Updated NJCAA Region XI Division I Softball Tournament Bracket
West Burlington, IA—The Marshalltown Community College Softball team earned its first-ever Division I Region XI Tournament victory on Friday morning as the No. 5 seed Tigers defeated No. 4 seed Southeastern Community College 5-1. The Tigers fell to top-seeded Indian Hills Community College 6-1 in the double-elimination tournament.
After defeating Southeastern in the tournament opener, the Tigers fell to Indian Hills in the afternoon matchup. MCC will now take on No. 3 seed Muscatine Community College after the Cardinals lost to No. 2 seed Iowa Western Community College but defeated Southeastern in the elimination game. The Tigers and Muscatine will play at 11:00 AM Saturday morning in an elimination contest.
The Tigers entered the day as the lowest seed in the tournament, having split the season series with Southeastern, the Region XI Tournament host. MCC struck first in the game as Kari Smith (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown) singled in the first inning and later came around the score on an error from the Blackhawks.
Starting pitcher Paige Taylor (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Terry Fox) helped keep the Tigers in the lead with dominant pitching through the first three innings. The MCC offense gave Taylor run support in the third inning as Taylor Anderson (San Antonio, TX/Churchill) delivered a three-run home run to put MCC up 4-0. The home run was Anderson's third in her last five games.
The Blackhawks got their only run of the game in the fourth, but Taylor managed to leave multiple runners on base down the stretch. Raini Hilmer's (Dysart, IA/Union) seeing-eye single in the seventh inning provided an insurance run to score Jordan Carter (Sigourney, IA/Sigourney).
Southeastern loaded the bases in the seventh inning, but Taylor retired the final three batters to advance the Tigers.
In game two, Indian Hills jumped out to a 1-0 lead but the Tigers answered with a run in the fourth. The Warriors outlasted the Tigers down the stretch, scoring five runs over the next three innings to earn the victory.
Live video of tomorrow's game will be provided: LIVE STREAM
