COLUMBUS, Ga.– With their backs against the wall, the Southeastern University Fire fought to keep their World Series dreams alive as they defeated Oregon Tech tonight by a score of 3-2 to remain one of the six teams still in the National Tournament.

The Fire quickly fell behind the Owls after a single, walk, and wild pitch allowed the first run in the top of the first.

In the bottom of the second, Ashley Ellison doubled into right center and would come around to score off of a Chapel Cunningham single and a throwing error, tying the contest at one.

The must-win contest would remain tied until Erica Stahl once again played hero, driving her sixth long ball of the season over the left field wall for two more Fire runs.

“My approach was just to pick a good pitch, swing at it, and move the runner,” Stahl said.

The Owls would make it a one-run game in the top of the seventh after a double and two singles but a fly out would strand the tying and go-ahead run on base, securing the Fire’s narrow 3-2 victory.

Autumn Hunter went five innings allowing one run on four hits while Claire Sekingerwas granted the win after going two innings, giving up one more run on four more hits and striking out two.

Cunningham ended the contest going 2-3 while Stahl collected the Fire’s two RBI’s.

The Fire will now face off against Indiana Wesleyan on Monday at 1 p.m.

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COLUMBUS, Ga. – Two runs were all that was needed for the second-seeded Oklahoma City to send Southeastern University to the losers bracket as they took the Fire’s second World Series contest by a score of 2-0.
 
The Stars claimed their first run in the bottom of the second after back-to-back hits and a sacrifice fly into center field.
 
One inning later, OCU again led off the inning with back-to-back hits and grabbed their second run off of a throwing error.
 
Shelbey Cornelson would go on to concede just two hits to the Fire to close the 2-0 victory and advance her team to 51-6 on the season.
 
Claire Sekinger fell to 23-6 on the season after giving up one earned run on five hits and striking out four.
 
The Fire will now await the winner of Tennessee Wesleyan and Oregon Tech for their 6 p.m. losers bracket contest tomorrow.

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RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America Softball teams were announced on Wednesday evening and Conference Carolinas had three student-athletes earn the honor.

Kylie Emanuele of Mount Olive was named to the first team at third base while teammate Courtlynn Cooney Jr. was a third team selection in the outfield. Rikkelle Miller of King was named to the second team at utility.

A 2022 D2CCA First Team All-Region and NFCA All-American selection, Emanuele led Conference Carolinas in hitting this season with a .484 average (77-for-157), a .889 slugging percentage and 82 RBIs. She was named the 2022 Conference Carolinas Player of the Year and was named to the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year Top 25 award list. A junior infielder from Corona, Calif., Emanuele finished the season with 21 doubles, two triples and a school record 13 home runs. She also scored 45 times and was 21-for-21 on the bases. Her 82 RBIs lead all of Division II, while her average is third-best and doubles are sixth.

A senior catcher/infielder from Fayetteville, Ga., Miller hit .383 on the season and her solo home run in the 2022 Conference Carolinas Softball Championship gave the Tornado a 1-0 victory to secure the title. She ranks fourth in the southeast region with 15 home runs, sixth in hits (69), eighth in slugging percentage (.756), 10th in RBIs (49) and 13th in doubles (16). She also owns an OPS of 1.193. Miller was also selected to the 2022 Conference Carolinas Softball All-Tournament Team.

A 2022 D2CCA All-Region selection, Cooney was a 2022 Conference Carolinas First Team All-Conference outfielder and hit .442, second on the team for the Trojans and third-most overall in Conference Carolinas. A junior outfielder from Mechanicsville, Md., Cooney led the conference in runs scored (65) and stolen bases (46-of-47). She slugged .553 with a 1.034 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) with 11 doubles, five triples and 33 RBIs. She currently ranks fifth in the NCAA in runs scored and stolen bases.

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COLUMBUS, Ga.– The Southeastern University softball team kicked off the NAIA World Series in dramatic fashion today after taking a 5-4 victory over Webber International thanks to a one-out, game-ending home run by Haleigh Harrell in the bottom of the seventh.

The 10^th seeded Warriors got on the board first in the top of the third after two walks and a wild pitch allowed the first run of the World Series to cross.

For the second and third time in just over a week, Erica Stahl stepped up in two different big-time moments for her team. In the fourth, back-to-back singles by Jamie Mead and Katie Atkins set up a sacrifice fly scenario for Stahl. The Plant City native would then go on to give her team the lead two innings later with an RBI single up the middle that scored Chapel Cunningham. The Fire would go on to score three runs, all with two outs, in the sixth after Ashley Ellison doubled home a run and Madison Williams followed with an RBI single.

The Fire would need just one out to claim the 4-1 victory but the Warriors would manage to bring three across behind two hits, three walks, and two hit-by-pitches.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Harrell took the second pitch she saw and sent it over the left field fence, concluding the Fire’s 5-4 victory and 50^th win of the season (50-11).

Autumn Hunter threw four complete innings with just one run allowed on three hits and three walks while Claire Sekinger (23-5) was granted the win after going three innings and allowing three earned runs.

Williams ended the day as the lone Fire hitter with multiple hits with Stahl collecting two RBI’s.

The Fire will next face off against the second-seeded team in the tournament and the program with the most World Series Championships in the NAIA, Oklahoma City, tomorrow at a time to be announced.

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INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Softball Rules Committee, which met virtually last week, proposed implementing video review and allowing coaches to have two video review challenges beginning in the 2021-22 academic year.

There would be no requirement to use the video review rule, but if approved, it would be optional for all schools, conferences and tournaments to implement.

All rules proposals must be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is scheduled to discuss softball recommendations Aug. 12.

Over the past few years, conferences have experimented with video review in conference tournament games, including the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern and Sun Belt conferences during the recently completed 2021 season. Rules committee members have received positive feedback about the experimental rule and are recommending that video review become a permanent aspect of the game.

Under the proposal, each head coach would have two challenges to initiate a review for the entirety of the game. A coach must verbally or visually indicate a challenge request before the next pitch, before the pitcher and all infielders have clearly vacated their normal fielding position and left fair territory, or before the umpires have left the field of play.

The umpire crew chief also has the discretion to initiate a review of designated plays beginning with the sixth inning of a game.

The following plays can be subject to review via initiation by the crew chief or via a head coach’s challenge:

• Regarding batted balls (any ball higher than the top of the foul pole when it leaves the field cannot have that aspect reviewed):

• Deciding if a batted ball called fair is fair or foul.
• Deciding if a batted ball called foul should be a ground rule double, home run or hit-by-pitch.

• Deciding if a batted ball called fair and ruled not to have left the field of play did leave the field.  
• Regarding pitched balls at the plate:
  • Deciding if a pitch ruled a dropped third strike was caught before the ball touched the ground. 
  • Deciding whether a live or dead ball should be changed to a foul ball.
  • Deciding whether a foul ball should be changed to a foul tip only with no base runners, or if it would result in a third out.
  • Deciding whether a batter is hit by a pitch. 
• Spectator interference. 
• Obstruction and interference (including collisions). 
• Deciding if malicious/flagrant contact occurred. Umpires may initiate this review without requiring a coach’s challenge at any point in the game to ensure student-athlete safety. 
• Timing plays (deciding whether the base runner scored ahead of a third out). 
• Force/tag play calls: Plays involving all runners acquiring the base before the defensive player’s attempt to put the runner out at any base. 
• Blocked or dead ball/placement of runners: Deciding whether a ball not ruled blocked should be ruled blocked, and the proper placement of runners after any blocked or dead ball call. 
• With no base runners, a no catch can be changed to a catch at any time. With runners on base, a no catch can be changed to a catch only if it results in a third out. 

The following criteria would be used in games using video review:

• All equipment should be tested by appropriate personnel before each game.
• A ruling on the field will only be changed if there is indisputable video evidence to reverse the call. Absent that evidence, the original ruling on the field will stand.
• A review must be verbally or visually indicated before the next pitch, before the pitcher and all infielders have clearly vacated their normal fielding position and left fair territory, or before the umpires leave the field of play.
• Coaches have 30 seconds to verbally or visually lodge a challenge.
• The video review may be conducted on-site by the crew chief or by an off-field official at a centralized video review location.
• If video review is conducted on-site by the crew chief, the video review area shall not require an umpire to walk through spectators or dugouts to view the coverage. At least one umpire must remain on the field.
• During the video review, the defensive team shall maintain its position on the field and may warm up if desired. Offensive base runners and the on-deck hitter shall maintain their position. Other personnel shall remain in the dugout. Any defensive or offensive conferences will be charged as during any other part of the game.
• Once the review is completed, the crew chief will communicate the ruling to both head coaches and the official scorer. This should also be communicated to the broadcasting booth, if applicable, via the umpire who has a microphone. The following rulings are allowed:
  • Ruling on the field is confirmed.
  • Ruling on the field is reversed.
  • Ruling stands due to no indisputable evidence to reverse it.
• If the reversing of a call results in the need for decisions on the placement of base runners, the crew chief shall use good judgment and/or the appropriate rule to determine where to place the runners as if the call had been made correctly.
• The final decision may not be argued by either coach. A coach who argues the final decision shall be immediately ejected.

Team conferences during play

With thoughts of increasing pace and flow of the game, the committee proposed allowing a total of seven charged coach-to-player conferences to occur during a game, beginning with the 2022 season.

Teams would be allowed a maximum of one per half inning. An additional defensive conference would be allowed for each pitching change if that pitcher has not already pitched in the half inning, which would count toward one of the seven allowable conferences.

In addition, teams would be allowed seven charged player-to-player conferences per game with a maximum of two per half inning. 

Time between innings

To further improve the pace and flow of the game, the committee recommended a standard time between innings — 90 seconds — for all games (media or nonmedia) and allowing pitchers to throw any number of warmup pitches during this time.

Hitter’s out of the batter’s box

Committee members recommended that if the umpire rules a hitter is out of the batter’s box at the moment of bat-ball contact, the play would become a dead ball immediately, and a strike would be added to the count. With two strikes, the batter would be declared out, and all runners would return to the base they legally occupied at the time of the pitch. 

Other recommendations

• The committee also recommended adding to the rules book that a runner will be out, including ejected, for a deliberate collision with a fielder regardless of if the fielder has possession of the ball. Also, a runner who slides out of the baseline to slide directly at a fielder may be issued a team warning rather than immediate ejection if the action is not egregious enough to warrant an ejection. The action could result in an additional runner being ruled out if it is deemed interference.  
• Committee members also proposed that the stride foot of the pitcher can be on the lane line/pitcher’s plate at the start of the pitching motion rather than within the pitcher’s plate.  
• The committee recommended standardizing ball specifications with the National Federation of State High School Associations and USA Softball (maximum compression of 275-375 pounds) by Jan. 1, 2024, to improve inventory availability and assist in cost containment.

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INDIANAPOLIS – The Management Council approved changes to the format and the dates of selection and regional competition for the Division II 2021 baseball and softball championships.

Championships for both sports in 2021 will consist of one round of regional competition to advance to the finals, eliminating the super-regional round. The regional competitions will be completed over a single weekend in a double-elimination format to determine which team advances to the finals site.

The format changes came in part because of recommendations from the COVID-19 Advisory Panel to consolidate preliminary-round sites, along with one-year bracket reductions for the 2020-21 championships approved in December by the Division II Administrative Committee. Division II baseball’s bracket size was reduced from 56 to 42 for its 2021 championship; softball was reduced from 64 to 48.

Additionally, as a result of the consolidation, baseball and softball’s selections and regional-round dates will be moved back to provide schools more opportunities for regular-season games. The competition dates for the finals sites did not change.

Baseball’s championship dates will now be as follows:

• Selections: May 23.
• Regionals: May 27-30.
• Finals: June 5-12 in Cary, N.C.

Softball’s championship dates will now be as follows:

• Selections: May 16.
• Regionals: May 19-21.
• Finals: May 27-31 in Denver.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | Florida A&M University’s VP/Director of Athletics, Kortne Gosha, announced on Friday the promotion of Constance Orr as the new Head Softball Coach. 

“We are excited about the continuity Coach Orr will bring to our team,” Gosha said. “It was clear that the foundation of our softball program was solid and very important that we developed a long term plan. Coach Orr is the right fit and right philosophy to take our program to the next level.” 

Orr takes over for legendary head coach Veronica Wiggins, who will transition into the role of Director of Player Development and Alumni Affairs within the Athletic Department. 

“I am truly honored and blessed to have this opportunity to be the next head softball coach at Florida A&M,” Orr said “I want to thank Coach Wiggins for her wisdom, encouragement, and belief in me to continue building such a powerful program that she has respectfully built throughout her illustrious career. I am very excited about this new journey and am looking forward to being able to lead our team with the continued support of our amazing AD, Kortne Gosha, along with his staff, as well as our President, Dr. Larry Robinson and all of Rattler Nation.”

Orr, a native of Charlotte, N.C., was a former standout softball player at the University of North Carolina (UNC). During her playing career, Orr was named to the 2013 All-ACC and the 2013 All-ACC Tournament teams. She started all 60 games playing primarily at third base. Orr also spent time as a pitcher, finishing with a record of 6-2. She was named ACC Player of the Week during her senior season after tallying 11 RBIs and hitting three multiple-run homers, including a grand slam, over a six-game span. She led the team with 50 RBIs and 62 hits with a .959 fielding mark during her senior season. 

Orr earned a bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science from UNC in 2013.

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