- DMACC improved to 47-10 for the season
- Bears move on to Northwest Plains B Championship
- Freshman Courtney Donahue gets all three wins
The DMACC softball team won its ninth consecutive regional championship May 7 when the Bears defeated Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC), 4-0, in the championship game of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 11-B Softball Tournament.
The Bears, ranked 17th in the most recent Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), opened the tournament with a 5-4 win over ILCC on May 5 and the defeated North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in a semifinal matchup on May 6
ILCC followed its May 5 loss to DMACC with a 7-3 win over Northeast (Neb.) Community College (NECC) on May 6 and then defeated NIACC, 5-2, also on May 6, to advance to the title game.
DMACC, which improved to 47-10 with the three wins, moves on to the NJCAA Northwest Plains B tournament in Columbus, Neb. The opponent and dates for the games will be determined later this week. The Northwest Plains B champion will advance to the 2023 NJCAA Division II World Series May 23 to 27 at Spartanburg, S.C.
The Bears can advance to their ninth consecutive national tournament by winning the NJCAA Northwest Plains B title.
Freshman Courtney Donahue of Marshfield, Wis., won all three DMACC games in the Region 11-B tournament to improve to 15-1 for the season. Donahue pitched just one inning and struck out two batters in the Bears' 5-4 win over ILCC. The win came when DMACC pushed a run across the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Donahue allowed three runs on eight hits, struck out 13 and walked one in the win over NIACC and allowed just two hits and struck out 10 in the championship game.
DMACC had a comfortable 4-1 lead over ILCC after six innings in its tournament opener before ILCC tallied three runs in the top of the seventh to send the game into extra innings where the Bears got the win.
Sophomore Kendal Clark of Humboldt homered and sophomores Maddy Kearns of Glenpool, Okla., and Kaylynn Salyars of Muscatine and freshman Ceara Swanson of Lincoln, Neb., had two hits apiece. Kearns and Salyars each drove in two runs. Extra-base hits included triples by Salyars and freshman Amaya Snyder of Cedar Rapids and doubles by Kearns and Swanson.
Sophomore Sydney Kennedy of Peosta pitched the first seven innings for the Bears, allowing four runs on five hits. She struck out 16 batters and walked four.
Clark belted another home run and Salyars, Snyder and freshman Kelsey Palmer of Cedar Rapids each doubled in the Bears win over NIACC. The Trojans broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the bottom of the third and DMACC responded with three runs in the top of the fourth for a 4-2 lead. Both teams scored one run each in the seventh inning.
Clark, Kennedy, Salyars and Snyder had two hits apiece for the Bears and Snyder drove in two runs.
Kearns homered and doubled and drove in two runs in DMACC's win in the championship game. The Bears led 1-0 after the first inning and 3-0 after the third inning. They added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and got the win after ILCC failed to score in the top of the seventh.
