Lady Indians reach Final 12; Clip No. 10 McLennan
OXFORD, Ala. – The McCook Community College softball team knocked out another rated opponent Wednesday at the NJCAA D1 College World Series. In a game that was pushed back eight hours by 1.5 inches of rain, the Lady Indians exploded for five second-inning runs and held on win 5-2 to eliminate No. 10 McLennan (Waco, Texas).
MCC will play a 1:30 p.m. game Thursday against the loser of a 9 a.m. game between No. 9 Eastern Florida State and No. 1 Florida SouthWestern State.
The Lady Indians got a strong outing in the circle from freshman lefthander Hannah Schneider (Alliance, Neb) who shut out the Highlanders for five innings and then picked up the complete-game win.
“We had a huge pitching performance by Hannah today,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall.
When the rains cleared, MCC got a one-out single in the top of the first inning by freshman Josie Wright (Calgary, Alberta) and the Lady Indians were off and running. Wright stole second, then advanced to third on a groundout with Lyndsay Keogh (Surrey, British Columbia) batting but MCC left Wright at third base.
Freshman lefthander Hannah Schneider (Alliance, Neb.) took the circle for the Lady Indians and was pressed early with the Highlander leadoff hitter reaching on an infield error. Schneider struck out the No. 2 hitter then walked the No. 3 hitter. With a wild pitch, both runners advanced a base and when the leadoff hitter tried to steal home, she was tagged out on a throw from shortstop Brooklyn (freshman, McCook) to sophomore catcher Marleigh Mitchell (Mission, British Columbia) for the second out. After another walk Schneider induced an inning-ending groundball to shortstop.
After two outs in the MCC second sophomore Kashlin Beck (Claflin, Kan.) ignited the MCC offense with a line-drive double to centerfield. Freshman Ellie Baca (Greeley, Colo.) reached on an error by the third baseman. Freshman Lacyn Keller (McCook) drove home the first run on an infield single to third base. After both runners advance a base on a wild pitch, leadoff hitter Paige Warren (sophomore, Victoria, British Columbia) singled in both runners and took second on the throw home to make it 3-0. Wright lined a double to centerfield to score Warren and knock out the McLennan starting pitcher. Keough greeted the new pitcher with an RBI-single scoring Wright and putting MCC up 5-0.
“That was key, to jump on them when we had the opportunity and turned it into a big inning, and that was all we needed,” said Mendenhall.
But the drama wasn’t over. Schneider did get in a rhythm in the second and after giving up a one-out single retired the next two batters on a fielder’s choice and a lineout to center field.
Neither team was able to create any momentum on the base paths in the third or fourth innings. Keough hit a leadoff double in the fifth and after Gillen sacrificed freshman pinch-runner Malia Hilker (McCook) to third base, the Tribe was unable to add to their 5-0 lead. The Highlanders got one runner on base via a one-out walk but Schneider retired the next two batters.
McLennan finally got to Schneider in the sixth inning with a single, double and an error to load the bases. A single brought in the first run but the lefty struck out two straight hitters with the bases loaded before the Highlanders added a second run on a single to left field to make it a 5-2 game.
MCC got a pair of runners on in the seventh with Keogh hit by a pitch and Mitchell working a walk but the Lady Indians didn’t add to their lead.
Schneider retired the McLennan order in the seventh on 10 pitchers to push her record in the circle to 18-3 with her 10th complete game of the season. She allowed four singles and a double, one earned run, three walks and five strikeouts.
MCC had eight hits on the night led by Wright, Keogh and Keller with two each.
The Lady Indians improve to 54-8.
The Highlanders were one of four teams that did not win their region or district and received an at-large bid. For the second-straight year MCC eliminated McLennan who finish the season 43-16
Because of the weather, only four of the 12 scheduled games were played Wednesday and they were all elimination games. In the only game that finished before the 11 a.m. rains came, No. 18 Arizona Western eliminated No. 12 Volunteer State 4-2. No. 8 Trinity Valley Community College overcame a 6-0 deficit and came back to eliminate No. 13 Southern Idaho 9-8 and No. 11 Santa Fe defeated No. 14 Gaston College 6-3 in eight innings.
2026 NJCAA D-1 COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Oxford, Alabama
Choccolocco Park
Results from Monday, May 25
Game 1 – No. 17 San Jacinto 7, No. 16 McCook 0
Game 2 – No. 13 Southern Idaho 4, No. 20 Dodge City 3
Game 3 – No. 14 Gaston College 3, No. 19 Wabash Valley 1
Game 4 – No. 15 Iowa Western 3, No. 18 Arizona Western 0
Game 5 – No. 9 Eastern Florida State 2, No. 8 Trinity Valley 1
Game 6 – No. 5 Seminole State 5, No. 12 Volunteer State 4
Game 7 – No. 7 Paris JC vs. No. 10 McLennan, Championship Field, postponed to Tuesday
Game 8 – No. 6 Odessa vs. No. 11 Santa Fe, postponed to Tuesday
Results from Tuesday, May 26
Game 7 – No. 7 Paris JC 3, No. 10 McLennan 2
Game 8 – No. 6 Odessa 4 No. 11 Santa Fe College 2
Game 9 – No. 4 Temple 4, College of Southern Idaho 3
Game 10 – No. 1 Florida SouthWestern 2, San Jacinto 1
Game 11 – No. 2 Northwest Florida State 4, Iowa Western 1
Game 12 – No. 3 Northeastern Alabama 8 Gaston College 0
Game 13 – College of Southern Idaho 8, 8, Wabash Valley 3 (Wabash Valley eliminated)
Game 14 – Arizona Western 10, San Jacinto 1 (San Jacinto eliminated)
Game 15 – McCook 7, Iowa Western 4 (Iowa Western eliminated)
Game 16 – Gaston College 7, Dodge City 6 (Dodge City eliminated)
Results from Wednesday, May 27
Game 17 – College of Southern Idaho vs. Trinity Valley, 9 a.m. (eliminated)
Game 18 – Arizona Western 4 Volunteer State 2 (Volunteer State eliminated)
Game 19 – McCook 5, vs. McLennan 2 (McLennan eliminated)
Game 20 – Santa Fe College 6, Gaston College 3 (8 innings), (Gaston eliminated)
Thursday, May 28
(Third round games)
Game 21 – No. 9 Eastern Florida State vs. No. 1 Florida SouthWestern State, 9 a.m.
Game 22 – No. 5 Seminole State vs. No. 4 Temple College, 9 a.m.
Game 23 – No. 6 Odessa vs. No. 3 Northeast Alabama, 11:15 a.m.
Game 24 – No. 6 Paris JC vs. No. 2 Northwest Florida State, 11:15 a.m.
(Elimination games)
Game 25 – No. 16 McCook CC vs. the vs. loser of the Eastern Florida State/Florida SouthWestern game, 1:30 p.m.
Game 26 – No. 11 Santa Fe College vs. loser of Game 22, 1:30 p.m.
Game 27 – No. 8 Trinity Valley vs. loser of Game 23, 3:45 p.m.
Game 28 – No. 18 Arizona Western vs. loser of Game 24, 3:45 p.m.
Up-to-date information about MCC softball including up-to-date schedule and changes, livestream links for home games, rosters, photos, statistics and more can be found on the MCC Athletics website, www.mccindians.com