• DMACC will face Potomac State College in first game
• Bears are led by power-hitting freshmen Kendal Clark and Emma Dighton
• Sophomore Abby Flanagan is undefeated at 14-0 and Dighton is 14-1

The DMACC softball team will take the No. 1 seed into the 2022 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II National Championship May 24 to 28 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.

The Bears, who were ranked No. 1 in the NJCAA Division II poll for several weeks near the end of the regular season, take a 50-3 record and a 29-game winning streak into their tournament opener against Potomac State College (PSC) at noon on May 24.

"We're a national leader in many different categories and it has been an incredible year with great young women," DMACC softball coach Bob Ligouri said. "Our team is going in with a lot of confidence. Our players have confidence and they've had a lot of success. I think that that is really, really big. It's been very, very positive."

DMACC is led by power-hitting freshman Kendal Clark of Humboldt and Emma Dighton of Boone. Clark leads the nation in home runs with 27 and runs batted in with 100. Dighton is second in both categories with 26 home runs and 89 RBIs. Clark is also second in the nation in batting average at .572.

The Bears also have two of the better pitchers in Dighton and sophomore Abby Flanagan of Coggon. Dighton is 14-1 with a 3.18 earned run average and Flanagan is 14-0 with a 1.51 ERA. Freshman Sydney Kennedy of Peosta has a 7-0 record with a 2.10 ERA and is third nationally in saves with six.

During the season the Bears often limited starting pitchers to three or four innings and the staff has just nine complete games for the season. Ligouri said that may or may not be the case in the national tournament.

"We were trying to keep our pitchers fresh (during the regular season) and we were really successful and they really thrived in that type of environment," Ligouri said. "I think we're going to stay withhas worked for us, but by the same token, if we've got a hot pitcher, we're going to ride that train. Now is not the time to experiment."

As a team, DMACC leads tournament teams in a number of categories including runs, hits, doubles, home runs and RBIs. The Bears have scored 620 runs this season, they have 698 hits, 135 doubles, 100 home runs and 586 RBIs. DMACC also leads the nation in team average at .443, on-base percentage at .508 and slugging percentage at .736.

PSC is 41-2 with a 35-game winning streak but is not ranked in the NJCAA Division II poll. The Catamounts' Madison Anderson leads the team in hitting with a .486 average and is one of three regulars batting over .400. Alexis Bailey tops PSC in home runs with 11 and RBIs with 47.

Brianne Stocks is the Catamounts top pitcher at 20-0 with a 1.72 ERA and Taylor Townsend is 18-1 with a 2.30 ERA. Stocks is averaging 9.30 strikeouts per seven innings and Townsend is averaging 7.33 strikeouts per seven innings.

Ligouri said his main concern heading into the tournament is being in situations that can't be controlled.

"The weather is an obvious concern but I'm confident that our players will play really, really well," Ligouri said. "We have historically played well (in the tournament) with four Final Four appearances so it's not like we haven't been there before."

Ligouri said his team will be playing against the top competition in the country and when that happens his team is going to have to play at a high level.

"There's not going to be any do-overs," Ligouri said. "You've got to come and you've got to play."

Ligouri said his team is healthy and in good spirts.

"This is an incredible group," Ligouri said. "I don't know if people realize it, but we have 19 players and all 19 of our players had a 3.4 grade point average or higher. We had nine players with a 4.0 GPA. I think that's speaks well for our young women. They were able to (have a great season) and not sacrifice the academic side of it. When all the statistics get turned in, we should be one of the top academic programs in the country."

The DMACC softball team is making its eighth consecutive appearance in the national championship. The Bears have four Final Four appearances with third-place finishes in 2019, 2018 and 2014 and a fourth-place finishes in 2015.

The DMACC-PSC winner will play the winner of the Triton Community College (TCC)-Kansas City (Kan.) Community College (KCKCC) at 2 p.m. May 25. The DMACC-PSC loser will face the TCC-KCKCC loser at 10 a.m. on May 25.

The double-elimination tournament continues May 28 with the championship game scheduled to be played at noon on May 28.