No. 20 Trojans win tourney opener
- Kellar tosses 2-hitter with career-best 12 Ks
- Trojans face No. 9 DMACC at 2 p.m. Saturday
BOONE - The No. 20 NIACC softball team opened NJCAA Region 11-B tournament play with a 9-1 win over Iowa Lakes in five innings Friday afternoon on the DMACC campus.
Macy Kellar, a freshman right-hander who prepped at Newman Catholic, gained the win in the circle for the Trojans. Kellar (15-6) tossed a two-hitter with a career-best 12 strikeouts.
Kellar's previous highest strikeout total was 11 against Indian Hills on Feb. 16. It is the fifth time this season that Kellar has reached double figures in strikeouts.
NIACC (32-21) received a home run from sophomore Emily Jones. The Trojans' Madisyn Kelley collected two hits.
The Trojans also received hits from Katy Olive, Thea Mattson, Izzy Sloan, Vanessa Koehler, Ariana Lopez, Kaitlyn Blair.
NIACC scored two runs in the first inning, five runs in the fourth inning and claimed the tournament win by scoring two runs in the fifth frame.
Iowa Lakes' lone run came on a solo home run in the fourth inning by Taylor Larson.
Third-seed NIACC now faces No. 9 DMACC (42-9) in the second round at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Sixth-seed Iowa Lakes (18-31) faces seventh-seed Hawkeye CC (7-38) meet at noon on Saturday in an elimination game.
Second-seed DMACC won three of the four games against NiACC in the regular season.
The Bears won 9-0 and 9-1 (both in five innings) on April 8 in Boone. On April 14 in Mason City, DMACC won 1-0 and the Trojans won 12-8.
The winner of the NIACC/DMACC game moves to the regional title game at noon on Sunday.
The winner of the NJCAA Region 11-B tournament advances to the district tournament May 10-11 at the site of the NJCAA Region 13 champion. The winner of the 3-game series in the district tournament advances to the NJCAA Division II World Series May 20-25 in Spartanburg, S.C.
NJCAA Region 11-B tournament
At DMACC (Boone)
Friday's results
Game 1 - (2) DMACC 8, (7) Hawkeye CC 0 (5)
Game 2 - (3) NIACC 9, (6) Iowa Lakes 1 (5)
Saturday's games
Game 3 (Noon) - Hawkeye CC vs. Iowa Lakes
Game 4 (2 p.m.) - DMACC vs. NIACC
Game 5 (4 p.m.) - Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Sunday's games
Game 6 (Noon) - Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 (2 p.m.) - If necessary.
