The Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers softball team broke open a tied game late to become the 2021 National Junior College Athletic Association National Champions on Saturday at the Pacific Avenue Athletic Complex in Yuma.
The Buccaneers, from Fort Myers, Fla., defeated the Grayson College Vikings from Denison, Texas 5-1. The win capped off five days of games with 16 teams from around the country for the double-elimination tournament.
Florida SouthWestern was trailing 1-0 in the 6th inning when catcher Taylor Jensen crushed a 1-0 pitch deep and out to left center to tie the game at 1.
The Buccaneers' Chelsea Brown then hit a two-run single in the 7th to put her team ahead 3-1.
Natavia Ellis provided the runs for the final score with a two-out, two-run single. Grayson's lone run in the game came from a two-out RBI single from outfielder Hailey Vess.
"It means so much," said Florida SouthWestern centerfielder Janessa Plummer. "Me and my girls, we worked for this all year. This has been our goal since the first day of the season."
All week, players from the different teams ate at restaurants and shopped in stores around Yuma. Only positive vibes were expressed from players and coaches alike.
"Boy, Yuma is something definitely different from Florida," Plummer said. "I love everybody here, they're very welcoming and I had a great experience here."
The 2021 season was a challenge for everyone. For student-athletes in college sports, it meant starts and stops, changes in schedules, COVID-19 tests, and maybe having to adjust as players and coaches tested positive for the virus.
"It's been a hard year," FSW Coach Robert Iamurri. "They stuck together. COVID hit. Games got canceled but they stayed focused and stayed determined."
Iamurri said the team loved their stay in the Desert Southwest.
"It reminds me of Naples, Fla. where I grew up," he said. "Very friendly town... good ol' home folks that appreciate and were very kind to us when we were here."