The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
ST. GEORGE – It’s a big week in softball for the community with the NJCAA National Tournament being played at The Canyons and the 3A State Tournament being played at the Little Valley complex.
Part of the NJCAA Tourney features a shout out to the youth softball players in Utah’s Dixie with a pre-tournament skills clinic, with headlining clinician 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Amanda Freed.
The former Team USA star, along with at least four players from each of the NJCAA teams competing this week, interacted with local youth out at the Canyons, teaching basic skills such as bunting, fielding, pitching and hitting.
The skills clinic preceded a banquet for all the participating NJCAA teams and is a precursor to the actual tournament, which begins Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Sixteen Division I junior college teams from throughout the country will be in St. George for the NJCAA Tourney to compete for the national title. They include teams from near (Salt Lake Community College and Pima, Ariz.) and far (Chipola, Fla., and Paris, Tex.). Also in town: Butler, Kan., Pitt, N.C., Wallace State, Ala., Santa Fe, Fla., NE Oklahoma A & M, Trinity Valley, Tex., Odessa, Tex., Iowa Western, Lake Land, Ill., Walters State, Tenn., Weatherford, Tex., and Georgia Perimater.
Butler enters the tourney as the top-ranked team in the nation and the top-seeded team. No, 2-seeded Salt Lake and third-seeded Chipola all have excellent chances.
Chattanooga, Tenn., won it last season with Salt Lake placing second. Yavapai, Ariz., was the 2010 champion with SLCC placing second that year as well.
The games begin Wednesday at 4 p.m. and run through Saturday in the double-elimination tournament. The championship will be Saturday at noon, with the “if necessary game scheduled for 2 p.m.
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Former US Olympic softball player Amanda Freed speaks to local youth at the NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
The NJCAA softball clinic at The Canyons Tuesday, St. George, Utah, May 14, 2013 | Photo by Chris Caldwell, St. George News
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m.
Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.