NORTHEAST RALLY COMES UP SHORT SUNDAY AGAINST NO. 20 IOWA LAKES

NORFOLK, Neb. – The Northeast Community College softball team hosted No. 20 Iowa Lakes Community College in a doubleheader Sunday at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Norfolk to wrap the four-game conference series. The Lakers defeated the Hawks 4-2 in Game 1 and took Game 2 by a final score of 16-11.

Northeast (5-13, 0-8 ICCAC) had a great effort in the circle from Emilee Spitz (Columbus, Neb.) in Game 1 but struggled offensively to push runners in scoring position across the plate. Mia Eickhoff (Redondo Beach, Calif.) blasted her second home run in as many days in the bottom of the third inning and Abby Balfour (Nebraska City, Neb.) added a homer of her own in the bottom of the seventh inning for the two Hawks runs in the first contest of the day.

Game 2 was a scoring frenzy as the two teams totaled 27 runs in a matchup that was roughly an hour longer than an ordinary Region XI softball clash. Eickhoff put the first run of the showdown on the board again for Northeast with an RBI triple in the bottom of the first frame. The Lakers added a few runs in the top of the fifth frame before the Hawks went to work at the plate.

With two outs in the fifth inning Morgan Kleinschmit (Wausa, Neb.) belted her first long ball at home this season to cut the Lakers lead to 11-8. The lineup turned over and the next batter to step into the box was Alexis Folks (Arvada, Colo.). The same result as the previous at-bat occurred as Folks made it back-to-back jacks for Northeast. The Hawks tallied six different runs in the fifth frame, but the magic would end there as Iowa Lakes would hang on to their lead in the final two innings.

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head softball coach Iris Woodhead on the big fifth inning from her squad in Game 2:

"Energy is everything," Woodhead said. "The energy was definitely there. I love the fact that we are able to rally behind those good team at-bats. There were some home runs, but we didn't come out looking to hit home runs. When rallies like that happen and we have good team at-bats it's a cool thing to be a part of."

Woodhead on how her team can score some victories Tuesday in North Platte:

"It's all about warm-up," Woodhead said. "We talk about this a lot as a coaching staff to our players. If you warm-up well that just gets you feeling good. If we can have a good warm-up I think Tuesday is going to be a good day for us."

UP NEXT:

The Hawks will travel to North Platte Community College for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Tuesday in North Platte, Nebraska.

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