Jennifer Spencer
2016 NIACC hall of famer Jennifer Spencer
After graduating from Independence High School in the spring of 1992, Jennifer Spencer had her mind made up to attend the University of Iowa.
Playing softball in college wasn’t given much thought.
That changed about a month before school was supposed to start in the fall. NIACC softball coach Tom Dunn called Spencer asking her if she would be interested in playing for the Lady Trojans.
“My parents said that he seems nice so why not just go for a visit,” Spencer recalled. “By the end of the visit, it was a no-brainer.”
And the rest, as they say, is history.
Spencer, who is the first softball player inducted into the NIACC athletics hall of fame, is the school’s career win leader with a record of 40-12 and the school’s career strikeout leader with 251.
“Jennifer was part of a couple of the most successful teams that NIACC softball has ever had,” Dunn said.
After NIACC, Spencer played two years at Northwest Missouri State compiling a record of 25-14 (.641 winning percentage, which is the school’s fourth-best career winning percentage). She also ranks fifth on the school’s career strikeout list with 226 and ranks ninth on the school’s career shutout list with 10.
“I think I would have done well if I would have went to Iowa,” Spencer said, “but I think I would been lost at a big university.
“I had a great experience with softball at NIACC and it allowed me to go to a four-year school and get another scholarship.”
Spencer said Dunn’s passion toward NIACC and softball was a big selling point in her decision to change her mind about what school she would attend.
“He was just so excited about what he did,” Spencer said. “My softball team wasn’t the most successful in high school. We weren’t terrible but we weren’t highly successful either.
“This was a chance to be part of a winning program.”
In her sophomore season in 1994, NIACC claimed the regular season Iowa Juco Conference title with an impressive mark of 26-1. At one point, the Lady Trojans won 21 straight contests, which is still the longest winning streak in school history.
During that magical 21-game winning streak, Spencer tossed a no-hitter in a 5-1 win over Southeastern with seven strikeouts and two walks.
“A lot of it is that she really has confidence in herself and in her teammates,” Dunn was quoted as saying in the Globe Gazette after Spencer’s no-hitter. “If she needs a strikeout, she can get it, but she’s really become a smart pitcher this year.”
Maybe that impressive 21-game winning streak by the Lady Trojans had to do with the lucky softball Spencer would use in the pitcher’s circle each contest.
“Jennifer was just a bit picky when it came to the ball that she used to pitch,” Dunn recalled. “She liked the ball that she warmed up with to the point that we would have bench players hurry to chase down the foul ball to get it back in play as quick as possible.
“Her father was also very helpful in returning her favorite ball to the field.”
In 1994, Spencer was a unanimous first-team all-region selection and was a NJCAA all-American nominee.
Dunn said that the 1994 team had excellent chemistry.
“This is the closest team we’ve had,” Dunn was quoted as saying in a 1994 Globe Gazette article. “We generally have teams that really get along well, but this year, there’s just something special about the bond these young ladies have.”
The 1994 regional tournament didn’t go as planned for the Lady Trojans as they bowed out early and finished the season with a record of 38-12, tying for the most wins in school history.
“We had a great sophomore season,” Spencer said.
And Spencer was a main reason for the Lady Trojans’ success.
Spencer was 28-8 with 1 save. She accumulated 189 strikeouts with 99 walks and a 1.37 earned run average.
“I was always a strikeout pitcher,” she said. “But I also was a bit wild at times and had a lot of walks in high school. NIACC definitely helped me with that.”
Another thing NIACC helped Spencer with was choosing a major – geography.
“I took a geography class with Mr. Thede and I loved it,” she said. “I majored in geography and got my Masters in geography. NIACC was very instrumental in that.”
Now Spencer, who lives in the Washington D.C. area, works for the Navy and says that deciding to attend NIACC out of high school was a great decision for her.
“It was a way to save money,” she said. “I tell people all the time that a community college is an option for them.
“And I got to be a college athlete at the university level and got some publicity, which is kind of neat, too.”