NORMAL, Ill. – Parkland College Softball (46-7, 20-4 MWAC) has been crowned Champion of the Mid-West Athletic Conference for the first time since 2017. The Cobras finished two games ahead of Lincoln Land, which finished 18-6 in conference action. In Saturday's regular season finale, Parkland split with Heartland CC (24-21, 12-12), losing game one, 9-11, and then winning game two, 11-3.
The Cobras will now turn their attention to NJCAA Region 24 tournament play, in which they have earned the No.1 seed. Parkland will open up with a best-of-three series against No. 8 seed Lewis & Clark CC in Champaign, Ill. Games one and two will be played on Tuesday, May 4, with the first pitch of game one scheduled for 2:00 pm. Game three, if necessary, would be played either Wednesday, May 5, or Thursday, May 6.
Game 1: Parkland- 9, Heartland- 11 (7 innings)
Parkland scored 1 in the second when
Anna Walker (2-2, 2B, 3B, 5 RBI) scored on a
Casy Mandrell (RBI) ground-out. Heartland responded with 2 in the bottom half, 1 more in the third, and 4 in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead after four full innings.
In the fifth, the Cobras bounced back with 4 of their own off of a 1-run double by
Summer Johnson (1-1, 2B, RBI) and a 3-run double by Walker. The gap was now 2. The Hawks plated 1 in the bottom half, but Parkland scored 4 more in the sixth, taking a 9-8 lead, this time on a
Reagan Cheely (1-3, 2B, RBI) double, a Walker triple, and a passed ball.
Heartland punched right back, scoring the final 3 runs in the bottom half to retake the lead by 2. The Cobras were unable to get a runner on base in the seventh.
The Hawks outhit Parkland, 13-9, and the Cobras committed 5 errors.
Chayse Ramey (22-3) took the loss for Parkland. She went six innings, allowing 11 runs on 13 hits and striking out seven.
Game 2: Parkland- 11, Heartland- 3 (7 innings)
After two scoreless innings, Parkland put 2 on the board when
Isabel Shafer (3-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) homered and
Lizzy Davis (4-4, 3B, 2 RBI) hit a run-scoring triple. Heartland got one back in the fourth, but singles by
Anna Walker (3-4, 3 RBI) and
Lauren Kavanagh (1-4, RBI) put the Cobras up, 4-1, after five full innings.
Parkland then began to pull away, scoring 4 in the sixth and 3 in the top of the seventh, extending the lead to 10 runs. The Hawks scored 2 in the bottom half but could not make up the deficit.
Parkland outhit Heartland, 21-8, as
Madison Vogel (3-4, 2B),
Taylor Dugger (2-3), and
Reagan Cheely (2-5, 3B) each contributed multiple hits.
Josie Birch (8-3) picked up the complete-game victory for Parkland. She surrendered three runs on eight hits over seven innings, striking out seven with no walks.
