The championship pairing in this double-elimination tournament is set. The finalists are both from Florida: Northwest Florida State (60-4) from Niceville vs Florida Southwestern State (56-6) from Ft. Meyers. Today, NWF beat FSW 3-1 in the winners' bracket final to earn their spot. FSW then beat Wallace State-Hanceville (AL) 11-2 in the losers' bracket final to earn theirs. The championship round isn't best two-of-three like NCAA division 1. Instead, it's just a straight up double elimination. So, NWF only has to win one game, whereas FSW would have to beat NWF twice. The game(s) will be televised on ESPN+, Saturday starting at 4pm (EDT).
Even though I'm at the tournament to root for NWF, I've got to say that the NJCAA World Series is a poorly executed affair. They bring out TWENTY teams to their World Series, instead of paring down the field to 8 through a regional / super-regional process. The result is they have to play 38 (or 39) games in six days - with 34 of them happening in the first four days. It becomes less of an athletic competition and more like a war of attrition. And falling early into the losers' bracket is a death march: up to 9 games in six days. (Actually, Wallace State almost pulled it off: losing their first game then winning 5 games in 3 days before becoming completely exhausted and losing in the bracket finals.) So much for the NJCAA's announcement before each game touting fair play and player safety. Well: at least they're holding the tournament in Yuma-hotter-than-Hell, Arizona, where game-time temperatures have been 103-106 degrees every day. (I regard it as a major miracle that there haven't been multiple heat-related injuries.) The venue here is REALLY marginal, too: baseball-sized dirt infields and temporary outfield fences because the permanent ones are 325 feet, crappy temporary bleachers on desert dirt under 10' (maybe 12') wide sun canopies, sight lines blocked by dugouts, and 3 or 4 stunted trees for "shade". What's even crazier? They held it here in 2021-22, and then decided to come back! Whoever made these decisions ought to be strung up.
FSW has won three of the past four championships (Indian River won it last year) and is trying to make it 4 of the last 5. NWF is trying for their first after placing 2nd in 2023 and 4th last year. And, this will be the 6th consecutive year that the Florida region has produced the national champion - going back to Chipola winning it in 2019. (The WS wasn't held in 2020.)
Northwest Florida defeated Florida Southwestern 4-1 to win the the 2025 NJCAA national championship in women's softball.
