Douglas College will start its playoff run at the Northwest community college women's softball championships against No. 11 seed Treasure Valley this Friday.
The No. 6 Douglas Royals finished second, with a 21-3 record, in the North region to regular season champion Bellevue College.
Douglas faced the same Treasure Valley team in last year's debut at the championship finals.
Douglas beat the then higher ranked Washington State side before defeating Bellevue in a major upset. Last season, the Royals placed fifth in the 16-team competition.
Ironically, the Royals, which handed Bellevue its only league loss this season, could meet again with the north region champ in the second round should both teams win their openers.
Douglas College head coach Gord Collings is hoping to do just that.
"Our whole focus is one game at a time, but (Treasure Valley) is a good team in a tough division," Collings said.
But Collings is confident going in to the championships with what he says is the team's best pitching and hitting ever.
Douglas wound up its league schedule with 9-1, 8-0 drubbings over winless Edmonds College in a season-final doubleheader at Softball City last weekend.
The Royals are led at the plate by freshman leadoff hitters Hilary Strelau and Iris Chow.
Strelau batted a steady .494 this season, while connecting for 42 hits, including six triples. Chow finished the season just behind with a .486 average, 35 hits and 16 runs batted in.
Sophomore Emi Nomura batted in the four spot, averaging .480 with 36 hits, 24 RBI and four home runs.
In the pitching circle, Douglas has two of the best second-year chuckers in the league.
Douglas ace Kyla Myre was third in the conference with 107 strikeouts, posting a 2.45 earned run average and a 10-1 win-loss record, including nine complete games.
Carling Hare went 7-2 with 65 strikeouts and a 2.82 ERA this season.
As a team, Douglas finished fourth in the conference in overall hitting with a combined .382 batting average. Royals pitchers placed fifth overall.
"This is the best team, no question, in terms of putting the ball in play and running the bases," Collings said.
"I'm hoping for our big 3 to come through. . We are very solid defensively. We can hold our own, but we have to be very aggressive on the bases. My girls can run."
The Northwest championships, hosted by Chemeketa College, run through this weekend in Portland, Oregon.
The championship final is scheduled for Monday in the double-knockout format.
