The Journey to the Tourney for Three First-Timers

Virtually since the first of Rodney DeLong’s tenure as North Texas head coach, the Mean Green have been oh-so-close to reaching the NCAA tournament.

In 2019, the program were the top-seeded team in the Conference USA tournament but fell just short of reaching the NCAA postseason. In 2021, they earned some big wins – including over Oklahoma – but fell just short again.

This season, DeLong’s club was not to be denied. On Saturday, the Mean Green officially locked up the C-USA tournament title in convincing fashion, run-ruling Western Kentucky and securing the program’s first-ever bid into the NCAA tournament.

“We were ready to punch through for sure,” DeLong said. “I really hoped it was this year because our group is so young, and if we were able to get there this year, it sets up the next few years really well. We were extremely motivated, and with the injuries that we dealt with all year and everything else, including having two pitchers for about 85% of the year, this one definitely felt the best.”

Quite possibly, this season’s efforts may have been the finest work to-date by DeLong and his staff. What was a hodge-podge of young talent, returning players, and transfer additions became a reliable roster by season’s end. As has become the standard under the current regime in Denton, the Mean Green were a quality team with good wins during the regular season, but entered the conference tournament as the 3rd-seeded team in Conference USA.

When DeLong took over prior to the 2019 season, third-place in the CUSA standings might have seemed like something of a pipe dream to a Mean Green club that hovered around the .500 mark in its good years. Now, four years into the future, the #3 seed is on the low side for DeLong and Co.

“When I took this job, I felt like this place had a lot of potential,” DeLong recalled. “I couldn’t be happier with this group and my staff, I think [this team] did an unbelievable job down the stretch to finish how we finished.”

North Texas softball might have an argument to join the Big 12 at this point – the Mean Green played five of the seven teams in that conference this year, including three games each against both Texas Tech and Kansas. There’s more than just games from this season that have prepared North Texas for their NCAA tournament debut; that’s a moment that’s been four years in the making.

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Kara Amundson knows a thing or two about postseason play. During her playing career at DePaul, Amundson was part of two Women’s College World Series teams, making the trip to Oklahoma City in 2005 and 2007 as a Blue Demon.

Now in her 10th season as the head coach at Murray State, she’s heading back to the postseason in a different role. Clipboard in hand and cap on her head, Amundson will lead the Racers to their first-ever NCAA tournament berth as the regional 3-seed in Tuscaloosa.

“We have been trying really, really hard from the beginning of the year to take things one day at a time,” Amundson said. “I know that sounds so cliché, but it’s true. We talked about being consistent in the circle, on defense, and offensively – not perfect, but consistent – and we have been working with that mentality… we got here by doing the daily grind, putting our nose to the ground, just making sure we were taking care of things on our side.”

A team seemingly always in the mix in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Racers did things in style this season, with just a hint of cardiac irregularity. A regular-season championship was earned on the final weekend of conference play; a conference tournament crown came down to a winner-take-all “if necessary” game. Both times, though, the Racers came out on top and for the first time can call themselves Tournament Bound.

The Racers boast stellar pitching and some incredible offensive standouts – including the nation’s leader in doubles, Logan Braundmeier. When asked if this tournament berth feels anything like a lifetime achievement award after a decade of building the program to this point, Amundson laughed. The credit, she said, belongs to the buy-in, from players and coaches alike.

“Somebody asked me if this was my best accolade, if you will, for my career so far and of course, it is,” Amundson noted. “We’ve been trying very hard to build this program since I took it over. Ashley Gilland, my assistant, has been with me the whole time through it. To be able to see it from the ground up, honestly, and just get a little better every year in some capacity. We’ve hit the recruiting trail really hard and shared with these young women what it means to be a championship program, and while this is the first championship, hopefully it’s the first of many.”

*****

 Down in Wilmington, North Carolina, a certain group of Seahawks decided to join the party of teams going dancin’.

From the beginning of the year, UNC Wilmington looked like a rejuvenated program. Head coach Kristy Norton saw the potential in her club from an early point.

“I believe that [a big piece of the success] was our freshman class coming in and having experience playing together,” Norton said. “They played travel ball together, most of our freshman class. That experience, their closeness, mixed with an upper-class that enjoyed the freshmen. That’s rare, and I think that was a spark that kind-of infiltrated our season, so to speak.”

Throughout the regular season and into conference play, the Seahawks did a good bit of winning. Mid-season series wins over Delaware and James Madison – newfound and perennial powers in the CAA – in back-to-back weeks proved that the program’s early-season surge was more than a fluke.

When the conference tournament came around, the Seahawks showed moxie of a different kind – down 2-0 to hosting Elon in the championship final, UNCW stormed back with ten unanswered runs to pull off the victory and clinch their inaugural NCAA tournament berth.

 “Phew, we finally did it!” Norton said of her initial thought with the title in hand. “It was a great feeling, really excited for the team, and definitely happy for their success.”