Megan Guericke will head to Northern Illinois University this fall as a national champion.
The Hanson graduate and the Iowa Premier Gold softball team recently won the 18U Premier Division at the Premier Girls Fastpitch softball tournament in Huntington Beach, California.
“It’s just an amazing experience,” Guericke said. “I never thought in the years I started playing softball I would come home with a national championship. Ending my travel ball career, there really is no better way.”
Guericke previously played for the South Dakota Renegades, but was forced to find a different team after numbers took a hit due to graduation. She helped the Renegades finish second at the PGF nationals in 2016, but punctuated her final travel season with an exclamation point.
“It is just an amazing experience -- especially after getting second place the first time,” Guericke said. “I definitely had another chip on my shoulder that I was going to go home a champion.”
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This travel season, the Iowa Premier also played at tournaments in Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma. The Premier finished the season with a 76-25-5 record, including a 11-0 mark at nationals.
Iowa Premier knocked off teams from California, Colorado and Kansas on its way to the national championship. Iowa Premier defeated Select Fastpitch (Kansas), 5-2, in the title game.
In the top of the seventh inning, Guericke fielded the field out from her starting shortstop position.
“It just kind of gave you a different kind of vibe knowing that both teams had to lay everything out on the line to win it all and it was so exciting,” Guericke said. “You could feel the energy almost as you walk onto the field and all the hype that it brought with it.”
It will also help prepare her for the next chapter of her softball career at Division I Northern Illinois University.
“I don’t think there is any other better way to be prepared,” Guericke said. “This is like the best level you can be at. You are playing against great teams, great players all the time. There isn’t a weak link out there and there really is no better way to get yourself ready for college than playing at the highest level possible.”
