The North Platte Community College Knights softball team will travel to Hastings to play the Hastings College Junior Varsity Lady Broncos onWednesday, April 15.

The Knights are 16 – 20 on the season.  They are hitting .336 as a team with 34 home runs, which is 11^th in the nation amongst National Junior College Athletic Association Division II schools.

The Knights are led offensively by Sara Villalobos, with a .442 batting average.  Villalobos also had hit six home runs, and batted in 29 runs. Villalobos leads the team in hits with 50, runs scored with 30 and an on base percentage of .504.

Sara Runia leads the Knights with eight home runs, eight doubles and a .729 slugging percentage.  Runia is hitting .442, has scored 21 runs, has 46 hits and has 26 runs batted in.

Brittney Odum leads the team in runs batted in with 31.  Odum is hitting .404, has seven home runs and seven doubles.

In the ring, the Knights are led by Baileigh Oleson with a 3.19 earned run average.  Oleson is 6 – 8 on the year, has struck out 53 and has one save on the season.  Shannon Lieber is 8 – 9 on the season with an earned run average of 3.57 and has 61 strike outs.

There are no available statistics for the Lady Broncos.  Former North Platte High School Lady Bulldog Ashton Hernandez is a pitcher for the Lady Broncos.

Hernandez in the prior meeting against the Knights pitched six innings, allowed nine runs, five earned runs and struck out two.

Game times are at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

The North Platte Community College Knights softball team clinched the top seed in the upcoming National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II tournament, by sweeping the Southeast Community College Lady Storm in a double header 13 – 1 and 12 – 4.

The Knights improve to 16 – 20 and 7 – 1 in region play.  By clinching the top seed, they will receive a first round bye.

In the first game the Knights jumped out early by scoring five runs in the first inning.  The first run was caused by a bases loaded walk to Shannon Lieber scoring Jessica Jarvis.  Shelby Clark and Baileigh Oleson each had runs batted in during the first inning.  Brittney Odum had two runs batted in during the inning on a double.

The Knights scored six runs in the third inning, highlighted by Odum and Caroline Motis, both of whom doubled, as well as a three-run home run by Jazmine Chang to make the score 11 – 0.

Sara Villalobos hit a two-run home run scoring Motis to make the score 13 – 0.

The Lady Storm scored their only run in the fifth when Destiny Worthey singled and scored on a single by Alexis Graewe.

Lieber pitched the five inning complete game, allowing only one run on five hits.

In game two, the Knights scored first on a solo home run by Lieber in the second inning.

The Lady Storm stormed back with their only four runs of the game in the top half of the third to take a 4 – 1 lead.  They opened the inning with Graewe reaching on an error.  Megan Hartman and Breanna Johnson had back to back ground rule doubles.  Johnson scored on a two-run home run by Kristin Thomas.

The Knights tied the score in the fourth on a two-run home run by Oleson, scoring Shelby Clark.  The Knights took the lead in the fifth inning with five runs including Villalobos’ second home run of the day which scored Jarvis.

In the sixth, Sara Runia hit a two-run home run to increase the lead to 11- 4.  The final run of the game came when Oleson singled to score Clark to end the game.

Oleson pitched the complete game allowing four runs on five hits.  She struck out nine Lady Storm hitters.

The Knights are in action next on Wednesday, April 15, when they travel to play the Hastings College Junior Varsity Lady Broncos in a double header.  Game times are at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. CDT.

The North Platte Community College Knights softball team split a double header against the Central Community College Lady Raiders, losing the first game 12 – 3 and winning the night cap 8 – 6 in a key National Junior College Region IX Division II match up

In the first game the Lady Raiders scored six runs in the first inning highlighted by a double by Janey Pasold.  The Lady Raider added two runs in the second on a home run by Morgan Uldrich and a single by Blake Kappington which scored Logan Zeleny.

The Knights scored in their half of the second when Brittney Odum doubled and was batted in by Jessica Jarvis.

The Lady Raiders came back with three runs in the bottom of the third on home runs by Kira Ramirez and  Jayd Roberts to make the score 11 – 1. The Knights scored two runs in the fourth on a single by Sara Villalobos which scored Odum and Carol Motis.

The Lady Raiders added a run in the top of the fifth when Ramirez singled and then scored on an error.

In game two, the Knights jumped out to an early lead.  Mehana Chang homered in the first to give the Kinights a 1 – 0 lead. Sara Runia scored on a fieler’s choice by Tara Crouch to take a 2 – 0 lead.

The Knights made it 6 – 0 in the second on runs by Motis, Jarvis, Chang and Runia.

The Lady Raiders started to come back in the fourth by scoring two runs by Dittmer and Alissa Edwards to pull within four runs.

The Knights added some insurance runs with runs by Jarvis and Crouch.

The Knights improve to 14-20 on the season and 5 – 1 in region play.  The Lady Raiders are 14 – 17 on the season and 5 – 3 in region play.

The Knights are back in action tomorrow when they face Southeast Community College.  The game times are at 2 pm and 4 pm.

The games may be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 or on www.northplattepost.com.   They will also be live streamed on www.coachesaid.com.

The North Platte Community College Knights softball team will play host to National Junior College Athletic Region IX Division II foes Central Community College and Southeast Community College at Wayne Dowhower Memorial Softball Complex this weekend.

The Knights, 13 – 19 overall and 4 – 0 in the region are led in hitting by Sara Villalobos with a .440 batting average. Villalobos also has four home runs, six doubles, 23 runs batted in, 11 walks, a .504 on base percentage and a .620 slugging percentage.

The Knights are 12^th in the nation in Division II in home runs with a total of 27 home runs led by Sara Runia and Brittney Odum with seven each.  Shannon Lieber has five home runs and Mehana Chang has three.

Odum leads the Knights in runs batted in with 27.  Chang has 14 stolen bases to lead the team.

In the ring, Lieber has a 5.38 earned run average with 56 strikeouts.  Baileigh Oleson has a 5.38 earned run average with 40 strike outs.

On Friday, April 10, the Knights will host the Central Community College Lady Raiders in a double header.

The Lady Raiders are 13 – 16 on the season and 4 – 2 in Region IX Division II play.  They are led offensively by Logan Zeleny. Zeleny is hitting .405 with one double and four home runs. She also has 11 runs and 22 runs batted in.  Shelbi Dittmer leads the Lady Raiders in home runs with five and runs batted in with 23.

In the ring, the Lady Raiders rely on four pitchers for a team earned run average of 4.38.  Jayd Roberts has a 3.79 earned run average with 30 strikeouts in 10 appearances.  Morgan Uldrich is 4 – 4 with a 4.09 earned run average in 11 appearances and has 56 strikeouts.  Brooke Behnk has a 3.94 earned run average in 11 appearances.  Behnk has struck out 32.  The fourth pitcher is Dittmer, who leads the team in appearances with 12.  Dittmer has struck out 28 and has an earned run average of 5.66.

The games Friday against Central will be at 3 p.m. and 5p.m. CDT

On Saturday, the Southeast Community College Lady Storm come to town for a doubleheader.  The Lady Storm are 13 – 27 on the season and 0 – 6 in region play.

They are led by Megan Hartman offensively.  Hartman has a .389 batting average, five home runs, 26 runs batted in, 16 doubles and a .626 slugging percentage.   Three other Lady Storm players have four home runs on the season.  They are Alexis Grawe, Kristin Thomas and Ally Vrbas.

Pitching for the Lady Storm is led by Hartman. Who has a 7 – 9 record with a 5.96 earned run average.  Hartman has struck out 131 hitters in 22 appearances.

Former North Platte High School Lady Bulldog Nicole Zelinski is another pitcher for the Lady Storm.  Zelinski has a 9.00 earned run average with 26 strike outs.

The games Friday against Central will be at 3 p.m. and 5p.m. The games Saturday against Southeast will be at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. All times are  CDT.

All four games will determine the seedings for the upcoming region tournament held in North Platte on April 24 – 26.  The number one seed will receive a first round bye.

All games can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 or www.northplattepost.com.  They will also be live streamed at www.coachesaid.com.

The North Platte Community College Softball Team will be having a “Pink Out” night when they play McCook Community College on April 17 at the Wayne Dowhower Memorial Softball Complex at 5 p.m and 7 p.m. CDT.

The “pink out” night will benefit research on breast cancer.

Shirts are available to purchase for $20.00 for sizes youth small to adult extra-large.  For larger sizes add $2.00 for XXL and $3.00 for XXXL.   All proceeds will go to the Callahan Cancer Center.

The shirts must be ordered before April 10.

They can be ordered by contacting Knights Head Coach Janelle Higgins, Knights softball players or downloading the form at www.npccknights.com.

The North Platte Community College Knights softball team swept a doubleheader over the Hastings College Junior Varsity Lady Broncos by scores of 9 – 4 and 9 – 6 at the Wayne Dowhower Memorial Softball Complex on Tuesday.

In game one, the Knights jumped out to an early 2 – 0 lead on a single by Jessica Jarvis, a double by Sara Villalobos and a single by Tara Crouch in the first inning.  The Knights added to their lead in the third when Crouch doubled to bring in Shannon Lieber and Mehana Chang to make the score 4 – 0.

The Lady Broncos were held at bay during the first three innings by Lieber.  Lieber during the first three innings allowed no runs and no hits.  She had two strikeouts and four ground balls hit back to her for four assists.

In the fourth the Lady Broncos got on the scoreboard by scoring three runs in the inning.  Alexis Grimmett drove in Denae Anderson on a double. Alexis Ferguson drove in Grimmett and Allie Matousek on a double

to cut the Knight lead to one, 4 – 3.

The Knights added to their lead in the fourth by scoring three runs.  Jarvis reached on an error, Villalobos walked and Lieber walked to load the bases.  Sara Runia singled to drive in Jarvis and Villalobos. Lieber scored on a single by Chang.

The Knights added two more runs to make the score 9 -3.  Caroline Motis singled, advanced to second and then on to third on two passed balls.  Motis scored on a single by Brittney Odum.  Odum scored on a single by Villalobos.

The Lady Broncos scored one run in the sixth on a home run by Grimmitt.

Lieber pitched seven innings, allowed four runs on six hits.  She struck out seven batters for the win.

In game two, the Lady Broncos started the scoring by scoring two in the top of the first. Denae Anderson scored on a sacrifice fly by Jamie Oligmueller. Matousek scored on a single by Grimmett.

Villalobos reached base on an error and scored in the bottom of the first on a double by Runia.

The score remained at 2 – 1 until the bottom of the third when Lieber scored on a ground out to the second baseman by Odum to make the score tied at two.

Motis scored in the fourth to give the Knights the lead on a ground out by Jarvis.  Villalobos doubled to score Tara Crouch to take the lead 4 – 2.

The Lady Broncos retake the lead 6 – 4 on runs by Oligmueller, Ferguson, Katie Johnson  and Maddie Gudenkauf in the top of the fifth.

Chang homered to lead off the bottom of the fifth to cut the Lady Bronco lead  to 6 – 5.  The Knights take the lead 7 – 6 on a double by Jarvis to score Odum and Motis.

The Knights scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to seal the game on solo home runs by Odum and Runia.

Runia pitched 4.2 innings and allowed six runs.  Baileigh Oleson came in and pitched a hitless fifth, sixth and seven innings to get the win

The Knights move to 13 – 19 on the season,

The Knights have a break and will not take the field again until they host Region IX Division II foes Central Community College on April 10 and Southeast Community College on April 11.

The games against Central are at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m..  The games against Southeast are at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.  All times are CDT.

The games can be heard on ESPN 1410 radio and on the web at www.northplattepost.com. They will be live streamed on www.coachesaid.com.