OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The No. 16-ranked Johnson County softball team improved 12-9 on the season this week after sweeping Dawson on Tuesday and splitting a double header with Iowa Western Thursday.
JCCC defeated Dawson 9-0 to open the series and completed sweep with 16-3 pounding. The Cavaliers lost the first game 7-2 at Iowa Western but rebounded with a 11-8 victory in extra innings to secure the series split.
In the opener with Dawson, freshman outfielder Janelle Lang, sophomore second baseman Jaylee Jefferson and freshman outfielder Katie Kolarik each drove in two runs. Lang had a two-run double. Jefferson had a single and a triple and Kolarik blasted a two-run home run.
Freshman right-hander Elsa Carrillo was solid in the circle, scattering five hits with no runs and four strikeouts over five innings.
In the second game 10 of JCCC's 11 hits were doubles, including two by freshman catcher Maddie Murray and three from the reigning NJCAA D-II Player of the Year Aspen Burgardt. Both Murray and Burgardt drove in four runs. Freshman DP Lily Hans and Kolarik collected three RBI apiece and Jefferson drove in two runs.
Sophomore right-hander Jalin Lavers earned the complete-game victory. She allowed three runs, two earned, off five hits and five strikeouts.
In Thursday's opener against Iowa Western, the Reivers got off to a hot start scoring all seven runs in their first three innings. Johnson County managed to cut the deficit to five with two runs driven in by Jefferson in the top of the fourth, but that would be the end of their scoring.
In the final game, Johnson County again found themselves staring at a large deficit, trailing by seven runs after two innings.
The Cavaliers fought back late in the game with three runs in the sixth, four more in the seventh to tie the game and three in the eighth to pull out the extra inning victory.
Kolarik belted a two-run homer. Burgardt went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Sophomore shortstop Izzy Carter had two hits and two RBI, Jefferson was 4-for-4 with an RBI and Lang had three hits, an RBI and two runs scored.
Carrillo relieved starter Lavers after an inning and a third and shut down the Reivers over the next 6.2 innings. She allowed no runs and just three hits while striking out a season high eight batters.
Johnson County will return to the diamond next Friday, March 21, when they host Iowa Central in a double header. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.