
- DMACC finishes season at 46-3 overall and 22-2 in the ICCAC
- Bears won their last 25 consecutive games
- DMACC will be the No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Region XI-A tournament
The DMACC softball team closed out the 2022 regular season by sweeping a doubleheader from Ellsworth Community College (ECC) May 1 at Iowa Falls.
The Bears, the No. 1-ranked team in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II poll, won by scores of 19-0 and 22-1. Both games were called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. DMACC closed the regular season with a 25-game winning streak, a 46-3 overall record and a 22-2 record in the Iowa Community College Athletic Association (ICCAC).
The Bears will be the No. 1 seed in the NJCAA Region XI-A softball tournament that begins May 6. Pairings for the tournament will be announced later this week.
Freshman Sydney Kennedy of Peosta pitched a no-hitter and freshman Kendal Clark of Humboldt and sophomore Sami Miller of Mason City belted home runs and drove in six and five runs respectively to lead DMACC to its win in the May 1 opener.
The Bears took an 11-0 lead in the first inning and put the game away with five runs in the second and three in the fourth.
Sophomore Jada Collins of Des Moines paced DMACC's 21-hit attack with four singles. Sophomore Abby Husak of Polk City had three hits and Clark, Miller, freshman Emma Dighton of Boone and freshman Sydney Kennedy of Peosta had two hits apiece. Extra-base hits in addition to the home runs by Clark and Miller included a pair of doubles by Kennedy, who also drove in a pair of runs.
Kennedy struck out nine batters and walked one in improving to 7-0 for the season. She faced just 17 batters in the five-inning game.
Dighton, Clark, freshman Madison Kearns of Glenpool, Okla., and sophomore Layney Loyd of New London hit home runs in DMACC's win in the second game. The Bears did all of their scoring in the first four innings, getting five runs in the first, seven in the second, eight in the third and two in the fourth.
Collins and Miller led the Bears at the plate with four hits each and Husak, Kearns and Dighton had three hits apiece and Clark had two hits, including a double to go with her home run. Kearns led DMACC in RBIs with four, Dighton and Loyd drove in three runs apiece and Husak, Collins and Clark each had two RBIs.
Sophomore Ellie Jacobson of Humboldt pitched the first three innings and improved to 7-1 with the win. She allowed one run on two hits and struck out three. Sophomore Lexi Lander of Onawa went two innings and struck out three batters.