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Written and Media by Joshua Robinson.


It was a long season for the Greenville softball team, but after a lot of hard work, they finally made it. And won again! On Sunday morning in St. Anne, Missouri, at ABC Ballpark, the Lady Panthers ended up beating Webster University by a mile in the SLIAC Conference championship. This is the second year in a row that Greenville has won the tournament and they are now qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament. They had a long, hard, successful season, going 24-15.

Greenville infielder tags out a runner sliding to the base. Photo source: Greenville athletics

Greenville started off the game right in the bottom of the first inning. For the first at bat, Tiffany Samsoe got walked, then Jordyn Wieland got walked after. Becca Oldham had hit a single towards left centerfield; and advanced to second on a bad throw. Samsoe advanced home to score the first run, and Wieland advanced to third. Wieland came home scoring another run, due to a throwing error from the catcher. During the top of the third, Webster scored one run due to an RBI. The lady Panthers had responded in the bottom of the fourth with a five run rally. Casandra Lueking had hit a single up the middle, and Emi Hug went in and pinch ran for her. Karissa Woody had hit a single up third, and Hug advanced to second. Josie Koontz reached on a fielders choice which advanced everybody, and the bases were loaded. Then, Samsoe had hit a single RBI to first base, which advanced Hug home, Woody to third, and Koontz to second. Wieland had hit a single to left center that brought Woody in home to score, Koontz to third, and Samsoe to second. Kate Joliff had hit a single to centerfield, she advanced to second on the throw. She had two RBIs. The third basemen had a wild throw which caused Wieland to advanced to third. Samsoe came in and scored a run and so did Koontz. Then Wieland scored due to the wild pitch that the pitcher threw. The score, at the end of the fourth, was 7-1.

The Lady Panthers defense were able to hold off Webster in the last three innings, with leading pitcher Brianna Anderson getting six strikeouts, four hits, one walk and one run.She had also won the SLIAC tournament MVP. During the top of the seventh inning, Anderson pitched the ball to the batter, the ball popped up over the shortstop, and Joliff ended the game. The team went berserk, for they knew that they had won the SLIAC tournament two times in a row. Last year, it took four hours for Greenville to play in the tournament due to rain delays and beat Westminster, but this time, they were able to play without any interruptions and win. This is what they had worked for all off season and during the season. The seniors were also expecting to win the tournament once again for their last year as a college softball player.

Brianna Anderson pitches the ball. Photo source: Greenville athletics

After the tournament, four players of the Greenville softball team were selected for the SLIAC all-tournament team. The players were Tiffany Samsoe, Casandra Lueking, and Kate Joliff. As the Lady Panthers end their celebrating, they prepare to travel up to Whitewater, Wisconsin as they play their first game of the tournament against Trine University on Wednesday, May 11 at 1 pm.

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