OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – In their final non-conference double-header of the season, the Johnson County Community College softball team swept Iowa Western Community College 9-5 and 11-4 on Wednesday afternoon.
The Lady Cavaliers improved to 19-10 overall and have just two more conference double-headers remaining before postseason play begins. They travel to Fort Scott Community College Tuesday, April 23 and finish out at Hesston College on Thursday, April 25. Johnson County has a two-game lead over Highland Community College for first place in the Kansas Jayhawk Division II Conference race. If they win three of their four remaining games they will secure the programs 15th conference championship, and the first since 2014.
In the opener, the Lady Cavaliers jumped out to an early 6-1 lead after two innings, scoring three runs in first and second. After the top of the sixth inning, the Reivers had closed the gap to 7-4, but sophomore DP Kelsy Orender added two more insurance runs with a two-run blast over the centerfield fence for a 9-4 lead.
Orender was 3-for-3 in the game and drove in five of the team's nine runs. Her other two hits were a single and a double.
Freshman centerfielder Emily Fox had a single and a double and drove in the other two runs.
Freshman right-hander Kyleigh Lay picked up the victory. She pitched five innings, allowing four runs with eight strikeouts. Freshman right-hander Hallie Henderson pitched final two innings to pick up her first save of the season.
In the second game, Johnson County scored at least a run in each of the first five innings and nine of their 10 hits in the game went for extra bases, five doubles and four home runs.
One of the big hitters was freshman Lenae Salinas. She got on base all four times at the plate with three hits and a walk. Her first two hits were home runs. Salinas hit a solo shot in the first and a two-run bomb in the second. She is the 19th player in program history to hit two home runs in a game. Her other hit was a double.
The other two homers were belted by Orender and freshman third baseman Alli Heiman. Fox and sophomore Jordyn Clough each a double, and sophomore Kerrigan Dixon pounded out two doubles. Dixon, Heiman also drove in two runs. Fox, Orender and Clough each drove in one.
Dixon was also solid in the circle. She logged six innings and allowed four runs, none earned with five strikeouts. With the win she improved to 11-3 on the season.
Orender pitched final inning and did not allow a hit.