Mid-Columbia players head to NCAA Division I softball tournament

Mid-Columbia softball fans watching Thursday night’s NCAA Division I Columbia (Mo.) Regional game between BYU and Missouri will see a familiar face.

Former Connell High School standout Ashley Thompson is a junior first baseman for three-time defending West Coast Conference champion BYU (35-19).

Thompson, who on Tuesday was named the WCC Player of the Year, leads the Cougars with a .408 batting average, 64 hits, 12 doubles, 43 runs and a .758 slugging percentage. She has started and played in 53 games, hitting 13 home runs and driving in 49 runs.

First pitch of the BYU-Missouri game is scheduled for 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

Meanwhile, two former Mid-Columbia Conference rivals will see each other at the Eugene Regional on Friday.

No. 5 national seed Oregon, which has freshman April Utecht (Richland) on its roster, will play at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2 against four-time defending Atlantic 10 champion Fordham. Jordana Storm (Walla Walla) is a freshman infielder who has appeared in 26 games for the Rams (39-19).

Utecht has played in 20 games for the Ducks (44-8), who have won four consecutive Pac-12 titles. She has batted .429 (9-for-21) with 10 RBIs and an .857 slugging percentage.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 7:17 PM with the headline "Mid-Columbia players head to NCAA Division I softball tournament."