- Bears top Parkland College, 3-1
- Louisburg College takes 8-4 decision from DMACC
- Bears close season at 52-14
The DMACC softball team kept its national championship hopes alive with a 3-1 win over Parkland College (PC) in an elimination game May 27 in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Softball Championship at Oxford, Ala., but those hopes were dashed that evening when Louisburg College (LC) defeated DMACC, 8-4, in another elimination game, ending the season for the Bears.
DMACC, seeded fourth in its seventh consecutive national championship appearance, closed the season at 52-14.
All of the scoring was done in the third inning in the Bears' win over eight-seeded PC. The Cobras took a 1-0 lead in the top of the inning when Reagan Cheely hit a solo home run, but the lead was short lived when DMACC scored three runs in the bottom of the inning.
Freshman Abby Husak of Polk City started the rally with a one-out infield single and freshman Delaney Kelley of Rock Island, Ill., followed with a base on balls. After freshman Kaylie Reynolds of Muscatine struck out, freshmen Jada Collins of Des Moines and Haley Forret of Van Meter received back-to-back walks with Husak coming home on Forret's base on balls. Freshman Sami Miller then doubled into right field scoring freshman Julia Merfeld of Clear Lake, who was pinch running for Kelley, and Collins, giving DMACC a 3-1 lead. It stayed that way the remainder of the game.
The Bears had just one other hit in the game, a single by Reynolds in the bottom of the fifth.
Freshman Alexis Lander of Onawa pitched the first three innings for DMACC and improved to 19-4 with the win. She allowed one run on seven hits. Freshman Abby Flanagan of Coggon threw the last four innings, retiring nine batters in a row before allowing a leadoff double to Madison Vogel to begin the seventh inning. Flanagan escaped further damage by retiring the next three batters on a strikeout and two fly balls.
As in their win against PC, the Bears started quickly against LC, getting two runs in the top of the first. Freshman Sophie Maras of Johnston led off with an infield single, stole second and moved to third on an error. Husak then struck out and Kelley tripled to bring Maras home with the first run. Kelley later scored on a two-out single by Collins.
The Hurricanes, seeded third, fought back with a run in the bottom of the inning and then took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third when Haleigh Joyner hit a two-run homer and Jordyn Scott hit a solo home run.
LC added to its lead with three runs in the bottom of the fourth before DMACC made it a 7-2 game in the top of the sixth when Reynolds was hit by a pitch and scored on a triple by Forret.
The Hurricanes scored in the bottom of the inning to make it an 8-3 game and DMACC closed to within 8-4 when Maras singled and scored on a double by Kelley in the top of the seventh.
Maras paced DMACC with three hits and Kelley came away with two.
Lander went the first two and two-thirds innings and fell to 19-5 with the loss. She four runs on four hits, struck out two and walked one. Flanagan went three and a third innings, allowing four runs on three hits. She struck out three and walked three.