Five Parkland Softball players recognized by M-WAC
Five members of the National Softball Tournament bound Parkland College Softball team have been recognized by the Midwest Athletic Conference for their play this season. Freshman Kelsey Kniepmann and Taylor Hull each earned First Team recognition while Alison Kimble, Raeshel Braden, and Elizabeth Sprague all earned Second Team honors. Kimble and Sprague were both 2nd team selections at two different positions.
Kniepmann, who also earned First Team All-Region and All-Tournament honors, hit a team-high .439 this season and also leads the team in hits, doubles, triples, and RBI. She finished 2nd in runs scored and stolen bases despite missing eight games this season. Hull was a standout in the outfield for the Cobras hitting .330 while also going 9-6 with a 2.79 ERA on the rubber.
Ali Kimble, the Region 24 Tournament MVP and All-Region selection, was a 2nd team selection as both a pitcher and outfielder. The freshman lead the Cobra pitching staff with a 13-5 record and a 2.55 ERA. When not pitching, she hit .309 playing mainly in left field. Elizabeth Sprague was the 2nd team selection at both first base and as the designated hitter. The hard hitting sophomore hit ,369 with 7 home runs and 41 runs batted in. Her two home runs against ICC in the Region 24 title game helped propel the Cobras to the title and on to the National Championships. Finally, third baseman Raeshel Braden also earned 2nd team honors. The hard nosed freshman hit .396 and had a team 9 home runs to go along with 51 RBI helping her earn All- Conference and All-Region recognition.
Heartland's Danielle Burge was named M-WAC Player of the Year while her teammate Kate Mayes was Freshman of the Year. DACC pitcher Brooke Jordan was the Pitcher of the Year while Lincoln Land Head Coach John Marsaglia was named the conference Coach of the Year.
Parkland will open NJCAA D-2 National play on Thursday at 11:30 against Des Moines Area CC in Clinton, Mississippi.
Parkland Softball Earns #6 Seed @ D-2 Softball National Championship
After a year off, the Parkland College Softball team will return to the D-2 Softball National Championship, earning the #6 seed in the tournament. The Cobras (42-18) will face Iowa champion #11 Des Moines Area CC (40-19) in an opening round game Thursday in Clinton, Mississippi. With a victory, PC would play the winner of #3 Jones Co. MS. (42-9) and #14 Delaware Tech (35-3) at 3:30 on Thursday. A defeat would send PC into a 1:30 game against the loser of that same contest. It marks the 8th trip to Nationals for the Cobras since 2001, with their highest finish being 2nd on three separate occasions. This is the first time for Nationals in Mississippi after Bloomington-Normal had hosted the event the previous six years.
Opening Round Games
9:30 am
Game 1: #1 LSU-Eunice (53-9) vs #16 East Central Mo. (28-30)
Game 2: #8 Black Hawk (32-15) vs #9 Muskegon Mi. (42-10)
Game 3: #4 Kankakee (50-9) vs #13 Mott Mi. (26-13)
Game 4: #5 Cowley County KS. (46-6) vs #12 Mercyhurst NE Pa. (40-12)
11:30 am
Game 5 #2 Phoenix College Az. (51-15) vs #15 CCBC-Catonsville (44-11)
Game 6: #7 Highland CC KS. (48-11) vs #10 Illinois Central (34-23)
Game 7: #3 Jones County Ms. (42-9) vs #14 Delaware Tech (35-3)
Game 8: #6 Parkland (42-18) vs #11 Des Moines Area CC (40-19)
Parkland #2 Seed for Region 24 Baseball Tournament
The Parkland College Baseball Team earned the #2 seed for the Region 24 Baseball Tournament that will get underway this Thursday at Lanphier Park in Springfield. The Cobras (36-18), ranked #16 in the latest NJCAA poll, will face off against Illinois Central College (16-39) in their first game at 5:00. A win would PC into a Friday night 8:00 game while a lost would put them at 2:00 on Friday afternoon.
The double-elimination tournament is set to conclude on Sunday with the winner advancing to the NJCAA D-2 World Series in Enid, Oklahoma May 26-June 2.
Thursday Pairings:
11:00 am Gm 1: #1 Heartland (47-6) vs #8 Lewis and Clark (16-33)
2:00 Gm 2: #4 Lincoln College (31-20) vs #5 Danville Area (33-17)
5:00 Gm 3: #2 Parkland College (36-18) vs #7 Illinois Central (16-39)
8:00 Gm 4: #3 Lincoln Land (37-17) vs #6 John Wood (34-17)
Friday Match-ups:
11:00 Gm 5: Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2
2:00 Gm 6: Loser Game 3 vs Loser Game 4
5:00 Gm 7: Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2
8:00 Gm 8: Winner Game 3 vs Winner Game 4
Cobras sweep John Wood in home finale
The Parkland College Baseball team used strong starting pitching and timely hitting to sweep a doubleheader from John Wood CC by the scores of 3-2 and 7-3. The pair of games are the final two home games of the year for the Cobras who will travel to John Wood in Quincy tomorrow to end the regular season.
In the opener, the two teams battled to a scoreless tie for 5 innings before the Blazers scored the games first run in the 6th. Back to back two-out singles off Clay Manering got JW on the board but it also seemed to wake up the PC offense. Jake Pewitt started the inning with a base hit and after a failed sacrifice attempt led to an out, Jack Wietlispach and Wes Minton followed with singles to load the bases. Pewitt would race home with the tying run on a wild pitch and Adam Casson broke the tie with a two-run single into right center. JW would score a single run in the top of the 7th but grounded out to short to end the game with the tying run on first.
Clay Manering (6-3) went the distance to earn the win allowing two earned runs on eight hits while striking out nine. Adam Casson paced the offense going 2-3 with 2 RBI while Wes Minton also had two hits for the victorious Cobras.
The Cobra made sure they would not need a late rally in game two as they scored seven times in the first two innings to take control of the game early. After Zach Hall retired the Blazers in order in the top of the 1st, PC would use a four-run inning to jump on top. With one out Wietlispach walked, Wes Minton singled and Casson made it 1-0 with an RBI single. Bobby Burns and Joey Migliaccio followed with RBI singles of their own and the final run came home on a Nolan Wilson sacrifice fly to center. PC would score three more times in the 2nd with Migliaccio driving in a pair and Wilson chasing home another run on ground ball to second. Meanwhile PC starter Zach Hall was setting down the Blazers allowing just 1 run on 5 hits in six innings of work to improve to (6-3) on the season. Brian Krolikowski and Mark Hode worked the final three innings to preserve the win. Casson came up big again for the Cobra offense with 3 hits and 2 runs scored. Jake Pewitt also had three hits while Migliaccio, Minton, and Landon Weitekamp all had two.
The wins move PC to (35-17 25-5) while John Wood falls to (33-16 14-14). PC can earn a share of the M-WAC title if they sweep JWCC on Saturday. A loss in either game would mean Heartland would earn the title outright.
Game 1:
JW 000 001 1 2 8 0
PC 000 003 X 3 6 2
Alexis Pena, Alexander Pena (6) and Bunch
Manering and Burns
W-Manering (6-3) L- Alexa Pena (5-2)
Game 2:
Jw 000 001 101 3 8 2
PC 430 000 00X 7 15 3
Kurfman, Burge (2), Martin (5), Grossing (8) Bastert (9) and Bunch
Hall, Krolikowski (7), Hode (9) and Wilson
W-Hall (6-3) L-Kurfman (3-2)
Softball earns trip to Nationals!!!
The #11 Parkland College Softball team went a perfect 4-0 this weekend en route to knocking off Illinois Central College 8-3 to win the Region 24 title. With the win, PC earns a trip to Nationals which will be held for the first time in Clinton, Mississippi, May 17-19.
In the championship game, the Cobras faced off against ICC who had eliminated top-seed Heartland 4-0 earlier in the day. The Cougars scored a run in the first to grab the early lead before Elizabeth Sprague tied it with a towering home run in the 2nd. ICC would tally single runs in the 3rd and the 4th before the Cobras answered with a run of their own in the 4th. Dayna McNutt drew a one-out walk, Sprague followed with a single, and Tana Rentschler roped an RBI single to make it 3-2.
After Cobra reliever Ali Kimble retired ICC in order in the 5th, PC would take the lead for good. With one out Kelsey Kniepmann singled and Macy Shupe doubled into the corner in right. It looked like ICC might escape unscathed after an infield pop out but McNutt stroked a two-run single to give PC the lead and Sprague hit her 2nd home run of the game, this one a two-run shot to make it 6-3. The Cobras would tack on two more runs in the 6th as Kniepmann delivered a two-run double after Kimble and Megan DeWerff had reached base on singles. Kimble (14-5) would shut the Cougars down the rest of the way to earn the win working 3.2 innings allowing just three hits and no runs, helping her earn Region 24 Tournament MVP honors for picking up the win in three of the four victories. Kniepmann also was named All-Tournament going 3-4 in the championship game along with teammates Elizabeth Sprague who was 3-3 with 2 HR and 3 RBI and Macy Shupe who had a fine tournament at the plate and in the field. Also after the game Kimble, Kniepmann and fellow freshman Raeshel Braden were named First Team All-Region in a vote of Region 24 coaches.
Coach Chuck Clutts also was recognized as Region 24 Coach of the Year guiding the Cobras to a (42-18) record and their 8th trip to the NJCAA Softball National Tournament. With their 2nd Place finish, ICC still has a chance to join PC at Nationals but must travel to Patrick Henry CC in Martinsville, Virginia next Friday and Saturday for a best 2 out of 3 series with the winner earning a bid to Mississippi.
ICC 101 100 0 3 9 0
PC 010 142 X 8 11 3
Maloney, Ralph, Bottens, and Nelson
Hull, Kimble (4) and McNutt
W-Kimble L-Maloney
HR-Sprague (PC) 2
Parkland Golf slips on Day 2 of Regional, fail to qualify team or individuals for Nationals
Much like the wet weather that dominated the day, the Cobras hopes for a trip to the NJCAA National Golf Finals were washed away as they struggled to a 6th place finish at the Region 24 Golf Tournament at Stone Wolf Golf Course in Fairview Heights.
PC, which entered the day in 3rd place, never got untracked firing disappointing rounds of 322 and 324. The scores were especially surprising since the team had played so well in the rain the previous Monday at the Parkland Invite. Today was a different story as only David Keenan with rounds of 73-78 and Dan Patkunas with a 79 would break 80. Meanwhile first round runner-up Lewis Martin who fired a 72 on Sunday slipped out of contention with scores of 82 and 86.
Monday's play featured big comebacks for both the Team and Individual champions. Pre-tourney favorite John A Logan found themselves staring up at the field after a 320 on Monday but carded impressive rounds of 298 and 300, with all 10 of their rounds scoring under 80. Their 54 hole total of 918 (320-298-300) was more than enough to pass first round leader Rend Lake 924 (302-311-311) to win the title. Despite slipping to 2nd, Rend Lake still qualified three individuals for Nationals.
Maybe even more impressive then John A Logan's run to the title was individual medalist Aaron Bravick of Lincoln College. The Lynx star was nowhere to be found on the leader board after an opening round 83 but came back with the lowest round of the tournament a 69 in the morning round, and a 72 in the afternoon to finish at 224. He edged out Bryce Doughty (225) by just one stroke and Rend Lake's Zach Holland (226) and ICC's Austin Worner (226) by just two strokes. Worner along with Bravick of Lincoln and the Rend Lake trio of Holland, Josh Harp (227), and Jared Paddick (229) earned the five individual spots to go along with team winner JAL.
Final Team Standings
1. John A Logan 320-298-300 918
2. Rend Lake 302-311-311 924
3. Illinois Central 309-316-316 941
4. Lewis & Clark 322-315-316 953
5. Lincoln College 336-311-305 954
6. Parkland 313-322-324 959
7. Danville 336-340-349 1025
8. Kaskaskia 376-340-341 1057
9. Spoon River WD WD
Top 10 Finishers (All-Region 24) Highlighted note individual qualifiers
1. Aaron Bravick (Lincoln) 83-69-72 224
2. Bryce Doughty (JAL) 78-74-73 225
3. Zach Holland (RL) 71-79-76 226
Austin Worner (ICC) 74-77-75 226
5. Josh Harp (RL) 73-80-74 227
6. Jared Paddick (RL) 78-72-79 229
7. Colin Robinson (JAL) 80-75-75 230 8. Tucker Guisewhite (JAL) 80-76-76 232
9. David Keenan (PC) 82-73-78 233
Clark Spalding (L&C) 80-75-78 233
Parkland Scores
1. David Keenan 82-73-78 233
2. Lewis Martin 72-82-86 240
3. Brady Welsh 80-80-83 243
4. Dan Patkunas 79-91-79 249
5. David Hermes 91-87-84 262