By Connor Gray, Senior Reporter
Northwestern softball is busy this semester, as the team has a full schedule of scrimmages.
The Lady Rangers have a new coaching staff this year. Former head coach Ryan Wondrasek left to take a Division I offer, with new head coach Casey Webb replacing him.
Before coming to Northwestern, Webb started her coaching career at Seminole State as an assistant, helping the team reach fifth place in the junior college national tournament in 2021.
She then took the job at Seward County Community College for a year before coming to Northwestern.
“I love the atmosphere and the people,” Webb said. “Everyone has been so helpful. I had it good where I was, but it’s second to none here, honestly.”
Being an Oklahoma native from Davis, she desired to be closer to home, and getting the offer from Northwestern helped.
“My dream is to be a Division II college coach, so that’s what I was striving to be,” Webb said.
When asked about the team, Webb talked positively.
“Our whole goal is to make the conference tournament,” Webb said. “Why does everyone else get to talk about it? Why not us?”
For this semester, the team has put together a schedule of five scrimmages against different junior colleges, with one of them being Northern Oklahoma-Enid, which came to Alva on Sept. 14.
“They were excited to get out there for the first scrimmage,” Webb said. “There is so much potential. We have a lot of unforeseen potential.”
The goal of these scrimmages is to see where the team is as a unit. The next four teams the Lady Rangers will play are Butler Community College, Cowley County Community College, Barton Community College and Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa.
The team will get a test Friday at 2 p.m. against Butler, which made the Junior College World Series.