Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference is celebrating its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. Our next featured team is the 2007 SIU Edwardsville softball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 35: 2007 SIU Edwardsville Softball
SEASON SUMMARY
A year after advancing to the national finals in 2006, the 2007 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville softball program captured the NCAA Division II National Championship with a 3-2 victory over second-ranked Lock Haven in the longest national championship game in history. SIUE won the 12-inning, three-hour, 15-minute marathon championship game at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio. The longest previous national title game was in 1991 when Augustana defeated Bloomsburg in 10 innings. The Cougars completed the season 49-8 by winning its last 16 games to finish No. 1 in the final NFCA Division II Top 25 poll for the first time. SIUE won the GLVC Championship, the Great Lakes Regional title, and the school’s 17
th national championship, but the first in softball. SIUE All-American pitcher Kaitlin Colosimo (29-3) – the two-time GLVC Pitcher of the Year – was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Championship after going nine innings of scoreless relief of starter Sabra McCune. Colosimo won three games in the national tournament, including a no-hitter over Lock Haven in a winner's bracket game. She also recorded a save against Cal State-Stanislaus. The SIUE coaching staff, led by head coach Sandy Montgomery and assistant coach Valerie McCoy, was honored as the 2007 NCAA Division II Coaching Staff of the Year. Montgomery earned the NCAA title in her 19th season at the school and her eighth straight year in the NCAA Championship. And while the Cougars shined in the NCAA Championship, including the Great Lakes Regional, SIUE had no easy path to the GLVC Championship as the 13
th-ranked squad had to get past No. 7 Lewis, 6-2, to earn its regional bid. Both the Cougars and the Flyers tied for first at the end of the regular season with identical 19-5 league records.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Kaitlin Colosimo
- Daktronics and NFCA All-America Third Team (2007)
- Daktronics and NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team (2007-08)
- Two-time GLVC Pitcher of the Year (2007-08)
- Two-time All-GLVC First Team (2007-08)
Kaeleigh Rousey
- All-GLVC First Team (2006)
- Two-time All-GLVC Second Team (2007-08)
Sabra McCune
- Two-time All-GLVC First Team (2006-07)
Emily Lenart
- Two-time All-GLVC Second Team (2006-07)
Libby Lenart
- All-GLVC First Team (2007)
Joslie Ohlau
- All-GLVC First Team (2007)
Sandy Montgomery
- Four-time GLVC Coach of the Year (1997-99-01-02)
- National Coaching Staff of the Year (2007)
- Three-time Regional Coaching Staff of the Year (2003-06-07)
- Two-time Great Lakes Regional Champions (2006-07)
- Eleven-time NCAA Championship tournament appearances (1990-98-00-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08)
- Finished career with a 1,051-540-2 record (.660, 30 years)
LASTING LEGACY
The 2007 SIU Edwardsville softball team was the first GLVC program outside of the sport of basketball to win an NCAA Championship. The Courgars returned 13 players from the 2006 that reached the national finals with a 52-11 record, including All-American pitcher and future GLVC Hall of Famer Alicia DeShasier. Colosimo was the first two-time GLVC Pitcher of the Year – a feat that has since been matched (and passed) by Quincy’s Torie Bunzell (2010-11) and Missouri-St. Louis’ Hannah Perryman (2013-14-15). Colosimo no-hit Missouri-St. Louis in the regular season and then notched two more no-hitters in the postseason. Montgomery garnered GLVC Coach of the Year honors in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2002. Montgomery and her Cougars would spend just one more year in the GLVC before reclassifying to NCAA Division I. They secured yet another NCAA Championship appearance in 2008 after finishing second in the league at 19-5 and 49-11 overall.