Lady Chap Softball Finishes 2024 in Region 5 West Semifinals, 45 Wins

Midland College Softball 

Season Wrap-up 

May 14, 2024

Midland, TX

The Lady Chaps softball team expected to ride their season succeses into the Region 5 West Tournament and to contend for the title, however, a shortage of offensive firepower ended 2024 a bit short of their goals, but with much to celebrate.  

MC opened the Region 5 West Tournament against El Paso Community College after the Lady Chaps were granted a first round bye.  The bye was the result of the team's second place finish in the conference standings.  Midland College had just hosted the Tejanas in a four-game conference series, the week before, winning three games to one.  As expected the MC Lady Chaps defeated EPCC 8-1 which was led by Emma Lovato's stellar pitching performance as well as timely hitting by the likes of Katelynn Perez who produced a homerun and three RBI in the contest.   

With rainy weather expected on the tournament's third day (Saturday) of play, the Lady Chaps were forced to play two games in a relatively short period of time.  Friday's first game saw Midland College face their long-time rival Odessa College.  The pitching combination of Lovato and Perez were not enough to quiet the OC bats, with the Lady Wranglers out-hitting MC 10-4.  When the dust settled, the Lady Wranglers bested the Lady Chaps by a score of 7-3 to send MC to the consolation bracket.   

Midland College would next face Howard College in a game that started at 9:30 p.m. Friday night.  Again, Midland College's offensive proficiency struggled to record hits against the Hawks' pitching.  For the second consecutive game, Midland College was held to four hits.  Unfortunately for the Lady Chaps the season ended in a 3-2 loss to Howard College in the Region 5 West semifinal game. 

Coaches Angel Castro and Aubree Oropeza have developed and guided the MC softball team to succesive improvements over their four-season tenure (19-19, 14-16 in 2021; 32-20-1, 12-12 in 2022; 40-15, 17-7 in 2023 and 45-13, 19-6 in 2024) for an overall record of 136-67-1 (.667) and a WJCAC record of 62-41 (.602).  The Lady Chaps have also secured four consecutive appearances in the NJCAA Region 5 West Tournament under the leadership of Castro.         

Midland College finished 2024 with an impressive 45-13 overall record, a second place finish in the WJCAC (and a 19-6 record), as well as, advancing to the Region 5 Tournament semifinals.  Additionally, six team members earned All-WJCAC honors, including:  Co-Conference MVP, Emma Lovato; Madison Stewart (catcher); Madyson Bradley (infield); Erikha Ibarra-Subia (infield), Jayci Johnson (HM, infield) and Katelynn Perez (outfield).  

With the 2024 season in the books, the Lady Chaps will return a talented and battle tested freshman class to lead the team into next season. 

Final Season Stats (Individual): 

https://www.njcaa.org/sports/sball/2023-24/div1/teams/midlandcollege?view=lineup 

Final Season Stats (Team):  
https://www.njcaa.org/sports/sball/2023-24/div1/teams/midlandcollege

Go Lady Chaps!