Tournament Site

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Montana State University Billings softball team has escaped the snow falling in Billings and is in sunny Las Vegas, Nevada, preparing to host the third annual Desert Stinger Partnered with Rip-It Friday, Feb. 10 through Sunday, Feb. 12. The tournament will feature 28 NCAA Division II teams competing in 70 games over the three days.
 
Two of the 28 teams are nationally-ranked in the coaches' poll highlighted by last year's tournament champion Augustana College at No. 8. Colorado School of Mines is the other team, easing into the top-25 this week at No. 24. Three other schools are receiving votes in the national poll including California State University San Bernardino, Sonoma State University and Lewis University.
 
MSUB will play five games over the three-day span, including two against teams the Yellowjackets faced in last year's Stinger.
 
On Friday, the Yellowjackets will kick off their 2012 campaign against Metropolitan State College at 4:30 p.m. before taking on Grand Canyon University at 7 p.m. in the day's night-cap.
 
MSUB will next take on Cal State San Bernardino at 2 p.m. on Saturday before taking on Chadron State College at 4:30 p.m. The Yellowjackets will close out their time in the desert with an 11:30 a.m. game against Dixie State College.
 
Last year, the Yellowjackets went 2-3 in the stinger and ended their season 28-20 overall that included going on a nine-game winning streak and winning 13 of their last 15 games.
 
The Yellowjackets return 10 total letter winners and seven total starters from last year's squad that includes two pitchers and five position players. Four were named All-GNAC selections last season and three are some of the league's top returning hitters.
 
Meg Harasymczuk headlines those returning this season after being the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2011. The senior leftfielder boasts a strong arm and led the team with 42 runs scored, 55 hits and 14 home runs last season and will be looked to as an offensive catalyst again this season.
 
Other notable returners include pitchers Amanda Todd and Annaleisha Parsley, Bobbi Lee who moves to centerfield, third baseman Nicole Colpron, and second baseman Jenna VanEykeren.
 
When some injuries and unforeseeable circumstances arose last season in the pitching stable, Allen was able to turn to Todd to pitch some solid innings for the Yellowjackets, holding some stiff league competition at bay to finish the season with a 9-6 record and one shutout performance even though the then freshman out of Skyview High School was originally not supposed to do much work.
 
Parsley proved to be the workhorse for the Yellowjackets last season as she logged the most innings of work inside the circle with 146.1 innings. The Lacey, WA native compiled a record of 10-9 and appeared in 28 total games last season while pitching 13 complete games.
 
Lee, who led the team last season with a .432 batting average which is the top returning batting average in the conference, will be moving over to centerfield this season after finishing the season there and offers a solid bat for what Allen hopes will be an explosive offense. A season ago, Lee was named to the All-GNAC first team in part to her clutch hitting for the Yellowjackets.
 
This past fall, Colpron picked up where she left off last season as she proved to the coaching staff she is willing to lay down the sacrifice to move runners around the bases while also proving able to hit the long ball.
 
The final returner for Allen and staff is their lone four-year senior, VanEykeren. The second baseman out of Las Vegas, NV has been known to make excellent plays on defense over the years and has been a consistent presence in the batter's box.
 
As for newcomers, Allen feels that freshman pitcher Mary Grace Bywater has put herself in prime position to earn playing time after a successful fall campaign as did fellow frosh Taylor Hoke who proved to have a solid bat against MSUB's pitching staff. Junior college transfer Nicole Wilkerson has made great strides to fill the catcher's role by showing she can be vocal while leading the defense but also brings a solid bat to the lineup. At first base, freshman Emily Osborn really caught the coaching staff's attention as she was able to cover the bag with a deftness that made her look like she had been playing at the college level for few seasons.
 
Three of MSUB's five opponents were not in last year's Desert Stinger. This is Metro, Cal State San Bernardino and Chadron State's first year while Grand Canyon and Dixie were both in last year's tournament. Grand Canyon went 2-3 including garnering a 7-1 victory over MSUB while Dixie finished the Stinger with a similar 2-3 record that included a 9-5 loss to the host Yellowjackets on the opening day.
 
Metro is currently 2-5 on the young season with victories over Dominican University and California State University Stanislaus after ending last season 34-18. The Roadrunners went 1-4 last week in the Mizuno Best of the West Tournament held in Turlock, Calif.
 
Grand Canyon is already 3-1 this season as they kicked off their 2012 campaign in the Grand Canyon University Kickoff Classic last week. The earned two wins over Western New Mexico and split a pair of games with California State University East Bay. Last season, the Antelopes finished the year 22-25.
 
After going 35-24 last season, Cal State San Bernardino is already 0-2 resulting in their dropping from the nation's top-25 poll. The Coyotes dropped their opening two games to California Baptist last Friday and will face off against Dixie tomorrow before traveling to the Stinger.
 
Neither Chadron nor Dixie have started their seasons yet. Chadron's first games will be this weekend in the Stinger while Dixie will take on Cal State San Bernardino tomorrow. Last season, Chadron State went 21-26 overall while Dixie finished the 2011 campaign with a record of 33-14.