CCGA heads to Reinhardt for opening round of softball national tourney
May 13—Coastal Georgia's softball team found out what region it will compete in as the NAIA has officially announced the 40-team field for the 2021 Softball National Championship opening round.
The first round of the national tournament runs May 17-19 at 10 different locations around the country consisting of four-team regions.
The Mariners qualified for the Waleska bracket hosted by Reinhardt University at Ken White Softball Field. Along with Coastal, the bracket consists of No. 21 Reinhardt, No. 17 Oregon Tech and Cottey.
"We figured we'd either be sent to Georgia Gwinnett or Reinhardt," said Coastal Georgia coach Mike Minick. "We've never played there, but we played Reinhardt last season. We're excited. We really didn't care where we went. We were more interested in the teams that are going to be there, and we think we match up well with the teams. All three are very good teams, but we feel like we'll have a good chance in that region if we play good."
No. 1 seed, Oregon Tech, will play No. 4 Cottey in Game 1 on Monday, followed by No. 2 Coastal Georgia taking on No. 3 Reinhardt. Game times have yet to be announced. Games 3 and 4 will take place on Tuesday. Advancement to the NAIA Softball World Series will be decided Wednesday.
Minick said all three of the other teams in this region are quality teams. Oregon Tech is the Cascade Collegiate Conference champion and holds a 42-8 overall record. This year marks their seventh appearance in the opening round qualifiers, where they hold a 16-7 record.
Cottey was the tournament runner-up in the A.I.I. conference as they went 27-11 on the season and will make their open round qualifier debut. Reinhardt was one of the at-large picks for the tournament as they're 41-13 on the season. It'll be their sixth appearance and first since 2017 as they hold an 8-6 record in the event.
It's also Coastal Georgia's first appearance, as they head into the event 32-11 on the season.
"They're all good. Any of them can beat you. We're going to have a very tough time beating Reinhardt on their home field in that first game," Minick said. "I don't know who's going to win that second game, but both teams are very good teams that have had a lot of really good wins this year get against good teams changed. So all of them are going to be tough."
Coastal Georgia is fine-tuning this week in preparations for Monday's games in North Georgia. Minick has his pitchers throwing every day, hitters getting reps in and doing as much as they can with the weather forecast like it is. However, he said they're not changing anything in terms of preparations.
The Columbia (Ky.) bracket will also feature a Golden Isles flavor as former Glynn Academy standout Claire Fendig competes for Brenau.
The champion from each of the 10 opening round tournaments will advance to the 40th annual NAIA Softball World Series in Columbus at the South Commons Softball Complex from May 27-June 2, where the programs will participate in another double-elimination event.
After the completion of the opening round tournaments, the World Series bracket will be announced May 19.
