By CHRISTINA EASTER

PARMA, May 5, 2026 — Cuyahoga Community College sophomore pitcher Julee Phillips picked up where she left off last season, winning pitcher of the week multiple times while helping lead the Triceratops’s women’s fastpitch softball team to a 30-6 overall record and a 16-1, first-place finish in the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference.

As most great athletes know, goals and success are not achieved just because you want it. They both happen because you study the game and work hard. That’s exactly what Phillips did in her second and last season as a Triceratops.

She researched opponents’ hitting patterns, practiced pitching, and trusted that her teammates would do their job. The result was a 14-3 won-loss mark for Phillips as the Tricertaops enter the NJCAA Region playoffs tomorrow (more on this below).

“I did research beforehand to see who I was going to throw against and learn what they can and can’t hit,” said Phillips. “I also worked on my pitches before games, and this gave me a lot of confidence.”

After watching Phillips’ pitch for two seasons, head coach Brian Komlos said, “All of our pitchers are extremely good, but Julee has been number one or two in the nation the whole season.”

Phillips pitched the first game of the season. She pitched all seven innings, allowed only three hits and two runs while striking out eight batters. This performance was a preview of what was to come.

Through March she pitched 69.2 innings and struck out more than 100 batters while allowing only two runs. This included a 16-strikeout performance on March 10 against Illinois Valley Community College and eight strikeouts on March 22 against conference rival Edison Community College.

Even though Phillips’ performance in March earned her pitcher of the week honors each week of the month, she didn’t stop there.

Phillips continued striking out and shutting down opponents in April. She started with an eight-strikeout performance in only four innings pitched against Owens Community College. The game was called in the fifth inning after the Lady Tops led 18-0.

Phillips went on to pitch another complete game on April 26 with 12 strikeouts and zero runs allowed. She finished April with her fifth pitcher of the week honor after striking out another 14 batters in six innings. 

But Phillips doesn’t accept all the credit for her pitching. 

“The team hitting this season gave me a lot more confidence because I felt like even if I gave up runs, they would get them right back,” said Phillips. “I didn’t have the feeling that I couldn’t give up any runs because I wasn’t sure if we would get them back.”

But through all the numbers, the big highlights of the season for Phillips was beating Edison, going 8-2 in Florida at the beginning of the season, and the team’s solo first-place position in the OCCAC.

“The three wins over Edison were big for us, and we only lost a couple of times in Florida compared to last year when we didn’t win any games,” said Phillips.

“Also, this season’s first-place standing is better than last year’s tie because we didn’t have to share it.”

Although Phillips racked up a laundry list of accolades this season, she is just as focused at the end of the season as she was at the beginning.  She said her expectations for the last couple of games of the regular season and the playoffs is, “to win!”

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Triceratops enter NJCAA Region 12 post-season play on Wednesday, opposing the winner of the Muskegeon vs. Macomb Community College contest. The game will be played at the Marathon Diamonds #2 in Findlay. Below is a link to the tournament schedule. Just above that is a link to the Tri-C women’s fastpitch softball website.

For more information or details about the Lady Tops, contact Cuyahoga Community College’s Griffin Olah, Specialist, Sports Information & Media Relations, at griffin.olah@tri-c.edu or at 216-987-4178.

https://athletics.tri-c.edu/sports/sball/index

https://region12.prestosports.com/sports/sball/index#:~:text=May%2012

Christina Easter is a student at Cuyahoga Community College reporting on athletics for The Voice, Tri-C’s student media outlet. She also contributes to The Land and other media outlets, and is a frequent contributor to eyeoncleveland.com as well.