The Ladyjacks softball team kicked of the season indoors this past weekend at the MonDak Pre-Conference tournament at the Minot Bubble.
DCB started their season off with a 13-0 win Saturday over Williston State College. Freshman pitcher Kassidy Cunningham gave up just an infield single on a game called after three innings due to the time limit. She struck out three and walked just one. DCB pounded out 11 hits and collected 8 walks. Freshman Ladaija Fitzgerald pounded out 3 hits, including a double and triple on her way to a 4 RBI day. Cunningham helped her cause by adding 2 triples.
In Saturday's afternoon game the Ladyjacks had 8 hits against NDSCS, the number 4 ranked team in the NJCAA pre-season poll, but could only manage 1 run. NDSCS defeated the Ladyjacks 6-1 with the same number of hits, but it was the errors that proved costly for DCB. A three error 2nd inning allowed Science to score 4 runs and they never looked back.
Sophomore Kennedy Cunnungham pitched well for her first outing of the year against a tough opponent. "She didn't get any help when she needed it in the second and made only a couple mistakes with location. They jumped on a few pitches over the plate but basically other then the second inning she shut them down pretty well," stated Head Coach Mike Smith. Fitzgerald went 2-2 with another double while freshman Elisa Clay was 2 for 3 and fellow freshman Stephany Ahmed was 2 for 2 with the lone RBI.
Sunday morning the Ladyjacks came out flat against the MonDak's defending champion Dawson Community College Buccaneers. The MonDak's top Division II team pounded the ball early and often on their way to a 16-3 victory. Red-shirt Freshman Randee Charlo started in the circle and was relieved by Kennedy Cunningham. Sophomore Alysha Cantu went 2 for 3 at the plate.
Despite a disappointing game just 90 minutes earlier the Ladyjacks came out of the gates in the tournament's final game ready as they put up five runs in the opening inning on their way to a 11-2 win vs Lake Region State College. Ahmed collected 2 hits and scored 3 runs and stole a base while freshman Savannah Fabro had 2 hits, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Kassidy Cunningham went the distance for DCB allowing 2 unearned runs while striking out 6.
"It was a good start to the season but there are lots of things for us to work on. We hit the ball pretty well and pitched well. We need to shore up our defence and get ready physically for the grind of playing 4 games within a 24 hour period. We will work the next 25 days on trying to become a team that can be consistent. After this weekend we are not there yet, as the scores will show. But we did a lot of things well and made some spectacular plays." Smith.
DCB will play March 1 and 2 at the Dundas Dome south of Minneapolis. Their opponents will be Silver Lake College of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Silver Lake is an NAIA program in their second year of existence.
Check the schedule for more details http://www.dcbjacks.com/sports/sball/2018-19/schedule