SIOUX CITY, Iowa — The University of Jamestown softball team is headed to the GPAC tournament and looking for their first conference tournament win since 2021. The Jimmies start the tournament at noon on Wednesday, May 3, against Midland University.
“Our expectations are to win games at the conference tournament,” Jimmies head coach Kevin Gall said. “So, in order to do that we’re going to have to give ourselves a chance to do that by pitching well, playing well defensively and continuing to hit the ball well. So, it’s a tough combination with finals going on and travel and everything. So, another challenge for our girls.”
Due to the tournament falling during the school’s final exam period, Gall said his team is not practicing as much as they would like to.
“We’ll get some swings in and whatnot, but we’re not gonna have a practice,” Gall said. “Everything’s gonna be mental and classroom sessions and that type of thing. We’ve got a bunch of swings banked up so I don’t know that taking a whole lot of swings right now is gonna do us any good. It’s not gonna benefit us, it’s gonna keep us on par with what we’ve been doing. But, when you have finals and travel and everything mixed into it, it’s definitely challenging.”
The Jimmies come in with a 24-20 overall record and an 11-11 record in the GPAC. The Jimmies are also on a one-game winning streak. The Warriors come in with a 31-12 overall record and a 16-6 record in the GPAC. The Warriors are on a two-game winning streak. One of the Warriors' losses was a 9-5 loss to the Jimmies on April 26. The Jimmies and Warriors have played 16 times all time with the Warriors having a 12-4 record.
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In the most recent game, the Jimmies scored seven runs in the sixth inning, including two runs off of the Warriors’ Aliyah Rincon who comes in with a 1.74 ERA and 207 strikeouts.
“It definitely has helped my confidence a lot just because I haven’t really performing very well hitting-wise,” Fisher said. “I think all of us just smacking around the ball the other day really gave us all a lot more confidence as well.”
Fisher is confident that the Jimmies can continue to play well when they take the field against the Warriors.
“I think this group of girls we have is really excited for the tournament,” Fisher said. “I think we’re gonna come out pretty hot. I think we all kind of expect to win.”
This Jimmies roster has a combined 19 games of playoff experience with a combined batting average of .241. Fisher has the most experience out of the team with six playoff games under her belt.
“I think we just help out with them staying calm and playing their game,” Fisher said. “I think they might just get excited with it being a bigger tournament and everything but I think us older girls have definitely helped just keeping them calm and keeping them excited.”
One of the younger players on the team is sophomore infielder Ally Battistoni who has played in two conference tournament games as she went 1-for-4 in those two games. This season, Battistoni is hitting .344 with eight doubles, one home run, 20 RBIs and six walks.
“Individually I find myself being positive, positive self-talk,” Battistoni said. “I try to go out of my way to cheer on my teammates, also myself, to help with my own performance. I find myself visualizing my at-bats before I go up to the plate by watching other girls at bats and their approaches and figuring out what pitcher's habits are and what she’s throwing and also reading the defense; if the corners are back.”
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As they look ahead to the conference tournament, Battistoni said she and her teammates are ready for the challenge.
“I feel like we’re pretty confident,” Battistoni said. “Especially, we played the top-level teams these two weeks and splitting with them all obviously gains a lot of confidence. We’re finally starting to find our bats and that also helps build our confidence in each other and I feel like as the year’s been going on we’ve been building a better connection with our teammates. So, better trust and relying on each other.”
The Trust Project
