Rounding Third Softball

Softball Europe has set the date and location for the 2021 Women’s European Softball Championship. The event will be held in Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Italy, from June 27-July 3. The championship will serve as a qualifier for The World Games being held in July 7-17, 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Not to be overshadowed, there was another NCAA Selection Show that happened last night. The NCAA Division II Softball Committee made the selection of the 48 teams on Sunday that will participate in the 2021 NCAA Division II Softball Championship. Six teams will participate at each of the eight regional sites in double-elimination tournaments May 19-22. Winners of each regional site will advance to the championship finals May 27-31 in Denver, as the usual Super Regional Round was eliminated this year due to pandemic concerns.

Atlantic Region at Kutztown, Pennsylvania

1. *Kutztown (31-12)

2. Shepherd (26-12)

3. West Chester (30-14)

4. East Stroudsburg (26-14)

5. West Liberty (35-15)

6. Claflin (8-1)

Central Region at Edmond, Oklahoma

1. Augustana (South Dakota) (44-6)

2. Minnesota State Mankato (38-8)

3. *Central Oklahoma (35-12)

4. Southern Arkansas (27-8)

5. Central Missouri (36-12)

6. Arkansas Tech (28-16-1)

East Region at Manchester, New Hampshire

1. Georgian Court (35-4)

2. *Saint Anselm (29-4)

3. Adelphi (27-8)

4. Molloy (29-14)

5. New Haven (27-7)

6. Bridgeport (22-7)

Midwest Region at Allendale, Michigan

1. *Grand Valley State (41-7)

2. Indianapolis (43-6)

3. Northwood (28-14)

4. Trevecca Nazarene (26-12)

5. Hillsdale (31-17)

6. Ohio Dominican (28-16)

South Region at Valdosta, Georgia

1. Auburn Montgomery (39-5)

2. *Valdosta State (34-8)

3. Alabama Huntsville (31-12)

4. Rollins (19-2)

5. West Florida (30-14)

6. Mississippi College (20-19)

South Central Region at Commerce, Texas

1. Oklahoma Christian (37-7)

2. West Texas A&M (33-10)

3. Angelo State (33-12)

4. Colorado Mesa (38-3)

5. *Texas A&M-Commerce (28-16)

6. Texas A&M-Kingsville (23-12)

Southeast Region at Dahlonega, Georgia

1. *North Georgia (37-5)

2. Lincoln Memorial (36-6)

3. Young Harris (31-10)

4. Anderson (South Carolina) (29-11)

5. Tusculum (22-17)

6. Emmanuel (Georgia) (19-25)

West Region at Irvine, California

1. *Concordia (California) (26-11)

2. Biola (17-11)

3. Northwest Nazarene (24-10)

4. Western Washington (20-11)

5. Hawaii Hilo (17-11)

6. Central Washington (15-14)

The field is set. Some surprises and initial thoughts on the 64.

– PAC 12 runner-up Washington given the No. 16 National Seed and will host an always tough Michigan team. Winner of Seattle Regional would most likely have to go through Norman, Oklahoma to get to the WCWS.

– Oregon sent to No. 12 National Seed Texas for a matchup with former Ducks and current Longhorns Coach Mike White

– ACC Regular-Season Champion Clemson not picked as a national seed and sent to a Tuscaloosa Regional for a great possible matchup with Alabama.

– Duke seeded No. 13 nationally, but will not host due to institutional pandemic policies instead traveling to Athens as Georgia will host.

– South Carolina at 26-26 out, ASUN at-large Kennesaw State 26-25 in.

– If National Seeds hold true, an SEC showdown between No. 8 seed Missouri and No. 9 seed Tennessee will be on the Super Regional schedule.

Norman Regional

Oklahoma (No. 1 National Seed)

Morgan State

Texas A&M

Wichita State

Los Angeles Regional

UCLA (No. 2 National Seed)

Long Beach State

Fresno State

Minnesota

Tuscaloosa Regional

Alabama (No. 3 National Seed)

Alabama State

Troy

Clemson

Gainesville Regional

Florida (No. 4 National Seed)

South Florida

South Alabama

Baylor

Stillwater Regional

Oklahoma State (No. 5 National Seed)

Campbell

Boston

Mississippi State

Fayetteville Regional

Arkansas (No. 6 National Seed)

Manhattan

South Dakota State

Stanford

Baton Rouge Regional

LSU (No. 7 National Seed)

McNeese State

George Washington

Louisiana

Columbia Regional

Missouri (No. 8 National Seed)

Illinois-Chicago

Northern Iowa

Iowa State

Knoxville Regional

Tennessee (No. 9 National Seed)

Eastern Kentucky

James Madison

Liberty

Tallahassee Regional

Florida State (No. 10 National Seed)

Kennesaw State

Central Florida

Auburn

Tucson Regional

Arizona (No. 11 National Seed)

Maryland-Baltimore County

Villanova

Ole Miss

Austin Regional

Texas (No. 12 National Seed)

Saint Francis

Texas State

Oregon

Athens Regional

Duke (No. 13 National Seed)

UNC-Greensboro

Western Kentucky

Georgia

Lexington Regional

Kentucky (No. 14 National Seed)

Northwestern

Miami-OH

Notre Dame

Tempe Regional

Arizona State (No. 15 National Seed)

Southern Illinois

Brigham Young

Virginia Tech

Seattle Regional

Washington (No. 16 National Seed)

Portland State

Seattle

Michigan

RTS sends out congratulations to Virginia Tech Coach Pete D’Amour and wife Anna on the birth of their first child, baby boy Reaux Green D’Amour. The newest Hokie came in at 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long. Timing seems to be everything as less than 24 hours after Virginia Tech’s hard fought elimination at the ACC Championship against Clemson in Louisville, the mom to be went into labor.

Rhode Island has decided not to renew the contract of head coach Bridget Hurlman. After joining the program in the summer of 2015, Hurlman spent six seasons leading the Rams and compiled a 61-167 record.

SIU Edwardsville Head Coach Jessica Jones has stepped down and will transition into an administrative position within the athletic department. Jones spent three seasons heading the SIUE program. She compiled a 59-70 record while coaching the Cougars.

The NCAA Division I Regional Selections will be announced in just under five hours. If you can’t tune in to the selection show on ESPN 2, RTS will have real-time updates on Twitter @Rounding3rdSB starting at 9 pm EST. A complete regional site listing and those matchups will be available here after the announcement.

East Carolina Coach Courtney Oliver has resigned after six seasons leading the Pirates. Oliver compiled a record of 125-166 and was 29-73 in American Athletic Conference (AAC) play. ECU went 16-33 in the 2021 season.

The No. 3 seed Duke pulled the upset of the No. 1 seed and regular-season champion Clemson in the title game of the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils downed the Tigers 1-0. The championship is the first for the Blue Devils in the young programs history that started play in 2018. Duke also earns the ACC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Postseason.

At the conclusion of the ACC Championship Showdown in Louisville today between Clemson and eventual 2021 Champion Duke, the ACC announced their all-tournament team. The team was highlighted by Tournament MVP Peyton St. George. The Blue Devil Ace was 2-0 in the ACC Championship and came in for the save in Duke’s 1-0 finals victory over Clemson.

2021 ACC Softball Championship All-Tournament Team

Cammy Pereira, Clemson

Valerie Cagle, Clemson

Kristina Foreman, Duke

Peyton St. George, Duke (MVP)

Gisele Tapia, Duke

Shelby Walters, Duke

Sydney Sherrill, Florida State

Blake Neleman, Georgia Tech

Celene Funke, Louisville

Taty Forbes, North Carolina State

Keely Rochard, Virginia Tech

Ball State senior Alyssa Rothwell set the record for all-time saves in NCAA History on Friday in a 6-3 victory over Buffalo. The record now sits a 33 after the previous record of 32 had stood since 2002. That record had been held by Kellie Wilkerson from Mississippi State.