KALAMAZOO, MI – The Ancilla College softball team split with Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) Western Conference second place team Kalamazoo Valley Community College, winning 4-1 and losing 11-5.
The Chargers jumped out early in game one, when Morgan Lippens singled with one out in the inning. Brittany Probasco followed up with another single to move her to second. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch before Tehya Henry’s sacrifice fly scored Lippens. Kalamazoo Valley tied the game in the bottom of the fifth before Ancilla exploded for three in the top of the seventh. Abbey Renner went the distance, scattering eight hits, striking out three, and allowing no earned runs for the victory. Lippens ended the game with three hits and two RBI.
A four run first inning in game two got Ancilla off to the right start, but the host Cougars took the lead for good by plating seven runs in the bottom of the fourth. KVCC added three in the fifth and one in the sixth before Ancilla scored one more in the seventh on a Henry solo home run. Renner ended the game with two hits and Henry finished with two RBI, both team leaders in game two.
The win secured a birth in the NJCAA Region XII Tournament for the Chargers, which is held May 11-13 in Columbus, Ohio. Ancilla still has six regular season games remaining, which will determine their seed in the tournament. They travel to NJCAA #14 Muskegon Community College tomorrow before returning home for Sophomore Day on Saturday, April 30 at 1:00 p.m. Sophomore Day festivities will begin around 12:30 p.m. This is the earliest in the regular season that the Chargers have clinched a spot in the post season and is the sixth time in the sixteen year history of the program that Ancilla has qualified for Region XII play.
“This is an exciting day for this team and our program,” commented Ancilla coach Scott Reese. “These young ladies have been working hard to get us back to this level. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish beyond this point.”
