The North Platte Community College Knights Softball team will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa May 1 – 2 to play the Kirkwood Community College Lady Eagles for the National Junior College Athletic Association District G championship.
The Knights, (19 – 27) won the Region IX title with a win over Central Community College 5 – 4 on Saturday to advance to the district championship.
The Knights are led in hitting by Sara Villalobos with a batting average of .433 and runs scored with 37. Villalobos has seven home runs, 32 runs batted in, nine doubles and a slugging percentage of .645.
Brittney Odum, along with Sara Runia lead the Knights in home runs with 10. Odum is batting .400 with eight doubles, 41 runs batted in, 33 runs and a slugging percentage of .671. Runia is batting .388 with eight doubles, 32 runs batted in, 25 runs scored and a slugging percentage of .672.
In the ring, Baileigh Oleson is 8 – 11 on the season with a 3.16 earned run average. Oleson has struck out 70 batters which is a 4.03 strikeouts per game ratio. Shannon Lieber is 9 – 11 and a 3.94 earned run average. Lieber has struck out 64, which is a 3.71 strikeouts per game.
The Knights are 12th in the nation in home runs in NJCAA Division II with 43.
Kirkwood is rated eighth in the country in the latest NJCAA Division II poll with a record of 43 – 8. The Lady Eagles defeated Southwestern Community College 17 – 3 to win the Region XI title.
The Lady Eagles have a powerful offense leading the nation as a team in runs scored with 523, doubles with 130, home runs with 109, runs batted in with 486 and stolen bases with 165. They are fourth in the nation in team batting average at.414.
Offensively they are led by Chasney Jenkins who is hitting .550 on the season and has 66 stolen bases. Jenkins has nine home runs, 20 doubles, 39 runs batted in, 85 runs scored and a .893 slugging percentage.
Lexie Biehl leads the Lady Eagles with 25 home runs. Biehl is hitting .457 with 13 doubles, 80 runs batted in, 65 runs scored and a slugging percentage of 1.053.
Other Lady Eagles to watch are Brooke Prior, who has 18 home runs, a .486 batting average, 16 doubles and a .979 slugging percentage. Alicia Crivaro has 12 home runs, a .380 batting average, 11 doubles and a .737 slugging percentage.
In the ring, the Lady Eagles have a team earned run average of 2.02. Nicolette Simpson is 18 – 5 with a 1.80 earned run average. Simpson has struck out 123 batters and has given up only five home runs. Prior is 13 – 0 with a 1.89 earned run average. She has struck out 101 batters and allowed seven home runs.
It is a best of three series. Game times are at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Friday, May 1. If a third game is necessary, it will be played at noon on Saturday, May 2.
ESPN 1410 radio will be broadcasting the games. They can also be heard on www.northplattepost.com. There will be no video live streaming for these games.