NIACC set to host regional tournament

MASON CITY - The No. 14 NIACC softball team is set to host the NJCAA Region 11-B double-elimination tournament starting Friday.

Second-seed NIACC (35-11) faces sixth-seed Northeast CC (15-31) in its opening round contest at 2 p.m. Friday. Third-seed DMACC (44-10) faces fifth-seed Iowa Lakes (33-17) at 4 p.m. Friday in the other first round contest.

It is the first time NIACC has hosted one of the two NJCAA Region 11 tournaments since the region split the tournament into two sites in 2015. In every two site tournament before this season, DMACC and Kirkwood have been the two host schools.

The winner of the NJCAA Region 11-B tournament faces the NJCAA Region 9 champion in the NJCAA Division II North Plains District Tournament May 12-13 at the Region 9 champion with the winner qualifying for the NJCAA Division II World Series in Spartanburg, S.C. May 23-27.

The three-team NJCAA Region 9 tournament will be played this weekend in Colubmus, Neb. Teams in the Region 9 tournament are Central CC-Columbus (29-16), Southeast CC (13-31) and North Platte CC (14-29).

In the NJCAA Region 11-B tournament, the semifinals are set for Saturday with the championship game set for noon on Sunday.

NIACC earned the second seed for the NJCAA Region 11-B tournament by placing second in the ICCAC Division II standings with a league record of 19-5. Kirkwood was the regular season champion with a record of 20-4.

NIACC had a team batting average of .381 (2nd in the ICCAC) with 78 home runs (3rd in ICCAC), 135 doubles (2nd in ICCAC) and 459 runs scored (2nd in ICCAC).

NIACC sophomore Laken Lienhard led the ICCAC with a .507 batting average. She also led the league with 27 doubles.

Also offensively for the Trojans, Emily Jones hit .441 with 15 home runs, 68 RBIs and 21 doubles. Sydney Toman hit .380 with 16 home runs, 14 doubles and 58 RBIs and Katy Olive hit .363 with 13 home runs, 14 doubles and 59 stolen bases, which led the ICCAC.

Lienhard is 18-4 with an 2.92 earned run average with 108 strikeouts and 34 walks in 120 innings pitched. Brynn Stalberger is 11-5 with a 4.68 ERA with 101 strikeouts and 62 walks in 116 2/3 innings pitched.

NJCAA REGION 11-B TOURNAMENT

Friday's games

2 p.m. (Game 1) - (2) NIACC (35-11) vs. (6) Northeast CC (15-31)

4 p.m. (Game 2) - (3) DMACC (44-10) vs. Iowa Lakes (33-17)

Saturday's games

Noon (Game 3) - NIACC/Northeast loser vs. DMACC/Iowa Lakes loser

2 p.m. (Game 4) - NIACC/Northeast winner vs. DMACC/Iowa Lakes winner

4 p.m. (Game 5) - Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser

Sunday's games

Noon (Game 6) - Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner

2 p.m. (Game 7) - If necessary, a second championship game will be played.