West Burlington, IA – For the seventh consecutive year, the Indian Hills Softball team captured the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Softball Region XI Championship as the top-seeded Warriors defeated No. 3 seed Southeastern Community College 3-0.
With the win, the Warriors now advance to the NJCAA Midwest District Championship and a shot at advancing to the NJCAA DI Softball National Championship in Yuma, AZ. As the Region XI champs, the Warriors will host the District series at R.L. Hellyer Field in Ottumwa against the winner of the NJCAA Region XVI (MO) tournament. The Warriors will find out its opponent by Tuesday and are tentatively scheduled to host the District series May 14 and 15.
One day after defeating the Blackhawks 7-0 to advance to the championship game, the Warriors used a three-run fifth inning and a stellar pitching performance to win the Region championship. Indian Hills has now won 17 consecutive games at the Region tournament and have never lost since the tournament went to a double-elimination format.
Freshman Madie Anderson (Mt. Pleasant, IA/Winfield Mt. Union) pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout for the Warriors to win her team-high 17th game of the year. Anderson struck out six batters without issuing a walk to hold the Blackhawks scoreless.
The Warriors collected just five hits in the game, but made the most of its opportunities in the fifth inning. After leaving a runner stranded in each of the first four innings, the Warriors loaded the bases after back-to-back singles from Abbi Cataldo (Altoona, IA/Southeast Polk) and Yanna Roberts (Davenport, IA/Davenport North) and a walk to Destiny Lewis (Indianola, IA/Indianola). Freshman Sydney Anderson (Elkhart, IA/North Polk) drove a pitch to right center that resulted in a sacrifice fly, but a pair of throwing errors on the play led to two additional runs and a 3-0 lead for the Warriors.
The Blackhawks threatened with two runners in scoring position in the sixth, but a diving grab from Gretta Hartz (Runnells, IA/Southest Polk) in left field ended the frame and kept Southeastern off the board. Madie Anderson sat the Blackhawks down in order in the top of the seventh and the Warriors rushed the field to celebrate another Region championship.
The title is the 25th in program history for the Warriors and the third under head coach Lindsay Diehl.
The District championship series will feature the Warriors and the winner of Region XVI in a best two-of-three series. The first two games are tentatively scheduled for May 14 with an if necessary game on May 15. The winner will earn an automatic berth to the NJCAA DI Softball National Championship that is set to get underway May 24.
Fans can catch all of the action of the District tournament live on GoHillsTV.
