Tschida's pre-game preparation gives
Cardinals big boost in ride to title game

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The sky may have been overcast, but the stars shined bright for the Saint Mary's University fastpitch softball team Saturday afternoon in the Cardinals' 3-0 victory over Central at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional.

o Teisha Smith pitched her second complete game, striking out three and walking none, while facing just 23 batters and allowing just five balls to leave the outfield and only one Dutch runner past first base.

o Jackie Huegel, avenging a two-error performance in Friday's tournament-opening 5-4 win over Benedictine, was perfect in two opportunities in the field and laced the game-winning single to start SMU's three-run fourth inning.

o Gina Rizzardi, who, like Huegel struggled in the field in Friday's opener, was flawless against the Dutch, single-handidly getting Central out in order in the sixth with a pair of acrobatic plays at third, the second of which resulted in an inning-ending double play.

o Jill Hocking collected a pair of hits in three at-bats and scored SMU's second run, giving the junior four hits in five at-bats for the tournament.

o Niki Lynch, the third of SMU's freshman starters, collected a pair of hits in three at-bats.

Yet, probably the brightest star — literally and figuratively — went virtually unnoticed as SMU earned its second straight appearance in the regional championship game.

Huegel, Hocking and Lynch may have been the offensive stars. Smith and Rizzardi may have stolen the show on the defensive side, but it was SMU coach John Tschida who orchestrated the whole thing.

"I'm always prepared, no matter who we play. And when the ladies see that I'm prepared, it sends the message that it's time for them to take the bull by the horns and get the job done," said Tschida, who spends hours charting and scouting teams, and carries a portable file cabinet with him that contains reams of notes on every team the Cardinals' play. "It's important that you know who your opponents are and what their tendancies are. That's my job.

"But it's the players who step between the lines and play the game. They're the ones that beat Central, not me."

Maybe so, but they certainly could not have done it without him.

o TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO: The Cardinals are now one game away from reaching their first-ever NCAA Division III national tournament. A win this afternoon against the Coe-Central elimination-game winner, and the Cardinals will be off to Salem, Va., for next week's double-elimination tournament.

"I wouldn't say we were in the driver' seat," cautioned Tschida, whose team will have to be beaten twice by the Central-Coe winner if it hopes to be the Midwest Region's representative in Salem. "I look at it as a one-game battle, and we are going to go out to do everything in our power to win that game.

"But if we don't … we still get another chance."

o GRADUATION PRESENT: The Cardinals' 3-0 victory over Central was the perfect graduation present for SMU seniors Teisha Smith, Angie Wright, Kateri Eddy and Jessica Truhlar, who missed the school's Saturday graduation ceremonies.

"I'd take this over sitting in a stuffy auditormium listening to people speak any day," said Wright, who is the only Cardinal to have played in all four regional tournaments. "Seniors have been missing graduation for four years in a row now, and if it didn't bother those before me, it certainly wasn't going to bother me, either."

o ON A ROLL: The Cardinals have faced Central every year in the regional tournament, but after losing the first two meetings in the 1997 and 1998 tournaments, the Cardinals have won three straight against the Dutch.

o SHERIFF MILLER: When it comes to stealing, Cardinals catcher Jennifer Miller is totally against it — and Central learned that first-hand Saturday afternoon. The Dutch entered the regional tournament with 176 stolen bases. In fact, it was a steal of home that gave Central its 2-1, 10-inning victory over Coe on Friday. Yet, against the Cardinals, Central failed to swipe a base.

They tried — twice — but both times Miller gunned the Dutch down.

For the season, the junior has thrown out 13 of 21 base runners trying to steal.