Valley will be streamed live on the
Triton College YouTube channel.
Follow Triton Athletics on TwitterÂ
@TritonTrojans1Â or on InstagramÂ
@Triton_College_Athletics
