Troy Kelleher
Asst. Sports Editor
The polls are in, the hype is up, and the North Central softball team is set to dominate the 2014 season, according to the CCIW coaches’ poll.
After finishing the 2013 conference season with a .500 record of 7-7, the Cardinals have higher expectations this upcoming spring according to head coach Jim Kulawiak.
“Our main goal is to win the regular season, the CCIW tournament and advance to the regionals and beyond,” said Kulawiak. “We play an extremely difficult schedule, so the challenge will be there right from the beginning.”
The CCIW will certainly challenge the Cardinals, as Carthage College, is projected to finish right behind NCC in second place after accumulating 41 points and two first-place votes. In 2013, the Lady Red won the CCIW regular season with a record of 12-2.
Projected to finish in third is the Augustana College Vikings, who won last year’s conference tournament after blanking Carthage 4-0 in the championship game.
The Illinois Wesleyan Titans are projected to finish fourth, with Millikin, North Park, Wheaton and Elmhurst expected to round out the bottom half of the conference.
North Central made it to the Sweet Sixteen last year, beating Carthage 3-2 before falling to Luther College 7-0 in the championship game of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Regional.
“I thought we did a great job, we had a nice run, and we are very young,” said Kulawiak after the game.
NCC will play 14 regular season games against CCIW teams this year, leading up to the CCIW Championships on May 2-3.
The Cardinals can count on home field advantage for most of the conference season, as eight of the games will be played at Shanower Family Field. Home field superstitions won’t matter to the Cardinals, according to Kulawiak, who counts on this year’s strong returners and winning history to fuel the team’s success.
“Our program has been successful for more than a few years,” said Kulawiak.
The Cardinals have won seven CCIW regular season titles, seven CCIW tournament titles, ten NCAA regional bids, and one regional championship. They also grabbed a fifth place finish at the National Championships in 2001, performed consecutive game winning streaks of 22 and 29, and received numerous individual awards over the past 25 years.
“The biggest difference between our team this year, opposed to last year, is experience and depth in more positions, better pitching and a faster team,” said Kulawiak. “I hesitate to place too much emphasis on the incoming freshman; however, we do have several returners that were all conference and made the regional team, including (senior) Vlasta Mangia, (junior) Kiersten Tinkoff and (sophomore) Amanda Walker, who’ll all be critical to our success.”
North Central opens up their season in Orlando, Fla. for the Dot Richardson Spring Games, which has the Cards scheduled to play 10 games in five days starting on March 20.
