Sigwing named KJCCC-East Coach of Year

Sigwing

Lauren Sigwing, Fort Scott Community College's second-year head softball coach, was recently honored by her peers as she was named Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference-Eastern Division coach of the Year.

Sigwing's Greyhounds had a 17-25 overall record this season, which included an 8-10 record in conference play. They were also 11-9 against district opponents.

The 17 victories were the most by a Greyhound team since the 2004 edition won 23 of 54 games. This season was also the winningest by percentage since the 2002 team went 18-21 (a .461 percentage compared to this season's .405).

Fort Scott was just 4-19 prior to a Region VI Division II seeding crossover weekend on April 11-12. But the Greyhounds then went on an 11-game winning streak to improve to 15-19. The first win in that streak was over eventual Region VI Division II champion Johnson County in the conclusion of a game FSCC successfully appealed to the Jayhawk Conference office.

Sigwing was 12-43 in her first season last year. That mark was seven wins greater than the Greyhounds' total in the previous two seasons combined.

Also honored by conference coaches were five members of the Greyhound team on the All-KJCCC-Eastern Division team.

Pitcher Lindsay Boham, third baseman Emily True and outfielder Sarah Doyle were all named to the second team. Boham had an 8-10 record with a 3.55 earned run average. True batted .407 with 16 doubles, 10 home runs and 44 runs batted in. She had a .756 slugging percentage. Doyle batted .373 with 20 doubles, four homers and 12 RBI. She scored 40 runs and was successful on 38 of 41 stolen-base attempts.

Pitcher Ashley Harris and second baseman Hannah Somers were named to the honorable mention team. Harris was also 8-10 with an ERA of 4.39. Somers batted .403 with 17 doubles, nine homers and 35 RBI. She had a .731 slugging percentage.

The Greyhounds' season concluded at the Region VI Division II Tournament in Wichita last weekend. They entered the tourney with the No. 7 seed and beat No. 11 Kansas City Kansas in the first round, 11-3. Doyle, True and Chelsie Kibbe hit home runs for the 'Hounds, all of which came in the bottom of the first inning to help overcome a 3-0 deficit. True and Maggie Cornish were each three for four. Somers and Sam Ribas were each two for four.

Boham allowed no earned runs on three hits, walking six and striking out two.

No. 2 Highland was next and the Scotties took a 4-0 win as their pitching held the Greyhounds to three hits.

In the losers' bracket, Fort Scott came back to beat No. 12 Independence, 14-6, with the aid of six runs over the final two innings. Harris, in relief, was the winning pitcher, allowing only two hits while striking out three over 4 3/2 innings.

Doyle was three for five and scored five runs. Somers was three for three with a two-run homer and five RBIs. Chelsea Clark was two for three. Kibbe also hit a solo home run.

In the final game, the Greyhounds faced No. 6 Allen County and suffered an 11-0 loss. Cornish was two for three. Ribas hit a double in her final at-bat of her college career.

Johnson County, the No. 4 seed, went on to win the regional, posting four wins on the final day of play on Sunday coming out of the losers' bracket. The Cavaliers (36-9) beat No. 1 Cowley in back-to-back games, 8-5 and 11-3, to advance to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament May 15-17.

Kansas City........ 300 000 x -- 3 3 7

Fort Scott........... 601 004 x -- 11 13 2

WP -- Boham.

HR -- Doyle (1st inn., none on, none out), True (1st inn, one on, none out), Kibbe (1st inn., one on, one out).

Fort Scott.......... 000 000 0 -- 0 3 2

Highland........... 200 200 x -- 4 6 0

LP -- Harris.

HR -- none.

Fort Scott........... 320 302 4 -- 14 12 2

Independence.... 500 001 0 -- 6 6 4

WP -- Harris.

HR -- Somers (4th inn., one on, one out), Kibbe (7th inn., none on, none out).

Allen County..... 303 010 4 -- 11 11 0

Fort Scott.......... 000 000 0 -- 0 6 4

LP -- Boham.

HR -- none.