COMMUNITY JOURNALISM: Tough draw for Coe at Iowa Conference softball tournament

By Chad Cooper, community contributor

Coe's softball team opens the Iowa Conference tournament today in Decorah with a 10 a.m. game against fifth-seeded Loras. The winner gets host and No. 1 seed Luther at 2 p.m.

Coe, 20th ranked and seeded fourth, finished the regular season at 31-9 and takes a seven-game winning streak into today's game. Fourth-ranked Luther won the league title a second straight year and is 34-4 after going 15-1 in league play. Sixth-ranked Central is the No. 2 seed after a 31-7, 12-4 regular season.

“The Iowa Conference is arguably the strongest conference in Division III,” Coe Coach Bob Timmons said.

The top six teams make the conference tournament, and the top two receive first-round byes. Luther gets the Coe-Loras winner, Central will face the winner of the Simpson (20-16, 7-9) and Buena Vista (17-15, 7-9) matchup.

The Kohawks may have the toughest draw. Loras and Luther both swept Coe this season.

Timmons believes his team is brimming with confidence, however, and has the tools to make a run.

“We'll need to bring our ‘A' game if we want to progress through this tournament,” he said. “Our pitching has been a strong point ... but our offense will need to be on if we want to win.”

Senior pitcher Ashlee Simon is 17-5. Simon is Coe's career leader in wins and strikeouts. Sidney Ridout hit her 20th career home run last weekend, and is only the sixth Coe player to reach that total.

The first of potentially two championship games is 1 p.m. Saturday.