All-Tournament Team | Johnson County Release (5/9/2026)

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – For the second-straight season and 23rd time in program history, the Johnson County Community College softball team won the NJCAA Region 6 softball title with a 4-0 run through the 2026 NJCAA Division 2 Softball Plains District Tournament to punch their ticket to the 2026 NJCAA Division 2 Softball World Series.

After going 18-2 in conference play during the regular season to earn the top overall seed in the district tournament, Johnson County was given everything they could handle in the opening game of the tournament against the number eight seed Coffeyville in a game that took 10 innings to decide. Trailing 3-0 after half an inning of play, JCCC entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 6-4 when a two-RBI double from Mariah Herrera tied things up to send the game into extra-innings just to find themselves in another two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth after a two-run home run from the Red Ravens in the top half of the inning. Down to their final strike, Herrera managed to extend the game by drawing a six-pitch walk before seeing Alaryce Millard crush a game-tying home run to force yet another extra inning of play. In the 10th, Herrera played hero once more by connecting on a two-out bases-loaded RBI single to end the game and give JCCC a 9-8 win.  

Not taking any chances in their next game with number four-seed Allen, Johnson County scored two runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back to cruise to a 7-1 win over the Red Devils as pitcher Elsa Carillo tossed a complete game with eight strikeouts on 91 pitches to move the Cavaliers into the winner’s bracket final. A matchup with the number two-seeded Cowley Tigers awaited JCCC the next day, where the Cavaliers once again made things dramatic with a late comeback. Tied at 1-1 after three innings, Cowley strung together four hits to plate three runs and grab a 4-1 lead heading into the back half of the game. Trading runs in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh, Johnson County trailed 5-2 heading into their final opportunity at the plate, where Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Freshman of the Year Kennedy Glassford hit a leadoff home run to turn the momentum in favor of the Cavaliers. Still needing two runs to tie the game, a single from Reagan Nietzel followed by a one-out Reese Pattison double put the game-tying run in scoring position for Herrera, who dropped a double down the left field line to knot the game at 5-5. With Millard coming to the plate, things ended three pitchers later with a double into center field that scored Herrera and gave the Cavaliers a second walk-off in three games.

Getting the benefit of being rested heading into the championship game, Johnson County once again found themselves facing off with Cowley after the Tigers eliminated the number four-seed Allen with a 15-8 win in the consolation bracket final to set up a rematch from the day before. With the benefit of having a potential if-necessary game the following day, JCCC saw no need to worry about having the tournament extended another day as a Pattison grand slam in the bottom of the first erased a 2-0 deficit and put the Cavaliers up 4-0 heading into the second. With the game tied at 4-4 in the third, a two-run home run for Katie Kolarik broke the deadlock and sparked a five-run inning for JCCC to go up 9-4 before seeing Pattison add her second homer of the day with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth. Despite multiple chances to end the game early by run rule across the next two innings, the five-run advantage was more than enough for Cavalier reliever Kyleigh Whitehurst, who allowed just three hits over the final four innings of play while keeping Cowley off the scoreboard to clinch the district tournament title.

The automatic berth into the 2026 NJCAA Division 2 Softball World Series is the 23rd time that the Cavalier softball program will play in the National Tournament and the seventh trip to the NJCAA Division 2 Softball World Series under current head coach Aubree Brattin-Volkens.

Four Cavalier players were named to the All-Tournament team, including Tournament MVP Reagan Nietzel, who hit .625 at the plate across the four games with multiple hits in each game of the tournament and three total RBI, while coach Brattin-Volkens was named Coach of the Tournament. Also named to the All-Tournament team from JCCC were Elsa Carillo, Mariah Herrera, and Reese Pattison.

Johnson County will now await its official seeding in the 2026 NJCAA Division 2 Softball World Series that will take place May 19-24 at Tyger River Park in Spartanburg, SC. Last season, the Cavaliers entered the World Series as the number 11 seed in the 20-team tournament and picked up a 3-2 win over Phoenix College to open their run in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as JCCC went on to pick up a 6-5 win over six-seed Kirkwood before falling to National Runners-up Jones College 5-1. The Cavaliers responded by defeating Phoenix College 2-1 and Iowa Central 3-2 before falling to Murray State College to finish the year with a 37-17 record.