Chapman Softball Gets Break

In its brief reign as an NCAA Division III softball power, Chapman has done its postseason handiwork on fields far from Orange.

On the way to their 1995 NCAA championship, the Panthers took two trips to Storm Lake, Iowa. Last season, they won a regional in Holland, Mich., and finished second to Trenton State in the championship tournament in Salem, Va.

Friday, however, the Panthers open the NCAA tournament closer to home--they will play in San Diego against host UC San Diego in the first round of a four-team double-elimination tournament.

“I’ve got half a team that’s excited and half a team that’s bummed because they wanted to fly,” Chapman co-Coach Janet Lloyd said. “I just told them, “All you have to do is win and you get to fly to Wisconsin.’ ”

That would be to Eau Claire for the six-team NCAA championship tournament May 15-18.

If Chapman is to make that trip, the Panthers must get past San Diego (23-19), Cal Lutheran (25-10-1) and Simpson (Iowa) College (32-6).

Simpson, top-ranked in the latest Division III poll by the National Fastpitch Coaches Assn., won’t be a pushover. The Storm handed Chapman its first Division III playoff loss in the national tournament last season and have most of the same players back, including Kelly Schade, one of the best pitchers in Division III.

But Lloyd says she isn’t overly worried about Simpson being in the regional. Chapman did come back to beat Simpson in the 1996 NCAA tournament and, Lloyd notes, the Panthers only struck out twice against Schade, who leads the nation with 163 strikeouts this season. Chapman also is a stronger hitting team than it was last year--its team batting average is .394, up 51 points. The Panthers’ pitching isn’t as dominant--opponents are batting .230 compared to .176--because All-American Christy Guidorizzi transferred to Texas.

But freshman Brittany Carlson (16-2, 1.49 earned-run average) and junior Jessamine Maiben (12-3, 2.13) have been effective. Lloyd likes Chapman’s chances, especially considering the Panthers’ familiarity with the tournament site. They won the UC San Diego tournament there last month.

“We like their field. We like their umpires,” Lloyd said. “Everything is really positive. Plus we won’t have to worry about snow or 32-degree weather like we did in Michigan last year.”

About the only concern about playing in the Southland was that players might have a problem focusing with friends and family watching.

Third baseman Lisa Simpson, the only senior in the starting lineup, said the team sometimes lost its intensity in second games of doubleheaders and lost some games it shouldn’t have. For instance, the Panthers lost to Cal Lutheran, 6-5, in a second game last month, their only loss to a Division III team this season.

Simpson said her fears have been allayed. Perhaps soothed by the Panthers’ 24-0, 13-0 sweep of La Verne last week in the regular-season finale.

“At first I was a little bit nervous,” Simpson said. “I thought it would distract us, but I think it’s going to work out.”