4/30/13 The Lady Pirates had to overcome mother nature to finally play their playoff game at home this week. They were scheduled to play on Saturday but the weather had a different idea. The players and coaches spent three days getting the field ready to play, which included pumping water off the field, approximately 1500 pounds of quick dry and of course a mud fight. "Sometimes all you can do is laugh and make the best of a situation like that. But I have one of the best field crews. The girls take a lot of pride in their facilities and it shows with all the improvements that they raised the money to make," coach Burnett stated. The Lady Pirates opened up their game at 5:00 Monday evening and it was almost 11:00pm when they finished. They faced several delays in game one when a new umpire had to come in due to an official having to be taken to the hospital, but it didn't slow down the lady pirates. With Alaina Stubblefield on the mound and striking out 13 of the red Ravens to earn the win, the team also responded with some timely hitting. They opened the bottom of the first up with a base hit by freshman, Sierra Potts, then it was followed up with back to back homeruns by Sophomores Heather Lanphear and Carley Conley to put them ahead 3-1 at the end of the first inning. The pirates didn't stop there and beat Cofeyville 8-2 in the 7th inning. Game two the with Sophomore Jacey Hampshire on the mound the Lady Pirates pulled their short game out and were able to beat Coffeyville 3-2. Hampshire earned the win with Stubblefield getting the save. Burnett said, "the girls have worked really hard and are full of fight. What makes this group of young ladies so special is their heart and determination." The Lady Pirates will advance to the NJCAA Regional tournament in Topeka this weekend for the second straight year. They will open up with Johnson County at 10am this Saturday at Hummer Sports Park. The team enters the tournament 35-18. 
Pictured: Assistant Coach Alex Mese, Carley Conley, Head Coach Barbara Burnett and Lesley McGrew
4/24/13 The Lady Pirates Softball team once again did something that hasn't been done in the ICC softball program. The team earned Reserved Rankings on the NJCAA DII polls this week. No pirate softball team has ever been ranked before. When asked Burnett contributed that to the team. "The team deserves all the credit, it starts with the sophomore class. They were the reason this program turned around in a years time and the reason we were able to bring this freshman class in. We are excited to finally get national recognition the girls deserve it." The Lady Pirates beat several ranked teams throughout the season including Galveston, San Jacinto, Labette and highland.
4/27/13 This coming Monday (4/29) ICC Softball will be hosting Motgomery county rival Coffeyville in the first round of Region VI play. It will be a best of three series with saturdays game times of 5:00pm & 7:00pm. With Sunday's if necessary game at 1:00pm. ICC goes into the series with a 20-10 regional record and a 33-18 overall record for the 2013 season. Come out this weekend and support your Lady Pirates!
From Left to Right: Assistant Coach Beau Burnett, Carley Conley, Heather Lanphear and Head Coach Barbara Burnett 4/22/13 Two Lady Pirates signed their National Letters of Intent to continue their playing Career. Sophomore Heather Lanphear, of Barnsdall Oklahoma, inked her way on the roster of NCAA D2 Oklahoma Panhandle State University. While Sophomore Carley Conley, from Paris Texas, signed her letter with Rogers State University. Both girls were among the few girls that coach Burnett signed early in her time of taking over the program. "I was very fortunate to get these two girls so late in the recruiting game. Carley and Heather who were both part of very successful high school programs and helped lead ICC softball program turnaround". Both girls last year were top in the nation in batting. With Lanphear hitting 20 homeruns while Conley batted .542 on the year.
4/24/13 With a sophomore night sweep of region team, Hesston, that the Lady Pirates had to play on the road at RSU, head coach Barbara Burnett became the coach with the most wins in the 20 years of the program. Burnett surpassed the record that was held by Bill Gray, currently the head coach at MSSU, who started the program here at Independence. In her three years here at ICC she has earned 65 wins.
4/12/13 This coming year ICC Softball will celebrate 20 years of softball! We are working on putting together an Alumni Weekend and game and are searching for our Alumni. If you are or know any former Lady Pirate Softball player please reach out to them with this information! Please select the right side link on this page that says "prospective Student athlete form" and fill out the information and select alumni! We look forward to expanding our contact list and a wonderful time this fall!
3/25/13 Lady Pirate Alaina Stubblefield & Carley Conley Named KJCCC Pitcher and Player Of The Week
2/20/13 Lady Pirate Alaina Stubblefield Named KJCCC Pitcher Of The Week
2/11/13 Lady Pirate Carley Conley Named KJCCC Player Of The Week
12/04/12 Lady Pirate Carley Conley Commits to Rogers State University
The Lady Pirates once again have reason to celebrate. Sophomore shortstop Carley Conley committed to Rogers State University in Claremore, Oklahoma on Tuesday. From Paris, Texas she was named all NJCAA Region Shortstop and nominated for NJCAA All american and will be joining the Hillcats 2013 squad. Carley Conley was ICC softball coach Barbara Burnett's first signing after taking the helm for the Lady Pirates. Carley set many offensive and defensive records last season as a freshman shortstop and leader for Independence. Conley who led the the KJCCC with a .542 batting average in conference finished the year with a .503 season batting average and ranked 24th in the nation in individual hitting. "We were very fortunate to get Carley as a part of our program and to have an athlete with her ability to anchor our defense at shortstop, which was a big signing for us. She is a great athlete and a great leader on our team and will be hard to replace. We expect great things out of her this spring and also when she joins the Hillcat Program," commented Burnett. Carley joins the Rogers State University program that was recently ranked sixth in a Sooner Conference pre-season poll and will be in familiar hands. The Hillcats are headed by Mark Dicus who is in his 4th season there and is transitioning the team from a successful run in the NAIA to NCAA Division 2. The Lady Pirates faced RSU in the fall season of the past two years and have fared very well under the guidance of Burnett who played high school softball for Coach Dicus in Dewey, Oklahoma. "I am excited to see any of my players move on to the next level but this is particularly exciting to me because not only do I know she will be taken care of there but I know Coach Dicus will continue to push Carley to great success. I loved playing for Coach Dicus and I know she will too", commented Burnett. Conley will join a top ranked program that is full of great athletes and with the work ethic she diplays she should fit in well with the Hillcat program. "We are so excited to get a player of Carley's caliber! She will fill our void at shortstop for next year and we look for her to make a huge impact right away," commented Dicus. Carley will be taking the field once again for the Lady Pirates as their starting shortstop this spring. Carley stated, "Three years ago I didn't even see myself playing college softball and now I'm about to begin my last season here at ICC and then transfer to play two more years at Rogers State. It's bittersweet and very exciting. I'm ready to begin my next chapter as a Hillcat." You can catch the Lady Pirates at their first home game February 12th against Conners State College at 2 & 4 pm.
11/16/12 Division 1 Texas Southern University signs ICC Softball Sophomore Pitcher to National Letter of Intent
The Independence Lady pirates celebrated the signing of Alaina Stubblefield, pitcher, to Texas Southern University. Stubblefield, from Euless, Texas will join the Lady Tigers in the fall of 2013. Alaina was the first Pitcher that Burnett recruited when she took over the program in November of 2010 and the lady Pirates first Division 1 signing. She played an integral role in the success of last years team with her pitching and helped the Lady Pirates host for the first time a home playoff series and move on to the NJCAA Regional tournament. "Alaina, in the circle, was a huge part of the success the team experienced last spring and we look forward to her taking the reigns again this year for us. Alaina, who received All Region recognition last spring, will be coming into the Divison 1 SWAC Conference and we will be looking for her to do big things there as well and look forward to the continued relationship with TSU," said Burnett. Alaina set and broke many school records for Independence and is expected to do the same this year as she has worked very hard and had a successful fall battling many 4 year teams including 3 D1 schools. The Lady Tigers, coached by Worley Barker, played in the SWAC tournament and fell just short of the championship game and returns a great squad that Stubblefield will join. Barker commented, "We are excited about Alaina joining our program. She will add strength to our pitching rotation and we are expecting immediate results from her, along with the leadership she will bring with her. "Going from not winning a game my senior year in high school to making a complete turnaround at ICC and making the regional tournament has made me realize the potential that I have to play at the D1 level. So when I got the chance I took the offer in a heartbeat. I am so grateful for this opportunity to play at Texas Southen University and continue my college softball career," stated Stubblefield. The Lady Pirates will start their spring schedule on February 1st in Galveston, Texas.
The Independence Lady pirates have set forth for them some tough competition for their fall scrimmage season. The Pirates have so far played 1 junior college, 3 NCAA D2 schools and 2 NCAA D1 schools. "Playing a schedule like we have this fall is only going to make us that much better for the spring. We are putting our team in some high pressure situtations now to get us ready for play in our Jayhawk Conference. We will be better by playing this level of competition," Head Coach Barbara Burnett stated. The pirates who have done well so far, taking a win from Connors State, splitting with Drury University and upsetting Southwestern Oklahoma State University. ICC faced some tough competition though against Rogers State University, KU and Oklahoma State University, but came up short in the end. "I am proud of my girls. There is so much fight and drive in our team. We have played some top ranked teams and for us to have the opportunity to play and compete with them just makes us better." The Lady Pirates have two weeks left in their fall season, they travel to Oklahoma Baptist Thursday to take on OBU and Navarro. They finish up next week with Missouri Southern State Univeristy and Evangel University.
The Independence Lady pirates concluded their season this past weekend at the NJCAA Regional Tournament in Topeka, KS. The lady pirates, who finished the season 25-27 made a twenty game turnaround from the 2011 season that Burnett took over the previous December. The Lady pirates had several honors this season as well. Heather Lanphear was named 1st team All Conference, Carley Conley was named 2nd team All Conference, and Alaina Stubblefield was name All Conference Honorable Mention. Lanphear and Conley were also name 1st team All Region and Stubblefield and Rebecca Scarbrough were named 2nd team All Region. Carley Conley was also honored with All American Nomination. While Heather Lanphear was named NJCAA All American. Congratulations Lady Pirates on a great year!
Discipline, Integrity, Respect & Teamwork
