Freshman Molly Jacobsen of Adel and sophomore Ashley Sicard of Ackley threw back-to-back shutouts as the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) softball team defeated North Platte Community College (NPCC) in a doubleheader May 7 at the DMACC softball diamond to win the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) District G championship.
The wins put the Bears in the NJCAA Division II Softball Championship for the fourth consecutive season and for the fifth time since 2012.
Jacobsen allowed three hits, struck out 11 and walked one as DMACC won the opener, 6-0. Freshman Bailey Richards of Des Moines paced DMACC's 11-hit attack with three hits, including a double, and sophomore Kerigan Torres of Des Moines and freshman Bre Hunter of Boone had two hits apiece. Sophomore Megan Rushing of West Des Moines drove in a pair of runs and Torres, freshman Abby Gehringer of Indianola, sophomore Taylor Creason of Lee's Summit, Mo., and Richards drove in one run apiece.
Hunter doubled and scored on a single by Creason as DMACC took a 1-0 lead in the second. Consecutive doubles by Jacobsen, Rushing and Richards gave the Bears a 3-0 lead in the fourth and they added two more runs later in the inning on a run-scoring single by Torres and Gehringer's infield grounder.
Sicard improved to 19-3 with behind a five-hitter in DMACC's 7-0 win in the second game. She struck out six and walked two.
Torres and Gehringer had three hits apiece in the win and sophomore Kenzi Sutton of Adel and Creason had two hits apiece. Gehringer drove in two DMACC runs and Torres, Sutton, Creason and Richards each drove in one run.
DMACC took a 1-0 lead in the first when Gehringer doubled and gave way to pinch-runner Kristen Raymond, a sophomore from Madrid, who scored on a single by Sutton. Creason led off the second with a solo home run, Torres added a run-scoring single, Gehringer drove in two runs with a base hit and another run came home on an NPCC error as the Bears opened up 6-0 lead after two innings. They closed out the victory on an RBI single by Richards in the third.
The DMACC softball team takes a 46-7 record and a six-game winning streak into the NJCAA Division II National Championship May 17 to 20 at Clinton, Miss.