By
BILL CANHAM
News Sports
Writer
Thanks to some solid play a year ago, the Norfolk Shockers men's fastpitch softball team had a pretty easy walk to the Class B National Tournament coming up on Labor Day Weekend in Springfield, Mo.
The Shockers placed in the top 10 of the Class C National Tournament last year in Texas, automatically qualifying them for this year's Class B nationals.
This year, they'd like to have another high finish.
The Shockers boast a 22-3 record heading into the weekend tournament -- which comes out to only about half as many games as the Norfolk squad played a year ago.
They dropped out of a league in Sioux City this season, concentrating more on staying around home.
The Shockers instead played in the Hadar fastpitch league, going a perfect 9-0 during the regular season and winning the season-ending tournament.
"We didn't play as many games this year, but I think we're more focused now," player�manager Jim Bartee said. "We're ready to go down there and represent Nebraska well."
Bartee said taking the drive time to Sioux City out of this year's plans has helped his team the most during the regular season leading up to the nationals.
"We've been relaxed, and we just let things come us," Bartee said. "If we do that (in Springfield), we'll be all right."
The Shockers' first game will be Thursday, Aug. 31, in Springfield.
Terry Sjuts has been the ace on the hill for the Shockers in 2000. Sjuts owns a 1.73 ERA and a 10-2 record.
He's struck out 93 hitters in 77 innings of work.
Matt Svehla, Ryan Fitje and Jeff Pasold have combined for a 8-1 record to complement Sjuts.
In the batter's box, Brad Hoffman owns a .393 average with 12 extra�base hits, including three home runs.
Eric Wachholtz is hitting .383 on the season with a club-high four home runs and seven doubles. He also leads the club with 24 runs scored.
Matt Moeller is hitting .378, Corey Privett is batting .357 and Brandon Hoffmann owns a respectible .313 average to round out some of the Shockers' heavy hitters.
In addition to the championship in the Hadar tournament, Norfolk also took home top honors from the Norfolk tournament and earned a third-place finish in the Leigh tourney.