- DMACC takes two games from Iowa Lakes CC to claim the title
- Freshman Abby Flanagan of Coggon wins both games for the Bears
- DMACC improves to 47-12 with the win
Freshman Sami Miller of Mason City belted a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift the DMACC softball team to a 4-3 win over Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC) in the championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI-A 3-Team Double Elimination Tournament May 9 at the DMACC softball diamond.
The championship was the fourth straight for the Bears, who have also won four consecutive Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) regular season titles. DMACC improved to 47-12 with the win.
ILCC, which defeated Northeast (Neb.) Community College (NECC) twice during the tournament, led DMACC 1-0 after the first inning and 3-2 after three innings. The Bears tied it with a run in the bottom of the seventh before winning it in the 10th.
Miller and freshmen Kaylie Reynolds of Muscatine, Jada Collins of Des Moines and Haley Forret of Van Meter had two hits apiece in the win, including a double and a home run from Reynolds and doubles by Forret, Miller and freshman Sophie Maras of Johnston. Reynolds, Collins, Forret and Miller drove in one run apiece.
Freshman Ellie Jacobson of Humboldt pitched the first two innings for DMACC, allowing three runs on four hits. She struck out two and walked one. Freshman Alexis Lander of Onawa allowed two hits over five innings, striking out three and walking one, and freshman Abby Flanagan of Coggon allowed one hit over three innings, struck out six and walked one to come away with her 18th win of the season against four losses.
DMACC, ranked sixth in the NJCAA Division II poll, also recorded a 7-1 win over ILCC in a winner's bracket game on May 8 after the Lakers handed NECC a 7-6 loss in the tournament's first game. DMACC led 1-0 after the first inning and 2-1 after three innings. The Bears pulled away with a run in the fourth, two in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Freshman Abby Husak of Polk City led the Bears with three hits, including a double, and Maras and Forret had two hits apiece, including a double by Forret. Husak, freshman Delaney Kelley of Rock Island, Ill., Collins and Forret drove in one run apiece.
Flanagan went the distance to get her 17th win of the season on a one-hitter. She struck out 11 and walked two.
ILCC advanced to the championship game with an 11-2 win over NECC in an elimination game on May 9.
The DMACC softball team will play the winner of NJCAA Region 13 tournament in the North Plains District Championship May 14 to 16 at the DMACC softball diamond. The North Plains District champion will advance to the NJCAA Division II Softball Championship May 25 to 29 at Oxford, Ala.
