- Bears top NIACC to keep tournament hopes alive
- Loss to KCC sends DMACC to elimination bracket
- SECC ends Bears' season with 9-6 victory in elimination game
The DMACC baseball team saw its season come to a close following back-to-back losses to Kirkwood Community College (KCC) and Southeastern Community College (SECC) in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI Baseball Tournament May 12 to 15 at Cedar Rapids.
The Bears, who opened the double-elimination tournament as the No. 3 seed, moved into the championship bracket semifinals with an 8-2 win over Northeast (Neb.) Community College (NECC) on May 12. They kept their tournament hopes alive with a 13-5 win over second-seeded North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) on May 13. The win put DMACC in the championship bracket finals where the Bears dropped a 14-13 decision to top-seeded KCC. DMACC then lost a 9-6 decision to SECC and was eliminated from the tournament.
Freshman Jake Brill of Maple, Wis., had four hits and freshman Cael Boever of Sioux City and Covid-19 freshman (CoFR) Jayden Singleton of Des Moines drove in three runs apiece to lead the Bears to their 13-5 win over NIACC. DMACC trailed 2-0 after the first inning and 4-2 after three innings but responded with a run in the fourth, three in the fifth, three in the sixth and four in the seventh to end the game via the mercy rule.
Freshmen Reed Stallman of Alburnett, Brodie Kresser of Jesup and Boever and singleton and CoFR Jake Thilges of Johnston and Tre Mungin of Omaha, Neb., had two hits apiece in the win and Stallman, who homered, collected a pair of RBIs. Singleton also homered in the win and Thilges and Brill hit triples. Brill also had a pair of doubles and Boever and Mungin also doubled.
CoFR Jackson Stewart of Urbandale pitched the first four and two-thirds innings for DMACC, allowing five runs on 10 hits with eight strikeouts. CoFR Jacob Norris of North Liberty went two and a third innings and improved to 2-2 with the win. He allowed one hit and struck out two batters.
KCC took a 6-0 lead in the first inning of its win over the Bears on May 14 but saw DMACC claw back with four runs in the third, two in the fourth and three each in the fifth and sixth innings for a 12-8 advantage. KCC took a 13-12 lead with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, grabbed a 14-13 advantage with a run in the bottom of the seventh after DMACC tied it with a run in the top of the inning. KCC pitchers held DMACC scoreless over the last two innings to give the Eagles the win.
Kresser and Singleton had three hits apiece in the loss and Thilges, Mungin, CoFR Jackson Fisher of Chariton and freshman Gage Franck of Marion had two hits apiece. Brill, Kresser and Singleton homered in the game and Mungin, Thilges and Fisher hit doubles. Kresser and Singleton drove in three runs apiece and Brill came away with two RBIs.
CoFR Jacob Draeger of Johnston pitched the first three and a third innings for DMACC, allowing eight runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked four. Freshman Simon Gregersen of Ramsey, Minn., went four and two-thirds innings and suffered his third loss of the season against six wins. He allowed six runs on six hits, struck out six and walked two.
SECC used a three-run rally to come away with its win in an elimination game on May 14. DMACC trailed 6-1 after four innings but used a four-run rally in the fourth and a run in the fifth to draw even at 6-6.
DMACC was held to seven hits in the game including doubles from Brill, Stallman, Fisher and Mungin. Fisher drove in two of the Bears' six runs.
Covid-19 sophomore (CoSO) Bret Price, Jr., of Boone went the first three and a third innings, allowing six runs on six hits. He struck out one and walked three. CoFR Ben Dixon of Sioux City threw four and a third innings and fell to 3-1 with the loss. He allowed two runs on three hits, struck out three and walked two. CoSO Cade Van Ness of Glenwood pitched a third of an inning and gave up one run, struck out one and walked two and CoFR Greg Ryun of Victoria, Minn., pitched one inning and retired all three batters he faced.