The LCC Lady Devils won an unprecedented fifth consecutive NWAACC softball championship with a 3-2 victory over Clackamas on Monday May 19th. LCC ties Clackamas for the most softball tiles with six and they are the only NWAACC team in any sport to win five straight titles.
Freshman pitcher Sarah Withers went the distance in the championship game. Megan Jezierski hit a homer, Jenn Taylor had an RBI single and Janessa Roening's RBI triple turned out to be the game winner.
Roening was named the NWAACC Tourney MVP with a show of power, speed and desire. Her grand slam homer in the 13-2 semi-final win over Spokane kick started the Lady Devils on championship Monday. Roening was joined on the all-tourney squad by Jezierski and the three-star pitching staff of Withers, Stephanie Sheppard and Taylor Hall.
The sophomore group of Jezierski, Sheppard, Taylor, Kara Ewing, Karla Flinn, Ericka Karnofski and Kelsey Isselhardt finished a great two-year run at LCC with 81 wins and just five losses and two NWAACC championships.
The 2003 Lady Devils also featured talented freshmen who all bought into the team concept. Roening, Withers, Hall and Stacy Hendricks were stars, but fellow freshmen Hannah Shelley, Jynessa Trennepohl, Sara Brown, Mandy Cervantes, Christin Pass and Holly Presseisen were all solid contributors to a great ball team.
The Lady Devils have already begun the chore of coming up with a new recruiting class to keep the incredible championship streak alive. One early recruit to note is pitcher Jennifer Pass from Astoria. There will be others to be announced soon. Of course the bar has been set awfully high. LCC looks forward to welcoming talented players who have the goal of a championship and playing at the next level.
Head Coach Tim Mackin and his coaching staff of Ken Vodrup and Scott O'Neil are proud of the 2003 Lady Devils. They proved they are a team for the ages.