By: Dustin Kent - JCFloridan.com
After a 1-4 start to Panhandle Conference play, the Chipola Lady Indians have regrouped to win three straight games to climb their way to third in the league standings and well on the path to another trip to the state tournament.
They'll try to keep that momentum going Thursday when they travel to Niceville for a doubleheader with Northwest Florida State, a rematch of a meeting March 15 in Marianna in which the Lady Raiders swept Chipola by scores of 8-5 and 6-3.
Northwest has gone just 2-4 since then and sits in fourth place in the league at 4-6, with Thursday's rematch giving the Lady Indians an opportunity to create four games of separation in the loss column with the Lady Raiders.
A sweep would also keep Chipola in the thick of the Panhandle Conference championship race, though Tallahassee (9-1) currently has a stranglehold on first place.
While clinching a top four finish to get to state is imperative and chasing a title still a goal, Chipola associate head coach Jimmy Hendrix said nothing is more important than the Lady Indians playing higher quality softball, which they have done more of in recent games.
"We're playing a little better and starting to execute a little bit," he said. "We went over (to Tallahassee on March 21) and found out we can play with the conference leader and then we came back and swept Pensacola, but (today's games) will give us a better understanding of what we're looking at," he said. "Right now, getting into the state tournament is looking better and better, and we told the kids that as bad as we played the first round of games, we were only three games out of first place.
"Now we're playing better and executing better with some of the things we've been struggling with all season. We're executing with runners on base, getting two-out hits, and making the routine plays more often."
After earning a split with Tallahassee, Chipola took wins of 1-0 and 10-2 over Pensacola State on Sunday, with freshman pitcher Jessica Elliott tossing a one-hit shutout in the first game and Katie Harrison and Jennifer Cottle combining for two home runs and eight RBI in the second.
Freshman Luana Imamura started in the circle and gave up two earned runs in six innings to get the win in the second game, giving her a 2.92 Earned Run Average in her last two starts after a rough outing in a 15-2 loss to Gulf Coast State on March 19.
Imamura is pitching in place of sophomore Rosanne de Vries, who is still day-to-day with inflammation in her throwing shoulder, and is a game-time decision for Thursday's doubleheader.
De Vries struggled in her first outing against Northwest Florida State, giving up six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, while the Lady Raiders pushed six runs across against Elliott, though they were aided by three Chipola errors.
Hendrix said he believes the Chipola players will be much better prepared to face Northwest the second time around than they were in what was the first foray into Panhandle Conference play for the team's 11 freshmen.
"I don't think our freshmen will be as intimidated," he said. "We jumped out to a three-run lead in the first inning and let up after that. We've learned through conference play that when you have a chance to put a team away, you've got to put them away."
The games will be at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.