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Shellmyer, Northwestern head to Oklahoma

Wildcats meet Sooners in Super Regionals

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Aubrey Davis of Fort Dodge tags Urbandale’s Skyler Shellmyer at second base. For more photos, visit CU.messengernews.net

NORMAN, Okla. — Skyler Shellmyer and her Northwestern University softball team went through an emotional few days last weekend.

Now, the Wildcats are hoping to punch their ticket to the NCAA World Series.

Northwestern, the No. 16 overall seed, begins play here Friday afternoon against No. 1 seed Oklahoma in a best-of-three super regional. The winner advances to the May 30-June 5 event in Oklahoma City that will crown a national champion.

Game one is set to begin at 2 p.m. at Martia Hynes Field and will air live on ESPN2. Saturday’s game, with a 3 p.m. start, airs on ESPN and a winner-take-all third contest — if necessary — would be played Sunday at 1 p.m. and also air live on ESPN.

For Shellmyer, the daughter of 1991 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate Chad Shellmyer and wife Erin, the recent regional tournament was filled with incredible support from the community and school. She had experienced something similar while leading Urbandale to the state softball tournament hosted each year by Fort Dodge and Rogers Park.

“There would probably be only two times where that atmosphere has compared to my time playing high school,” she said. “Those times would be any time at the state tournament and one of our regional games against Cedar Rapids Jefferson to go to state.”

Northwestern (47-11 overall) defeated Louisville twice last Sunday to win the Evanston Regional, the eighth regional title in school history. The Sooners (52-3) topped Wisconsin to win their own regional and had a 41-game win streak during the year.

“Playing a team like Oklahoma brings a lot of excitement and energy when we’re practicing or even just hanging out as a team,” Shellmyer said. “We are going into this series loose and we are just going to go for it.”

Shellmyer, a freshman who starts in centerfield for the Wildcats, was an all-stater for Urbandale and considered one of the top recruits in the country. She collected three hits, drove in three, scored four times and drew four walks during the five-game regional run.

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