The Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) softball team swept doubleheaders from Iowa Central Community College (ICCC) and Southwestern Community College (SWCC) May 4 and 5 respectably and won their third consecutive Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) regular season championship in the process.
The Bears, ranked second in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II poll, actually clinched the ICCAC regular season title when they defeated ICCC by scores of 7-0 and 4-2 on May 4 at the DMACC softball diamond. They closed the regular season with 8-0 and 13-0 wins over SWCC on May 5, also at the DMACC softball diamond, finishing with a 43-6 record overall and a 26-2 mark in the ICCAC. DMACC finished three games ahead of Kirkwood Community College (KCC) in the ICCAC standings.
Sophomores Mia Ruther of Burlington and Ellie Dixon of Iowa City had two hits apiece and freshman Ally Pickering of Winterset drove in three runs to lead the Bears past ICCC in the opener on May 4. DMACC took a commanding 6-0 lead with three runs in each of the third and fourth innings and closed out the win with a run in the fifth.
Freshmen Morgan Lewis of Cedar Rapids, Josie Swafford of Wellston, Okla., Maddie Karr of Center Point and sophomores Avery Guy of Cedar Rapids, Kaisha Wells of Topeka, Kan., and Jayci Vos of Monroe also had hits for DMACC with Pickering collecting a double for the only extra-base hit. Ruther, Carr, Wells and Dixon drove in one run apiece.
Swafford scattered three hits, struck out 10 and walked one to improve to 20-1.
ICCC went ahead 2-0 with runs in the first and third innings of the second game, but DMACC rallied with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to come away with the win. Vos collected two hits and drove in two runs to lead the Bears at the plate and Guy contributed a solo home run.
Freshman Dana Dunbar of Chadron, Neb., pitched the first three innings for DMACC, allowing two runs on five hits. She struck out two and walked two. Freshman Ally Anderson of Atlantic threw the last four innings and came away with the win. She allowed four hits and struck out four batters.
Lewis and Ruther had three hits and two RBIs apiece and Swafford had one hit and drove in three runs as DMACC took the opener against SWCC. The Bears scored two runs in the first and three in each of the second and third innings to get the win in five innings.
Swafford improved to 21-1 on a one-hitter. She struck out nine and walked one.
DMACC won the second game, also in five innings, behind a nine-run rally in the bottom of the fourth. The Bears led 1-0 after the first inning, 3-0 after the second inning and 4-0 after the third inning before putting the game out of reach in the fourth.
Vos paced the Bears at the plate with three hits and Lewis, Ruther, Guy, Pickering, Wells and Dixon had two hits apiece. Dixon belted a home run and Lewis contributed a double. Dixon drove in three runs and Lewis, Pickering and freshman Elly Schuemann of Marion had two RBIs apiece.
Sophomore Peyton Parker of La Porte City pitched the first four innings and earned the win. She allowed four hits and walked four batters. Dunbar worked one inning and allowed two hits.
The DMACC softball team will be the No. 1 seed in Pod A of the NJCAA Region XI Division II Softball Championship May 10 to 12 at the DMACC softball diamond. Tournament pairings will be announced when the become available.
