Ottumwa -- A two-run homer by freshman Chloe Olson in the bottom of the 5th inning of game two put the exclamation mark on Indian Hills' 18th consecutive victory, one that clinched the Warriors 5th straight ICCAC regular-season championship. The Olson round-tripper was the Warriors' 6th of the day and ended a thoroughly dominating performance that saw the champs drill Marshalltown CC, 23-0 and 11-3, to extend their winning streaks both for the 2019 campaign and in league play.
Indian Hills showed it was more than ready to claim the crown when it exploded for 13 runs in the second inning of game one. That came after IHCC plated four runs in the 1st and before they had three-run innings in the 3rd and 4th. Brooke Snider needed a single for the cycle after clubbing her 18th and 19th homers, along with a double and triple, in the early innings, but couldn't get the single. Still, she knocked in seven runs and scored four in a 4-for-5 game at the plate. The other home runs came from Macey Harrington, her team-leading 23rd, and Jaylie Reints, number-eight for the sophomore. Brittni Lloyd stole three bases and scored four runs, Olson and Vanessa Bakley each crossed the plate twice, and Harrington, Reints and Jordan Hollon scored two runs each. The top six hitters in the IHCC order all had at least two hits. Alexis Groet fired another shutout, her 8th of the season and 5th in the current win streak. The freshman righthander permitted four hits and one walk and fanned eight.
Second-game HRs were supplied by Olson, her 13th, and Alexis Westercamp, her 10th. Lloyd swiped another base, giving her 45, tied for second in a single season for IHCC softball. Harrington and Westercamp each had three RBIs and Olson and Abby Sweet chipped in two apiece. The Warriors scored in all five of their at-bats, Olson's long ball finishing off the 9th consecutive doubleheader sweep for Indian Hills, now 35-16 overall and a title-winning 10-2 in the league. Nina Hendriks got the pitching victory, allowing two earned runs and one walk with three strikeouts.
The six home runs put the season total at 79, one more than last year's IHCC mark and third in program history, behind the 110 hit by the 1999 team and the 89 the following year.
"It feels great to continue the tradition of winning the conference title," said IHCC first-year head coach Lindsay Diehl. "The girls are gaining confidence and playing under control. Winning the championship wasn't something I talked a lot to them about. The focus is always to win pitches, win innings and win games."
Four talented players were honored on Sophomore Day -- Alexis Westercamp, Vanessa Bakley, Jordan Hollon and Jaylie Reints. That foursome has been a part of two championships and 81 wins, with the postseason still to come in their second year at IHCC.
Indian Hills earned the number-one seed for next weekend's four-team conference postseason tourney in Marshalltown. The Warriors will take on MCC in the opening game at 10:00 a.m. on Friday. The tournament champ will move on to represent Region XI in the district championship series the following weekend. "It will be nice going into regional play with the number-one seed," the IHCC coach said, but Diehl emphasized, "we aren't done yet."