Softball to play six games in three days

Northwest softball is looking ahead to the 5-State Classic Feb. 18-20 in Topeka and Emporia, Kansas, after some time off from doubleheaders Feb. 3-4.

The Bearcats will play an unfamiliar foe as well as some familiar faces in the 5-State Classic, with three being the same opponents from the Minnesota State University Invitational Feb. 3-4. The ’Cats will play six games in a span of three days.

Coach Naomi Tellez said the team is ready to be outside for the first time this year, as the ’Cats played the duration of the MSU Invitational in a dome setting.

“We get to be outside for the first time, so that’s awesome,” Tellez said. “We’re just looking to continue our trends from day two up in Mankato, and we just want to keep moving with that, but everything is a little bit different when you’re outside.”

Northwest (1-3) will start the classic o ff with a doubleheader against Minnesota StateMankato (3-1) for the third time of the season at 12:15 p.m. and against Concordia-St. Paul (1-3) for the second meeting of the season at 2:30 p.m. on the first day Feb. 18.

Freshman outfielder Omara Love said she is ready to get on base early and often during its third matchup against the Mavericks.

“My advice is to really get on base,” Love said. “I have a lot of speed, and I can slap, bunt and hit. I know who is up after me, and I know they can hit me in, so my basic point is to just get on first or to get on second, and I know they can move me around in the end.”

With three out of the six matchups in the classic being against the only teams Northwest has played so far this season — Mankato, MinnesotaDuluth (6-0) and ConcordiaSt. Paul (1-3) — Tellez said she is ready to do things differently this time around.

“From a pitching perspective, we have to hit our spots a little bit better than we did,” Tellez said. “I don’t think we were completely hitting our spots, so just being able to locate on the corners a lot better than we did. From a hitting perspective, just keep swinging it.”

Northwest will have another doubleheader the following day against Winona State

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“Drew has been working so hard on getting better on defense, and it showed and that translated over to offense,” Matt Stoecklein said. “He was taking great shots, and they were falling for him on Senior Night.”

The Spoofhounds will close out the regular season back against Savannah (2-17) Feb. 17 and Chillicothe (11-10) Feb. 23 before heading into the Class 4 District 16, starting Feb. 27.

Maryville played both teams in the 2022-2023 season. The Spoofhounds have four straight wins against the Savages, dating back to Feb. 19. 2021. Earlier this season, they escaped with a 55-53 win Jan. 20 over the Savages. Four days later, the Spoofhounds got a 54-46 victory over the Hornets Jan. 24 in the Cameron Tournament.

The Savages have yet to win a game in 2023, and their last win was against Bishop LeBlond Dec. 29. Chillicothe is 1-4 since the game against Maryville. The last time the Hornets defeated the Spoofhounds was in the Cameron Invitational, where the Hornets stung Maryville with a 60-52 win Feb. 1, 2020.

“The team can’t wait to finish the regular season at home,” Matt Stoeklein said. “Hopefully we have some big crowds so we can let our fans see how hard these kids have been working.”

(0-0) at 12:15 p.m. and Sioux Falls (0-0) at 4:45 p.m. Feb. 19. The ’Cats will then look to play against Duluth at 10 a.m. and Quincy (0-0) at 12:15 p.m. Feb. 20 in its last doubleheader of the weekend.

Love said the team has been working on situational hitting this week in practice, as the team looks to polish up in situations with runners in scoring position.

“We’ve done a lot of specifics with runners on certain bases and being able to hit in runners depending on where people are at,” Love said.

With the Bearcats’ first home game not being until March 24, Tellez said it can take a toll on herself and the team, but she said everyone tries to not think about the negatives of the road trips.

“It’s kind of brutal, but I mean we get games, that’s the flip side of it,” Tellez said. “Ob-

UP NEXT

5-State Classic

Feb. 18-20

Topeka, Kansas viously the snow doesn’t help us out much, but I mean it is what it is. Being in this part of the country and playing a spring sport, we knew kind of what we were getting into.”

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“It doesn’t really affect me much, but I know, sometimes, it’s hard to get a rhythm,” Dreamer said. “We just go there and shoot in the morning, and that’s about the only time we get in the gym before coming to the game. So, it’s really just sticking to what we do best, and that’s focusing more on our defensive end, and it’ll be good to be back home after Saturday, too.”

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Western is two spots behind Northwest defensively at No. 7, giving up an average of 62.8 points. Offensively, the Griffons are eight spots above the Bearcats at No. 3, averaging 74.6 points per contest.

“We really need to focus on getting stops on defense, especially when our offense isn’t nec- essarily going the way we want,” Fields said.

Including the latest installment of the Highway 71 rivalry between the Bearcats and the Griffons, Northwest has two games left this season. With it being near the end of the season, every game matters for seeding and helping build momentum toward the MIAA Tournament March 1-5.

Meyer said it’s important for a team to play its best to- ward the end of the season, regardless of sport.

With only three games left in the regular season, Northwest will return to Bearcat Arena for two games to finish it off before shifting focus to the MIAA Tournament March 1-5 in Kansas City, Missouri.

The first of the two home games Feb. 23 will be against the last team to defeat Northwest this season and the No. 2 team in the conference standings — No. 10 Central Oklahoma.

“Hopefully, we keep moving forward and keep improving,” Meyer said. “Obviously, still four regular season games left with a lot to determine as far as MIAA Tournament seedings and things like that. We want to just keep getting better each day and hopefully, we’re playing our best these last few weeks of the season into the end of the tournament.”