When the regional rankings come out in softball today, Emporia State does not expect to be in the top eight teams. That’s not because the Hornets don’t feel like they deserve to be moving up from ninth, but they’re starting to realize there might be a conspiracy in the works.
“My thought process is in the last couple weeks we’re one of the teams that no one wants to play and no one wants to play us right now,” ESU coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “I think we’ve got the postseason experience, so if the regional committee can keep us out of it, they’re going to try to keep us out of it for their benefit, because a lot of the people on the committee are in contention and we’re just a team with experience in the postseason. I think everyone knows that we’re better than they’re giving us.”
The low ranking, which Bredbenner expects to be ninth again, leaves the Hornets in uncharted territory entering the MIAA tournament on Thursday. After winning the regular season title the last four seasons, Emporia State has been ranked near the top of the regional rankings and has not needed to play itself into the regional tournament.
Sitting on the bubble this year, the Hornets face a must-win scenario this week.
“We’ve got a little fire under us because we’re not getting the respect in the region that we feel we deserve,” ESU third baseman Miranda Campbell said. “Our only guarantee is to win the conference tournament.”
If that’s the case, history would indicate that the odds on are on the Hornets side. In her first three seasons as Emporia State’s head coach, Bredbenner has never lost a game in the conference tournament. Of course, this season presents a different challenge with the Hornets needing a strong showing — maybe even another championship to guarantee an automatic bid to the regional.
“In the past, it hasn’t mattered for us,” Bredbenner said. “There was less pressure on us in the past because even if we would have loss, we would have been able to make it into a regional. I still think that our approach going in is the same, there’s just a little bit more urgency.”
Bredbenner believes if the Hornets finish second in the conference tournament, they will get in. However, Emporia State’s strong play as of late hasn’t seemed to affect the rankings, so winning might be the only option.
For conspiracy theorists, the best evidence comes from Nebraska-Omaha’s ranking compared to Emporia State’s. UNO was ranked fourth last week, the top-ranked team in the MIAA in the rankings. However, the Mavs are fourth in the conference standings and have an 18-8 record in April.
Emporia State was ranked ninth and is third in the standings. While the Mavs are stumbling, the Hornets are peaking with a 19-5 record in April.
Postseason success usually comes down to strong pitching, and last season the Hornets rode the arm of Samantha Sheeley. Megan Dennis has taken over the No. 1 role and freshman Jennifer Heerey has replaced Dennis as the No. 2.
Both pitchers have been up and down this year, but they both seem to be pitching their best as of late. Heerey has given up just one run in her last two starts, both complete games.
Dennis has three complete-game shutouts in her last six starts, has gone the distance in all six games and she also has a perfect game. She took a no-hitter into the seventh inning last week against Washburn before giving up two hits and a run in the seventh inning. Emporia State opens the first round with Washburn on Thursday.
“I think it’s good motivation for me to challenge myself to do even better,” Dennis said. “Two hits is a great performance, but I want to do it again. I want to be right where I was before. I want our hitting to be right where it was before.”
The Hornets would also like to end the weekend where they’ve been before — as conference champs. But with the added pressure of the regional rankings and an improved league, Bredbenner knows it’s not going to be as easy this year.
“In the past, we were the team that was going to come in and wax everyone,” Bredbenner said. “No one was going to beat us the last three years, and I still in a way feel that way. But this year there’s a lot more teams that are better. There’s five legitimate teams when they play well, they could win this conference tournament if they play well the whole time, and that’s kind of cool. It’s anyone’s game.”