The Georgia Military College softball team (35-22) is headed to the national tournament, slated for May 18-21 in St. George, Utah after a thrilling weekend in which the Bulldogs won the conference championship title.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The Georgia Military College softball team (35-22) is primed for its first-ever trip to the NJCAA Division 1 National Championship tournament after winning the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association title a couple of weeks ago.

Seeding information for the tournament came out Monday afternoon with the Lady Dogs grabbing the 16-seed. GMC will be facing off against the 1-seeded Lady Apaches of Tyler Junior College from Texas.

The double elimination tournament will be held in St. George, Utah with the Lady Dogs playing their first game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. eastern time.

GMC has benefited from over two weeks of rest since its victory in the GCAA championship.

“The girls are excited about this chance to represent Georgia Military College as well as softball in the South,” said Head Coach Ashley Bunn in a press release from the school. “Our practices have gone well with several intra-squad scrimmages as well as individual work in the cages. They want to go out west and compete at a high level and make a deep run into the tournament.”

The Lady Dogs have won eight of their last ten contests and have also garnered quite a few postseason awards. Ansley Wilbanks was named GCAA Player of the Year and boasts a .514 batting average with 45 stolen bases. Wilbanks has also only struck out one time in the entire 57-game season. Her stolen base total broke both the single-season and career record at GMC. The GCAA Player of the Year also set a new GMC single-season record with her 89 hits. 

Infielders Jordan Crews and Kirsten Albright join Wilbanks and Jade Moncrief on the All-GCAA First Team. Crews had an impressive .365 batting average and 50 RBIs while Albright posted a .350 average with 26 RBIs.

Catcher Kiley Rediger was named to the All-GCAA Second Team with a .383 batting average and a new GMC single-season record of 58 RBIs. Infielder Taylor Little was also named to the Second Team with her .335 batting average, 14 home runs (a new program single-season record), and 34 RBIs. Little also set a new career home run record at GMC as she now has 23 in her time there.

All in all the Lady Dogs have broken 26 team/individual records this season.

GMC will face a tough opponent on Wednesday in Tyler Junior College. The Lady Apaches come into the contest with a 57-4 record and have been the ranked number one in the NJCAA the entire season. The Tyler hitters are batting an impressive .391 and have hit 76 home runs as a team this year. The Apaches also have a strong pitching staff with three superb pitchers. Cassidy Ferrill posted a perfect 20-0 record this season with a microscopic 1. 52 ERA. Abby Walker threw the most innings for the Tyler staff and brings a 25-3 record into the game. Walker struck out 240 batters over 167 innings.

Coach Bunn went on in the release to talk about the opportunity for the program saying, “Well it’s great for recruiting purposes number one, and then for so many of our girls that will be returning next year it will hopefully wet their appetite to get back here next year and to put in the work during the offseason to ensure that we do.”

 The game can be viewed online Wednesday at 7 p.m. eastern on the NJCAA website.