Junior college champion Chipola College, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
ST. GEORGE — Gabriela Santos had three RBIs and Savannah Ryken rapped out three base hits as Chipola College, from Marianna, Fla., won the NJCAA Softball Championship at the Canyons Complex Saturday.
The Lady Indians went a perfect 5-0 in this year’s junior college postseason tournament, using a high-octane, athletic style to earn the National Championship.
Chipola had seven hits in the 7-2 win Saturday over Northeast Oklahoma. That was just one more base knock than the Lady Norse, but once the runner got on base, the Indians thrived. Chipola stole six bases in the game, including two each by Broshante’ Dareus and Courtney Davis. Jessica Elliott was the winning pitcher.
The four-day event at the Canyons brought 16 junior college teams from around the country to southern Utah, including teams from Texas, Georgia, Nebraska and Tennessee.
The Lady Indians never allowed more than two runs in any game at the tourney and had just one close game, a 2-1 quarterfinal win over another Florida team, Miami-Dade.
St. George News photographer Dave Amodt was at the finals Saturday and captured these images:
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Junior college champion Chipola College, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Junior college champion Chipola College, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Junior college champion Chipola College, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Junior college champion Chipola College, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
All-tourney team, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Junior college champion Chipola College, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
Junior college champion Chipola College, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
MVP Jessica Elliott, Chipola (Fla.) vs. NE Oklahoma A&M, NJCAA Championship at The Canyons, St. George, Utah, May 16, 2015 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News
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Andy Griffin has been in sports media since 1989 and has covered BYU, Utah State and the Utah Jazz as well as all sports in southern Utah. A journalism graduate of USU, Andy has carried on a dual career as both a sports writer and a sports broadcaster and has been heard around the country. He has also been published in USA Today, Sport magazine, The Sporting News, Fairways magazine, the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Spectrum. Andy was “The Voice of Region 9 sports,” for many years. He also hosted a daily sports talk show for three years called AG in the a.m.
Andy has been married to his college sweetheart Shelly for 28 years and has five children ages 13 to 25.