Kayla Cole Named All-American

Three Lady Bucks Honored by NFCA

Lady Bucks Bring Home Experience

Official Tournament Statistics

Although Motlow head coach Gary Barfield and his team were disappointed in their showing at the national tournament, Barfield, who completed his 12th season as head coach and now sports an outstanding 463-204 record, realizes that the learning experience and the exposure will both pay dividends in the future.

"I think this takes our program to a different level," said Barfield. "One thing I learned is to get here a few days earlier. A big factor is getting here early and getting acclimated. I never played in a game here, but I felt rushed. They had to feel rushed and a little uncomfortable."

Motlow's first game in Utah was a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Gulf Coast Community College from Panama City, FL. The Lady Commodores got on the scoreboard first when shortstop Jill Martin slammed a home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the first inning.

The Lady Bucks though responded quickly, as they did all season when falling behind, by tying the game in the top of the second when Amy Buwalda singled and Amanda Joslyn drove her home with a two-out double that was inches short of being a home run.

Gulf Coast, playing in its seventh national tournament, took the lead right back when catcher Nicole Walker homered in the bottom of the second inning.

Motlow evened the score at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning as catcher Kayla Cole, the TJCCAA Player of the Year, led off with a double off the top of the centerfield wall and scored on Buwalda's one-out double that also came close to going out of the park.

"We just missed a couple of home runs that hit the top of the outfield wall," continued Barfield, "While Gulf Coast managed to clear the wall a couple of times. That proved to be the difference in game one."

The Lady Commodores took the lead once again in the bottom of the fourth with two more runs, although Motlow pitcher Kasie Meeks and the Lady Bucks defense shut down what could have been a much bigger rally, with Gulf Coast ending the inning with the bases loaded.

Although the Lady Bucks threatened in each of the final three innings they could not get the big hit they needed to force the game into extra innings or take the lead, leaving eight runners stranded over those final three innings.

Kasie Meeks took the loss, scattering 11 hits with two strikeouts. Her mental toughness was apparent after the early home runs as she settled down and kept the Lady Bucks in the ballgame.

"You just have to refocus," said Meeks, who earned TJCCAA tournament MVP honors this season. "You try not to let anything get to you … stay positive for everybody else."

See the box score and play-by-play account of game one here

Game two came against Seward County Community College from Liberal, KS, also making its first appearance on the national stage. The result was similiar to game one for Motlow as the Lady Bucks fell behind and then fought back, only to see the game slip away at the end.

Seward took a 2-0 lead in the second inning as the Lady Saints put four hits together. Once again though the rally could have been bigger as Meeks struck out center fielder Brittany Kent with two runners aboard to end the inning.

Motlow tied the score in the top of the third when Cole, who finished her career among the top offensive producers in school history, hit a long home run to center field scoring herself and Lindsay Bobrowski, who had singled earlier, to tie the game at 2-2.

Seward County took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning with a single and a stolen base followed by a two-out single. Once again the Lady Bucks were forced to come from behind, and once again they responded like a championship team.

With two outs in the top of the fifth, third baseman Suzi Jenkins singled and Cole coaxed outstanding Lady Saints' pitcher Courtney Auger into a walk. Motlow second baseman Missy Roberts singled Jenkins home to tie the score at 3-3. Buwalda then walked to load the bases, but Auger struck out Nicole Johnson to end the threat.

Seward County, which eventually made it into the quarterfinals of the tournament, came right back though as third baseman Brianna Baron slammed a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning to give the Lady Saints the lead for good. Baron was 3-3 for the game and drove in three runs.

Motlow, as has been the case all season, didn't go down without a fight as Bobrowski led off the top of the seventh with a double. However, the heart of the Motlow offense couldn't put a rally together to force extra innings or grab the lead.

See the box score and play-by-play account of game two here

The Lady Bucks never lead during the two games, and the tears flowed after the end of game two. However, by the next day the girls began to reflect on their history-making season and realize that what they had accomplished was far more important than the results of their two national tournament contests.

"We made history," said Cole. "It's a good experience because this is the first time anybody other than Chattanooga State has been here. Hopefully Chattanooga will never make it back. I think that going into the state tournament as the No. 5 (seed), nobody believed. But we always believed that we'd be in that championship game, and Coach always believed in us."

Barfield returns six starters in outfielders Johnson, Hillary Leftrick, and Ashley Jaco. Jenkins, Bobrowski, and Buwalda return in the infield. Although the loss of Meeks, Cole, Roberts, Joslyn, Sloane Brooks, and Alyssa Elsaesser will be hard felt, Barfield and assistant coaches Lenore Wood and Jason Conn plan to hit the recruiting trail early and sign another quality class for the 2010 season.

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