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With a starting lineup containing five or six first-year Lady Bulldogs most of the season, Coach Mike McCormick knew the 2006 season was going to have its ups and downs.
After opening the season with a 6-1 win over Haskell Indian Nations in the McPherson Invitational Tournament, errors and the lack of the “big” hit led to six straight Bulldog losses before McPherson was able to win five of six contests on the second day of the Kansas Wesleyan Invitational and the opening day of Sterling Tournament.
Standing 6-7 on the season, the second day of the Sterling Tournament was rained out, and along with the rain and the ensuing 10-day layoff, the Lady Bulldogs’ momentum also seemed to go down the drain.
A 10-game losing streak, which included a 0-6 start in KCAC play and left McPherson with a 6-17 record, was finally broken with a sweep of cross-town rival Central Christian College
Returning to conference play for the final two weeks of the regular season, the Bulldogs finally settled down on defense and began to hit the ball with authority with runners in scoring position. McPherson finished off its KCAC regular season schedule going 6-4 in its final 10 games, yet three of the four losses were still of the one-run variety.
The momentum gained in their stretch run carried the Lady Bulldogs into the KCAC post-season tournament with a 14-21 overall season record, 6-10 and seventh in regular season conference play.
In their opening tournament game, #2 seeded Friends took advantage of several Bulldog mental lapses to jump on McPherson early and grab an 11-0 win. Now, with their backs to the wall, the Bulldogs shut-out Kansas Wesleyan 6-0, then turned back tournament host University of Saint Mary, 6-5, in eight innings to stay alive to play again on Saturday against Sterling in the consolation semifinals.
But, unlike their previous two meetings with the Warriors, which resulted in one-run losses, during the regular season, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning. But, reverting to their early season pattern, McPherson aided the Sterling cause with a torrent of errors allowing Sterling to score three runs in third. McPherson would answer with a run in the bottom of the third, but, the Lady Warriors would respond with three more in the fourth to take a 6-5 lead it would not relinquish on their way to handing the Bulldogs an 8-5, season ending loss to close their 16-23 season.
“Twice this year, I thought we played like we were capable of,” said McPherson head coach Mike McCormick. “Twice we had stretches where we won five of six games. We just couldn’t seem to maintain our focus over the long haul. Errors and the lack of the timely hit just continued to haunt us.”
Eight of the Lady Bulldogs received All-KCAC recognition led by freshman Erikka Viehman who was named to the all-conference first team, and would later receive All-Region IV honors. Named to the All-KCAC second team were seniors Darci Davison and Jessica DeCavalle, along with sophomore Abby Evans and freshman Jessica Yates. Honorable mention selections were senior Ellie Miller, junior Shalyn Skahill, and freshman Taylor Parsons.
Following the season, senior Darci Davison would be named as a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
