Gulf Coast Community College begins its march for its first NJCAA softball championship in Normal, Illinois.

And a pair of Fuller sisters will lead them there.

Former Warren Central standouts Tiffany Fuller and Mandy Fuller are a big reason why Gulf Coast (36-15) is playing in the 16-team national title tournament, which starts today.

Tiffany, a sophomore who is headed to Mississippi College next season, roams center field and even pitched a clutch seven-inning performance in the Region 23 tournament, her first of the season, to get Gulf Coast to the national tournament.

“Tiffany is probably as good a centerfielder as I’ve ever had,” Gulf Coast coach Kenneth Long said. “She gets on base and she’s a great defender. She regularly works with her pitchers and threw seven innings as good as I’ve ever seen. She even got us out of a bases-loaded jam. The way she battles every day for us really helps us play behind her.”

She is hitting .357 with 12 RBIs and six doubles. She has struck out just 12 times in 163 plate appearances and she has scored a team-high 26 runs.

Younger sister Mandy Fuller has taken over behind the plate and been a revelation, Long said. During the region tournament, the catcher took a foul ball off the bridge of her nose and the wound needed a few stitches to close.

“She just got the stitches out and a week later, she’s back at practice,” Long said. “She’s got a great arm and she’s so smart behind the plate.”

Long trusts his freshman catcher so much that he lets her call pitches as she did at Warren Central.

“She’s so good at calling pitches,” Long said. “She sets up hitters so well. A lot of coaches call pitches, but I feel that a catcher sees things better than I do and it helps keep your pitcher in rhythm.”

She’s hitting .352 with 22 RBIs, eight doubles, a triple and six home runs.