Reiver Softball Claims ICCAC Region 11 Title
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
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0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | X | 6 | 5 | 0 |
Photo Credit: Ricky Webster/Indian Hills Athletics
OTTUMWA, Iowa - In just her third year at the helm of the Iowa Western Softball program, Head Coach Heidi Jordan led the Reivers to their second consecutive ICCAC Region 11 Championship on Monday afternoon.
After falling in game one, 6-1, the Reiver bats came alive in game two of the best-of-three series, scoring 14 runs in the first three innings to stay alive and force a game three, 14-6. Seven batters recorded an RBI in the victory, including three each by Amelia Ehlert, Emma Hague, and Kiley Grubbs. Freshman Saydee Plummer picked up her 12th win of the season, tossing three innings of one-hit softball with a strikeout.
In the decisive game three–Iowa Western playing as the home team–Hague opened up the scoring with a solo shot to center field to put the Reivers up 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd inning. The team would follow that up with a run in the 3rd after a pair of errors from Warrior Shortstop, Shanna Buford, put Amber Dougherty at 2nd base. Jaylynn Brandt would single on a bunt attempt, and Dougherty scored on the throw to first to make it 2-0.
Freshman Olivia Dougherty (15-7), would keep Indian Hills out of the hit column through the first three and a third innings before Mary-Paige Withers singled to right field to break up the no-hitter. That would be it offensively for the Warriors, who batted .324 throughout the season; Saydee Plummer came into relief for the final three innings of the game and allowed just one base runner the rest of the way for her 2nd save of the year.
Iowa Western would put the game out of reach in the 6th inning after Hague launched her 2nd home run of the contest, this time with two runners on for a 3-run blast to make it 6-0.
This is the first time since the 2012 and 2013 seasons that Iowa Western has won back-to-back Region Championships and just the 7th all-time in 44 seasons. For Coach Jordan, the pair of victories gives her 699 for her 21-year collegiate coaching career and her 97th at Iowa Western.
The Reivers will now face Crowder CC (Mo.) in Neosho, MO on May 9th through the 11th for the Central District Championship and a trip the NJCAA National Tournament.