Wranglers Finish Third at 2022 NJCAA D1 Softball Championship

YUMA, AZ - The Wrangler Softball Team took home third place at the 2022 NJCAA D1 Softball National Tournament this week.

Odessa (55-7) dropped a pair of games on Friday, a 12-4 loss to McLennan and a 5-4 loss to Florida Southwestern to finish off the 2022 season.

In their second consecutive trip to the national tournament under Head Coach Jeff Jackson, the Wranglers went 3-2.

It was another historic season for the Wranglers, their third-place finish ties the highest finish in program history and their 55 wins is now the record for most wins in a single season.

Sophomore Aydenne Brown continued her dominance in the circle picking up three consecutive complete game victories in three straight days of pitching. Brown was named to the All-Tournament Team. 

They opened the tournament with three consecutive victories, a 4-1 victory over #12 San Jacinto, a 3-0 victory over #13 Lake Land (IL), and a 2-1 walk off victory over #1 Florida Southwestern to propel the Wranglers to the tournament semifinals.

Friday's games were a different story, as the Wrangler offense struggled to find the timely hit. Odessa lost to a red-hot #7 McLennan team 12-4, Kawehi Ili and Ari Ybarra both homered in the loss. 

The second game of the day was a rematch between the Wranglers and #1 Florida Southwestern. FSW struck first to take a 1-0 lead, but the Wranglers were able to answer back in a big way, as Brooke Nauman blasted a grand slam over the right field wall to take a 4-1 lead. FWS would eventually tie and take the lead in the top of the seventh on a solo home run and an RBI double both coming with two outs.

Odessa put up a threat in the bottom of the seventh as Clarissa Zapata reached on an error by the FSW third baseman, but she was stranded a second base to end the ballgame.

With the lost to FSW, the Wranglers return home with a third-place trophy from the 2022 NJCAA D1 Softball Championship.