Lady Pioneers Set to Square Off at NFCA Classic

SPARTANBURG -- The SMC Lady Pioneers softball team will be on the road this weekend taking on several nationally-ranked teams at the NJCAA/NFCA Lead Off Classic in Panama City, FL.

The Lady Pioneers (3-5) face Division II No. 7-ranked Johnson County CC on Friday at 2:30 pm. Johnson County posted a 48-11 record last season.

At 5 pm,  the Lady Pioneers take on No. 10-ranked Santa Fe College, who finished last season at 46-9 and are currently 10-4 on the 2011 season. Santa Fe has one of the best arms in the country in Colena Lazar (71 strikeouts in 45 innings pitched).

Saturday at 12 pm, the Lady Pioneers will face off with the defending Division II national champion Muskegon College (59-9), of Michigan.

Once pool play is over on Saturday, the 24 teams will be divided up into three pools of eight, while the six pool winners and the top two second place teams will be placed in the gold pool. The other second place teams and top four third place teams will be placed in the silver pool, while everyone left will be placed in the bronze pool.

The Pioneers are coming off of a successful weekend after taking two games from Surry CC and a split with Patrick Henry.The Pioneers put up 32 runs while allowing only seven.

"Our weekend at the Georgia Perimeter tournament helped us tremendously, even though we lost all four games. We were very competitive in three of the four and that helped us this past weekend. We will face some very serious competition this weekend as well. I'm very excited for SMC as this is a great honor to be invited to this tourney," says SMC head softball coach Thad Fox.

Spartanburg Methodist College has 14 intercollegiate teams that compete in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association, which includes colleges in the Carolinas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The College is in its 100th academic year of providing a quality education to students in a Christian environment. More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.
 
For more information please contact athletic director Mark Perdue at (864) 587-4237.