MCC Softball to open Monday in CWS opening game
The bracket for the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 Softball World Series was has been released and McCook Community College will open the national tournament Monday against San Jacinto College.
The 25th ranked Lady Indians (52-7), gained the No. 16 seed and will play in one of two opening games at 11 a.m. Memorial Day against unranked and No. 17 seed San Jacinto (41-24) from Houston Texas.
“I think it’s a good match up for us to open and I expect us to go down to this national tournament again and compete,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “I’m really excited about this opportunity to go to the College World Series with this amazing group of girls.”
The college is planning a watch party at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center for the 11 a.m. game Monday (and all games throughout the week) so fans can watch the game on the giant video screen. The party is open to the public, snacks and drinks will be provided. There is no admission.
This year’s tournament field includes 20 teams from 12 states with six from Texas, four from Florida, and one each from Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee. The double-elimination tournament begins Monday with eight opening-round games and continues through Saturday, May 30 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.
A win on Monday would advance MCC to a Tuesday game against top-seeded Florida SouthWestern (54-4) at 11 a.m.
“One of our goals last year was to make it far enough to play one of the Florida schools and we didn’t quite make it,” said Mendenhall. “That’s something I’d really like to do this year.”
With a Monday loss MCC would play an elimination game Tuesday at 5:45 p.m. against the loser of an early Tuesday game between second-seeded Northwest Florida State (55-5) and the winner of the Monday game between No. 15 Iowa Western and No. 18 Arizona Western.
MCC, ranked No. 25 in the NJCAA D1 final rankings, qualified for the tournament by winning the Region IX regular season with a 30-2 record against in the league. That gave the Lady Indians the top seed for the tournament and the right to host the six-team double-elimination tournament May 7-10 at the Jaycees Sports Complex. MCC completed a three-game sweep to win the title beating fourth-seeded Western Nebraska 4-3 in a walk-off opening-game win in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Lady Indians beat second-seeded Southeast Community College 6-3 and filled out the bracket with the 5-3 win over third-seeded Northeastern Junior College.
The Lady Indians set a record for combined regular-season and post-season wins with their 52-7 record. MCC stretched their winning streak to 14 games and finished the season with a 28-1 record at home.
MCC’s first-round opponent, the Ravens, won the South Division of the Region 14 conference with a 21-3 record and emerged out of the 14-team field that included two Top 25 teams in the North Division – No. 5 Trinity Valley (22-2) and No. 14 Paris (20-4). Top-seeded San Jac opened with a 4-1 win over Bossier Parish CC, lost a second-round game to Paris 3-2 and came back through the elimination bracket with a 7-3 win over Navarro, a 7-4 win over Blinn before clinching a CWS berth with a 5-0 win over Trinity Valley.
“They play a pretty tough schedule and came out of a tough region to get here,” said MCC Coach Mike Mendenhall. “But I think we match up well. We were in the same situation last year as a 16 seed playing a 17 seed and we lost that game, but I think we’ll be better prepared this year.”
The coach also said he appreciated all the support through donations of money, time, meals or other considerations to help fund the CWS trip.
“The community support has been outstanding again this year and we’ve been invited all over town and we have eaten well, been entertained, and have had the chance to visit with old friends and meet new ones,” said Mendenhall. “It’s been great for the girls and we have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated it.”
CWS ITINERARY: The team will travel by vans to Denver Friday then take a morning flight Saturday to Atlanta where they will rent vehicles for the 91-mile trip southwest to Oxford, Ala. After a 10 a.m. practice session Sunday, the team will leave the hotel at 4 p.m. with a police escort to the CWS Banquet in Big Bill’s Garage at the Talladega Superspeedway. Each of the 20 teams will enter the grounds by taking a lap around the fastest track on the NASCAR circuit. At the banquet, the 16 coaches of the teams that automatically qualified for the tournament will be honored as region coaches of the year -- including Coach Mendenhall for the second straight year.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The World Series tournament is a 20 team, double-elimination tournament that will be 38 or 39 games. The top four seeds will each receive first-round byes. The fifth through 20th seeds will play an opening round game Monday, with the winners moving on to face 1-4 seeds and four other first-round winners, in the second round of play, and the losers moving into bottom half of the bracket (the elimination bracket).
THE TOURNAMENT FIELD: The top four teams from the final NJCAA Top 25 poll all claimed region or district championships. They included No. 1 Florida SouthWestern (54-4), No. 2 Northwest Florida State (55-5), No. 3 Northeast Alabama CC (51-3) and No. 4 Temple College (53-6).
Four teams ranked in the top 11 did not win their district or region championships but did receive the four at large bids. They included No. 5 Trinity Valley CC (54-8), No. 6 Santa Fe College (45-15), No. 8 McLennan CC (43-14) and No. 11 Eastern Florida State (44-17). They received the eighth through 11th seeds.
Eight ranked teams, including McCook at No. 25, earned regional or district championships and those teams included No. 7 Seminole State College (49-4), No. 10 Odessa College (51-7), No. 14 Paris Junior College 48-10), No. 16 Gaston College 60-4), No. 18 Volunteer State CC 51-14), No. 19 College of Southern Idaho (41-11), No. 21 Iowa Western CC (49-6) and MCC (52-7).
The four unranked teams entering this year’s CWS are: Arizona Western (38-18), Dodge City CC (46-17), San Jacinto College (41-24), Wabash Valley College (42-18).
There were nine teams ranked in the final NJCAA Top 25 poll that did not qualify for this year’s post-season championship tournament including: No. 9 Grayson College (47-12), No. 12 Indian River State College (44-17), No. 13 Wallace State CC-Hacenville (45-12), No. 15 Miami Dade College (35-19), No. 17 Salt Lake CC (36-12), No. 20 Seminole State College of Florida (34-21), No. 22 Daytona State College (36-24), No. 23 Weatherford College (40-16) and No. 24 John A. Logan College (52-11).
MCC BY THE NUMBERS: MCC has the seventh most wins among the 20 teams qualifying for this year’s college world series. Offensively the Lady Indians rank fifth in the nation in runs scored (532 total runs, 9.01 runs per game), and are in the top 10 nationally in hits, triples, RBIs, total bases, 11th in stolen bases with (161), 12th in on-base average (.445) and slugging (.606), 15th in home runs (70), and 16th in batting average (.372)... In the pitching circle MCC ranks 16th with a 2.45 ERA and the team ranks 25th with a team fielding percentage of .956.
3 – The number of winning streaks of more than 10 games this season -- including the present streak of 14 going back to April 18. MCC had a 15-game win streak between Feb. 28 and March 14 and an 11-game win streak between March 22 and April 9.
6 – The number of sophomores who are part of back-to-back record-setting seasons of more than 50 wins with their current record at 103-18 – a winning percentage of .851. That group includes Audrey Reeves, (Sterling, Colo.), Peytann Weiland (Aurora, Colo.), Olivia Moorhead, (Hershey, Neb.), Olivia Pollon (Tisdale, Saskatchewan), Kashlin Beck (Claflin, Kan.) and Paige Warren (Victoria, British Columbia)... Sophomore Marleigh Mitchell (Mission, British Columbia) transferred from Odessa College where the Wranglers won 47 games and earned a trip to the CWS last year, giving her 99 wins over her two seasons.
7 – The program-best number of weeks the Lady Indians were ranked in the 12 weeks of the NJCAA D-1 Top 25 polls this season.
11 – The number of freshmen on this year’s team including: Josie Wright (Calgary, Alberta), Brooklynn Gillen (McCook), Paige Leggett (Calgary Alberta), Ellie Baca (Greeley, Colo.), Hayley Smith (Chestermere, Alberta), Hannah Schneider (Alliance, Neb), Hallie Schneider (Alliance, Neb.), Blake Elliott, (Calgary, Alberta), Lacyn Keller (McCook), Lyndsay Keogh (Surrey, British Columbia) and Malia Hiker, McCook.
13 – The highest ranking an MCC team has ever received in an NJCAA poll, achieving the ranking in the preseason poll Jan. 20.
141 – The number of Division 1 softball teams competing for the 20 spots in this year’s College World Series.
168 – The number of wins Coach Mike Mendenhall has had in his four years at McCook (against 57 losses) with a winning percentage of .734.
MCC STATISTICAL LEADERS: Batting Average: Lyndsay Keogh .461, Paige Warren .457, Josie Wright .413, Hayley Smith .398, Kashlin Beck .369.
Home Runs: Beck 17, Keogh 15, Warren 10, Audrey Reeves 6, Marleigh Mitchell and Wright 4.
RBIS: Keogh 84, Beck 60, Warren 50, Wright 46, Mitchell, Reeves and Brooklynn Gillen 37.
Stolen Bases: Warren 48, Wright 39, Lacyn Keller 16, Reeves 15, Gillen 14.
Pitching: Warren 28-2, 1.84 ERA, 178Ks in 160 IP; Hanna Schneider 16-3, 2.11 ERA, 82 Ks in 93 IP; Olivia Moorhead 3-0, 2.77 ERA, 19 Ks in 30 IP;
SAN JAC BY THE NUMBERS: The Ravens played more games (65) than any team in D1. SJC ranked 21st in runs scored (442 total runs, 6.8 runs per game), were eighth in hits (610), 29th in batting average (.353), 55th in on-base average (.408), 64th in slugging (.482), 68th with 30 home runs, and 29th in steals with 105 and tops in the nation with 63 sacrifice flies... In the pitching circle the team from Houston ranked 64th with a 4.19 ERA, 79th in strikeouts (179) and the team ranks 48th with a team fielding percentage of .945.
SJC STATISTICAL LEADERS: Batting Average: Madelyn Perez .532; Breanna Norman .425; Alyssa Terry .376. Kamryn DeLeon .371. Ary Garcia .371.
Home Runs: Arianays Garcia-Santana 12, Madelyn Perez 12.
Stolen Bases: Breanna Norman 19, Madelyn Perez 17, Kamryn DeLeon 15.
Pitching: Kaelin Hicks 16-7, 2.58 ERA, 85Ks, 157 IP; Vanessa Valdez 6-2, 5.30 ERA, 42 K’s, 66 IP.
WATCHING THE CWS: The entirety of the 2026 NJCAA Division I Softball World Series will be broadcast live on the NJCAA Network (njcaa.org/network) and will be available to view on-demand at the conclusion of each contest. The NJCAA Network is available through a variety of pay-per-view pricing options: Cost for a day pass is $12.00, cost for a tournament pass is $15.00.
Starting Wednesday in the quarterfinals and the second round of the elimination bracket, ESPN+ will stream the CWS as part of a multi-year media rights agreement with ESPN. Games streamed on ESPN+ or aired nationally on ESPNU are not included in any NJCAA Network pay-per-view package.
MCC is also planning a watch parties for all games at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center. All fans are invited to attend.
LAST YEAR AT THE CWS: The 2025 MCC squad was the 16th seed for the school’s first-ever trip to the CWS and took an opening-round 4-2 loss to No. 17 Crowder Community College (Neosho, Mo.). That sent the team to the consolation round for the second day, where MCC upset No. 2 McLennan Community College (Waco, Texas) 11-6. On Day 3, the Lady Indians topped 10th seeded Trinity Valley (Athens, Texas) 8-3 to open the day, then won a 6-3 night game over No. 8 Butler Community College (El Dorado, Kan.). On Day 4 a 10-2 loss to No. 11 Wallace State Community College ended the team’s historic run in the "Elite Eight" to finish the year at 51-11 and a 3-2 showing in the national tournament.
Oxford, Alabama - Choccolocco Park
Monday, May 25
Game 1 – No. 16 McCook vs. No. 17 San Jacinto, Championship Field, 11 a.m.
Game 2 – No. 13 Southern Idaho vs. No. 20 Dodge City, Field 2, 11 a.m.
Game 3 – No. 14 Gaston College vs. No. 19 Wabash Valley, Championship Field, 1:15 p.m.
Game 4 – No. 15 Iowa Western vs. No. 18 Arizona Western, Field 2, 1:15 p.m.
Game 5 – No. 8 Trinity Valley vs. No. 9 Eastern Florida State, Championship Field, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 – No. 5 Seminole State vs. No. 12 Volunteer State, Field 2, 3:30 p.m.
Game 7 – No. 7 Paris JC vs. No. 10 McLennan, Championship Field, 5:45 p.m.
Game 8 – No. 6 Odessa vs. No. 11 Santa Fe, Field 2, 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, May 26
Game 9 – No. 4 Temple vs. Game 2 winner, Field 2, 11 a.m.
Game 10 – No. 1 Florida SouthWestern vs. Game 1 winner, Championship Field, 11 a.m.,
Game 11 – No. 2 Northwest Florida State vs. Game 4 winner, Championship Field, 1:15 p.m.
Game 12 – No. 3 Northeastern Alabama Game 3 winner, Field 2, 1:15 p.m.
Game 13 –Game 3 loser vs. Game 9 loser, Championship Field, 3:30 p.m. (Elimination game)
Game 14 –Game 4 loser vs. Game 10 loser, Field 2, 3:30 p.m. (Elimination game)
Game 15 –Game 1 loser vs. Game 11 loser, Championship Field, 5:45 p.m. (Elimination game)
Game 16 –Game 2 loser vs. Game 12 loser, Field 2, 5:45 p.m. (Elimination game)
Wednesday, May 27
Games 17-28 – Games start at 9 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:45 p.m., 6 p.m., and 8 p.m.
Thursday, May 28
Games 29-34 – All games on Championship Field
Friday, May 29
Games 35-37 – All games on Championship Field
Saturday, May 30
Games 38 and 39 (if necessary) – All games on Championship Field
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