NIACC softball team signs five players

MASON CITY - The NIACC softball team has signed five players to national letter of intents.

Signing with the Lady Trojans for the 2017 season are Pella Christian's Courtney Johannes, North Tama's Kodi Hillman, Central Springs' Kelli Wilson, Garner-Hayfield/Ventura's Payton Bamrick and Mason City's Jenni King.

Johannes, a pitcher/infielder, hit .400 with seven doubles, one triple and one home run in her junior season. She also accumulated a 1.93 earned run average as a pitcher. 

"Courtney brings a competitive nature to our program," NIACC coach Christi Weiser said. "She is a very strong kid who will provide power through the middle of our lineup and will compete to be the No. 1 pitcher on our staff."

 Hillman, an outfielder, his .384 with 10 doubles, one triple, one home run and 21 RBIs last season.

"Kodi is a quick kid with base running savvy," Weiser said. "She works diligently on the details of her game and will be counted on to fly around in the outfield.

"She's got good experience playing all three outfield positions and does a very nice job of working gap-to-gap offensively."

Wilson, an infielder hit .417 with one home run and 28 RBIs on last year's team that qualified for the state tournament.

"Kelli is as good of an example of a student-athlete as a coach could ask for," Weiser said. "She is an offensive force and works incredibly hard on all aspects of her game.

"She's a good athlete who has the ability to compete for playing time at multiple positions."

 Bamrick, an infielder, hit .386 with a .526 slugging percentage. She also had eight doubles and two home runs.

"I have seen first-hand over 3 years Payton's improvement both offensively and defensively," Weiser said. "She has tremendous softball savvy and a great understanding of how the game flows and really shows this in her situational approach to her at-bats.

"She's a cluth hitter. Like many athletes in this area, she has played every sport season for 5 years and it'll be fun to see her progress as she is able to focus on her softball game."

 King, an infielder, hit .314 with 10 doubles, three triples, two home runs and led the Mohawks with 26 RBIs.

"Jenni has been a multiple year starter for MCHS at SS and will be counted on to bring that experience and athleticism to our program," Weiser said. "She is a highly competitive athlete.

"Like the others in this class, she has played multiple sports, and in doing so developed her athleticism, and it'll be fun now to get her to work on the details of her softball game. It's exciting for us to have her continue the great flow of softball players from the Mason City area."