Softball Clinches Playoff Spot

The ACC softball team closed out its regular season by clinching a berth in the NJCAA District 12 tournament which leads to a bid in the national tournament for the winning team.

The Lumberjacks took one of four games from visiting Mid Michigan College, losing both on Saturday by 15-5 and 8-0 scores and splitting on Sunday with a 10-3 win followed by an 8-1 loss.

Kirsten Neubecker hit two more home runs in the four-game series and drove in seven runs, batting .455 with a 1.000 slugging percentage. She is tired for the MCCAA lead in home runs with 11 in all games and has 40 RBI in conference games, best in the MCCAA.

Kenna Tippman batted .556 and scored five times. Alaina Neubecker batted .364 with a .417 on base percentage. Dakota Rachow had two doubles and scored three runs.

In the circle, Taylor Krentz picked up the pitching victory in game 3, limiting the Lakers to only two earned runs in a seven inning complete game.

ACC finished the regular season 12-13 in the conference and 15-21 overall, good for third in the six-team MCCAA Northern Conference. Mid Michigan is currently 14-7 in the league with five games left to go, clinching second place, while Grand Rapids Community College is atop the league with a 23-2 mark. 

The top three teams from the conference face off with the leading teams from the other three MCCAA conferences as well as the top community college teams from Ohio with play beginning in Marysville, Michigan on Thursday, May 8.

ACC plays at noon against Edison State of Piqua, Ohio. The Chargers are 20-8 overall and 8-2 in the Ohio Community College Athletic Association.

If ACC wins that game, they will move on to a 4:00 Thursday game against Lansing Community College (18-2, 26-18).  

Play continues on Friday, May 9 in the double elimination tourney. The Lumberjacks will play at either noon or 2:00 p.m. depending on their Thursday results. The semifinals and finals will take place on Saturday, May 10.