Bryant & Stratton College softball wins Region 4 Championship
MOLINE, Ill. - The Bryant & Stratton College softball team took the field in a must-win game on May 12 and faced Kankakee Community College, who handed it a loss on May 11. The Bobcats earned a chance to play in the NJCAA DII World Series when they defeated Madison College in five innings. Winning that game made it the winningest season in program history, but it had a bigger goal: making it to nationals.
The game started quietly, with both teams recording scoreless innings through the first two innings. The bottom of the second was highlighted by Lizzy Wesoloski, who picked off a runner at first base. Wesoloski would make an impact once again and drove in Madelyn Birling, who singled to begin the inning. Joscelyn Bennett followed Wesoloski's double up with an RBI single, and Nora Statz scored, giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. Both teams recorded two more scorelelss innings and Wesoloski picked off her second runner of the game in the top of the fourth.
The Bobcats extended thier lead in the top of the sixth thanks to a home run by Kayla Roidt.
The Bobcats continued to battle, and they held the Cavaliers at bay behind the arm of Holly Lowenberg. Lowenberg finished with a complete game shutout, struck out five batters and allowed just four hits. It's the second time in program history that the Bobcats will play in the national tournament. They'll find out who they play on Tuesday.
"This is hard. And everyone thinks it's easy, and it's not," head coach Dean Herman said. "It takes a lot of work, and it takes a lot of the girls wanting to buy in for 10 months, and they bought in for 10 months, and now we get rewarded by going to nationals."
