Softball @ Indian Hills Community College

Softball Clinics in February

2012-01-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

OTTUMWA --- Indian Hills Community College softball coach Jim Overturf has announced the dates for two youth softball clinics that will be held at IHCC in February.

A softball pitching clinic will be held on Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Tom Arnold Net Center on the IHCC Ottumwa campus for ages 8 through 18. The clinic will be divided into two groups: one for those ages 8-12 from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and a second session for those ages 13-18 from 1 to 3 p.m.

The guest instructors will be Molly Cope, a former Indian Hills pitcher who went on to pitch at Morehead State (KY), and her sister, Penny Cope Freeman, a former pitcher at both Alabama and Nebraska. The sisters were both all-state pitchers at Carlisle High School and Academic All-Americans in college.

All participants should bring a glove and tennis shoes and pitchers must have a catcher for the drills.

Coach Overturf, assistant coach Jennifer Sabourin and Indian Hills players will assist with the camp. The cost to attend is $40. Registration begins 30 minutes prior to the start of each session.

The Indian Hills’ coaches and members of the Warrior softball squad will direct a softball skills clinic on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Net Center.

Again, there will be two sessions: one for those in grades 4 through 7, from 9 a.m. to noon, and one for grades 8 through 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. The morning session will emphasize skill development in hitting, throwing, fielding, base running and sliding. The afternoon session will emphasize hitting, defensive breakdowns by position, throwing, base running, sliding and the psychology of hitting.

The cost to attend the skills clinic is $30. Clinic participants need to bring workout clothes, tennis shoes, a bat and a glove.

Registration forms for the pitching and skills clinics can be found on the IHCC website at www.indianhills.edu/athletics/softball.

More Academic Honors for IHCC Softball

2011-10-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- The Indian Hills Community College softball team and five Warrior players have been honored for their work in the classroom during the 2010-11 academic year.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has named Indian Hills an All-Academic Team with the 10th-best team grade point average of any two-year school in the nation.

In addition, IHCC sophomores Kylee Coughlin (Melrose), Nicole Steinle (Ft. Collins, Col.), Kristen Paulson (Bettendorf) and Morgan Powers (Indianola) and freshman Cortney Wood (Alburnett) were named NFCA All-American Scholar Athletes, an honor given to those individuals with a GPA of at least 3.5.

The Indian Hills softball squad was previously selected as an All-Academic Team by the National Junior College Athletic Association. Coughlin, Steinle and Powers were recognized for their “superior academic achievement” by the NJCAA.

Wilcox Has High School Jersey Retired

2011-07-06T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Sarah Wilcox, a key contributor to the success of the Indian Hills softball team the past two seasons, has had her jersey retired by Carlisle High School. Wilcox's jersey was retired in a ceremony prior to Carlisle's June 29 game with Saydel.

Her jersey is one of 20 that has been retired in the 27 years that Jim Flaws has coached at Carlisle. Flaws' program has sent a number of talented players to Indian Hills.

Wilcox was a two-year starter at shortstop for Indian Hills. She played on the 2010 team that qualified for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament and on a team that tied for the Region 11 regular-season championship this past spring.

In high school, Wilcox was a four-year starter in softball and a two-time all-state selection. As a senior, she led the Wildcats to the Class 3-A state championship game and was chosen to play in the senior all-star game.

Flaws said Carlisle usually retires the jerseys of its former softball players soon after they complete high school so the current players can be there to honor their former teammates.

Another Former Warrior Going to Minnesota

2011-07-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Former Indian Hills softball player Nicole Steinle will be joining another ex-Warrior at St. Cloud State University in the fall. Steinle has signed a letter-of-intent with the Minnesota school and will enroll there next season.

At St. Cloud State, Steinle will be reunited with Jordan Grell, like Steinle, a first-team all-Region 11 performer for the Warriors this past spring.

Steinle, a Fort Collins, Colorado native, played in 79 games over two seasons for Indian Hills. As a sophomore, she hit .250 and led the team in homers with eight and walks with 30. She had a .520 slugging percentage and a .993 fielding percentage while playing primarily first base.

Steinle was recently honored for her "Exemplary Academic Achievement" by the National Junior College Athletic Association, one of three IHCC softball players named as "Athletes of Distinction" for their academic performance this past year.

Academic Honors for Three Softball Players

2011-07-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Three members of the Indian Hills softball team were honored by the National Junior College Athletic Association for their academic accomplishments during the 2010-11 academic year.

Sophomores Kylee Coughlin, Morgan Powers and Nicole Steinle all made the NJCAA's "Athletes of Distinction" list.

Coughlin was given an award for "Superior Academic Achievement" for having a grade point average between 3.80 and 3.99. Powers and Steinle were honored for their "Exemplary Academic Achievement" as both had a grade point average of between 3.60 and 3.79.

In addition, the Indian Hills softball team was named an NJCAA All-Academic Team, the 12th year in a row that the IHCC softball received that honor. The team grade point average was 3.22, the 17th-best GPA of all NJCAA Division I softball squads.

Grell Headed North

2011-06-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- IHCC All-Region softball player Jordan Grell has signed a national letter-of-intent with St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

Grell was a two-year starter at third base for Indian Hills and really blossomed this past season. She had a .371 batting average and six home runs with a team-high 47 RBIs. The Moville, Iowa native led the Warriors in triples (4), total bases (92), slugging percentage (.622) and sacrifice flies (4) in addition to her team-leading RBI total.

Grell was a first-team All-Region 11 choice and was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-Midwest second team.

Rough Second Day Spoils Region Tourney for IHCC

2011-05-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Muscatine, IA -- It was a Region 11 postseason tournament that started out very promisingly for the defending champion Indian Hills Warriors. IHCC won both of its games on Saturday to go into the final day of the tourney as the only unbeaten team, needing just one more win to nail down its second straight conference crown.

But Iowa Western avenged an extra-inning loss to the Warriors the previous night with two victories on Sunday to claim the region title.

The Reivers first had to defeat host Muscatine CC to stay alive in the double-elimination affair in Sunday's first game. After they accomplished that, IWCC then took care of the Warriors with 8-1 and 13-1 wins.

One of the biggest surprises was the way IHCC's offense was held in check in the two Sunday games. After scoring 17 runs while beating Southeastern, 9-0 in five innings, and Iowa Western, 8-5 in nine innings, the day before, Indian Hills managed only an RBI-single by Cortney Wood in the first game and a solo homer from Sarah Wilcox in the second game.

Meanwhile, the Reivers teed off against Indian Hills pitching. They had two grand slam homers and a three-run shot.

One of the grand slams, by Daleigh Fossler, started the scoring in the first game. The Reivers then put the game away with four insurance runs in the 6th.

IWCC began the game-two scoring with a home run too, a three-run drive to left in the 1st by Shelby Hermsen. McKenna Bartko had a grand slam in the 3rd.

Only twice all day, in 12 innings, did Indian Hills have more than one runner on base in an inning.

Saturday couldn't have gone much better for the Warriors. Freshman Hannah Washburn threw a perfect game against SCC, retiring all 15 batters she faced. She struck out four in the five-inning gem.

Her teammates backed her with an early 7-0 lead. Jordan Grell had a two-run single in the 1st and added another RBI-hit in the 2nd, in front of Nicole Steinle's two-run homer.

The Saturday night extra-inning win against Iowa Western provided plenty of drama. After the Reivers scored a run in the top of the 9th to break a 4-all tie, Indian Hills was down to their last out in the bottom of the inning.

Grell drove a high fastball over the leftfield fence to tie the score. Steinle kept the inning alive by drawing a walk and Tory Beaver singled to center.

That brought up Cortney Wood, who had hit a walk-off homer a week earlier to beat Iowa Western. Wood went after the first pitch from IWCC's Greta Smeins and hit a no-doubt shot over the fence in left-center.

The Warriors came from behind three times in the game before winning in thrilling fashion.

Wilcox had three hits, including a pair of doubles, and Kylee Homewood and Morgan Powers each had two. Everybody in the starting lineup had at least one hit except for Steinle, who walked four times.

Washburn pitched the final two innings in relief -- coach Jim Overturf used four pitchers -- and picked up her second win of day.

But the Warriors couldn't carry over the enthusiasm from Saturday night into the next day's performance and saw their season end with a 34-17 record.

It was a very tough way for the nine sophomores on the IHCC squad to have their careers come to an end.

Warriors Come Up Short in Bid for League Title

2011-04-29T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills needed to sweep Muscatine CC on Thursday to forge a tie with Iowa Western for the regular season conference crown. The Warriors took care of business in the first game, winning 8-1. But their quest for a share of the title came up a game short when Muscatine bounced back with a 3-2 win in game two.

Indian Hills ends the regular season with a 32-15 record and was 7-5 in conference games. They will play Southeastern in their first test in the Region 11 tournament in Muscatine on Saturday.

Jordan Grell provided the only runs the Warriors would need in the opener. After Kylee Homewood and Morgan Powers singled, Grell lined a homer to left. Homewood added a two-run double in IHCC's three-run 2nd.

Sarah Wilcox and Kristen Paulson delivered RBI-singles in the 5th.

Meanwhile, Hannah Washburn allowed only a 3rd-inning solo homer in her 6 1/3 innings of work for Indian Hills. She fanned eight and gave up five hits.

Sonja Holmes got the last two outs in the 7th.

MCC grabbed a 3-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings of game two, getting two runs in the 3rd and one in the 4th against IHCC starter Kylee Coughlin. All of the runs were unearned. The Warriors committed four errors in the game.

Indian Hills was scoreless until the bottom of the 6th when they scored twice on an RBI double by Jenna Wolfe and a passed ball.

A bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the 7th failed to produce the tying run for Indian Hills as the Warriors came up a run short.

Holmes and Ali Martin combined for three innings of shutout relief for the Warriors.

Two Nailbiters, Warriors Settle For Split

2011-04-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills and Iowa Western hooked up in a dandy Region XI softball doubleheader on Saturday with each team winning a game by a 6-5 score.

It was a day filled with drama, but the most dramatic moment came on the final play -- a walkoff home run by IHCC's Cortney Wood in the bottom of the 7th inning in game two. Indian Hills had entered the last half of the 7th trailing by a run. Nicole Steinle tied the score at 5 with a homer, setting the stage for Wood's game-winner.

Steinle also homered in the first game, a two-run shot in the 6th that tied the game at 4-4.

Iowa Western was outhit, 8-4, in the first game, but won it with two runs in the 7th that snapped a 4-all tie. The Warriors scored once in the bottom of the 7th and had the tying and winning runs on base when the last out was recorded.

Ali Martin, in relief of starter Hannah Washburn, took the loss for IHCC. Morgan Powers and Jordan Grell had two hits for the Warriors.

IHCC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the 3rd inning of the second game. Steinle's two-run single was followed by an RBI-double by Wood.

The Reivers tied it at 3, the Warriors went ahead on Tory Beaver's run-scoring hit in the 5th and IWCC scored two in the top of the 7th before the Warriors' long-ball heroics in the bottom of the inning.

Kylee Coughlin went the distance and got the win for IHCC. She only allowed five hits and three earned runs.

Kylee Homewood, Steinle, Beaver and Wood all had two hits.

Indian Hills can tie Iowa Western for the regular season conference title if they can sweep a doubleheader from Muscatine CC next Tuesday.

Warriors Shut Down SCC in Conference Sweep

2011-04-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills played their first three conference doubleheaders on the road and gained a split in all three. They did better than that in their first home twinbill in the league, knocking off visiting Southeastern CC twice on Thursday, 10-6 and 7-1.

With the wins, the Warriors reach the 30-win mark for the season (30-13) and improve to 5-3 in the conference with two doubleheaders still to play.

The key moment in game one came in the top of the 5th inning with Indian Hills already down 6-4. SCC had the bases loaded with only one out against IHCC starter Hannah Washburn.

Washburn got a strikeout and a ground out from the third and fourth hitters in the SCC lineup to escape the jam, then shut out the Blackhawks over the final two innings.

The Warriors immediately responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning to grab the lead. A two-run triple by Morgan Powers was the big blow in the inning. Kylee Homewood and Jordan Grell had RBI-singles.

Indian Hills spotted the visitors an early 4-0 lead with three of the runs on a Tina Gonzalez home run in the 2nd. The Warriors tied the game with a four-run 3rd. They sent 10 batters to the plate and scored three unearned runs on a pair of SCC errors. Nicole Steinle provided a two-run double in the frame.

Two more runs in the 6th finished the scoring. Cortney Wood had four hits for the Warriors and Powers had three.

The Warriors scored three runs in the 1st inning of the second game and rolled to the victory.

Grell doubled off the center field fence to drive in the first run and Jenna Wolfe added a two-run single.

SCC scored their only run off IHCC starter Kylee Coughlin in the 3rd inning and it was unearned. The sophomore scattered five hits, walked one and struck out three.

Sydney Hallbauer hit a solo home run in the 4th and then homered again, this time over the scoreboard in left-center, in the 6th.

Powers had her second three-hit game of the day in the second game and Wood had two more hits, giving her six for the DH. The IHCC bats produced 27 hits in the twinbill.

Indian Hills will take on Iowa Western in a home doubleheader on Saturday.

Familiar Pattern for IHCC in League Games

2011-04-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

Council Bluffs, IA -- For the third time in as many conference doubleheaders, Indian Hills came away with a split. This time, it was the Warriors' first matchup with Iowa Western. IWCC took the first game on Tuesday, 3-2, before the Warriors claimed the nightcap, 4-3.

The results leave Indian Hills in a two-way tie for second place in the conference, one game behind Iowa Western. The Warriors have their final six Region 11 games on their home diamond, and they'll play those games in a five-day span at the end of April.

On Tuesday, Indian Hills saw a 2-1 lead evaporate in the first game, thanks to three IHCC errors in a two-run 4th inning for the Reivers.

Lindsey Evans and Tory Beaver scored the IHCC runs in the top of the 4th. But the defense let down starting pitcher Kylee Coughlin, who was lifted with one out in the bottom of the inning, and reliever Ali Martin. The two runs in the 4th charged to Martin were both unearned.

Kylee Homewood and Beaver each had two hits and Evans and Nicole Steinle one apiece for the Warriors.

Steinle came through with a pair of run-scoring doubles and three RBIs in game two. She also scored two of the four runs. Morgan Powers had two hits and Beaver drove in the other run with a triple.

Indian Hills scored two runs in both the 1st and 3rd innings. Iowa Western got a run in the 1st and drew to within a run with two in the 5th. Hannah Washburn got out of further trouble after allowing the two 5th-inning runs and shut down the Reivers over the final two innings to gain her 11th win of the season against only three losses.

Washburn struck out seven and scattered six hits. The Warriors played error-free softball in the second game.

Indian Hills (28-13) will play in the Daffodil Classic in St. Louis this weekend. Their next conference action will come in a doubleheader at home against Iowa Western on April 22.

Warriors Bounce Back at Home After Streak is Ended

2011-04-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- It didn't take the Indian Hills softball team long to recover from the disappointment of having a 10-game winning streak halted. Less than 24 hours after Iowa Central swept a twinbill from the Warriors, winning 5-2 and 6-1, Indian Hills turned the tables with a home sweep, 4-2 and 6-0.

Morgan Powers got the IHCC scoring started in Sunday's first game with an RBI-single. After Iowa Central plated two runs, the Warriors went ahead for good with three in the 5th. Corney Wood singled, Kristen Paulson doubled and Kylee Homewood ripped a two-run single for the lead. An insurance run scored on Lindsey Evans' single.

Ali Martin worked the first five innings for IHCC and got the victory, thanks to the three-run bottom of the 5th. Hannah Washburn pitched two hitless innings in relief, striking out five.

The second game featured an outstanding pitching performance by Warrior sophomore Sonja Holmes. Holmes scattered seven hits and struck out four without walking anyone.

Her teammates backed her with single runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings and three in the 5th. Tory Beaver's three-run homer provided the 5th-inning runs. Powers and Wilcox had the other RBIs. Wilcox was 3-for-3.

Iowa Central scored three runs in the bottom of the 5th against IHCC starter Hannah Washburn to break a 2-2 tie in Saturday's opener. Homewood singled to drive in the two runs for Indian Hills, one of only three hits for the Warriors.

The Tritons broke on top early in game two with three runs in the 1st against Kylee Coughlin. They added three more in the 5th. The lone run for the Warriors was driven in by Wilcox with a 6th-inning single.

The wins by ICCC Saturday gave them an eight-game winning streak. But that streak ended on Sunday when the Warriors hoped they started a new string of their own.

Now 27-12, Indian Hills returns to conference play on Tuesday when they play at Iowa Western.

Ten in a Row as Warriors Win in the Rain

2011-04-10T12:49:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- A steady rain couldn't keep the Indian Hills softball team from extending its winning streak on Thursday, although the rain did wipe out the second game of a scheduled doubleheader at R.L. Hellyer Field.

Indian Hills drubbed Illinois Central, 11-3, before the wet conditions forced the second game to be cancelled. The victory runs IHCC's win streak to 10 and gives them 25 wins for the season.

The first of three hits for Tory Beaver, a double, led to the first Warrior run in the 2nd. Beaver then singled home the second run in the 3rd.

Illinois Central used a solo home run by Sara Rogers to tie the game in the 3rd, before the Warriors took control with five runs in the 4th and four more in the 5th.

Kylee Homewood's two-run double and Jordan Grell's three-run homer provided the runs in the 4th. Grell walked with the bases loaded in the 5th, another run scored on an error, and RBI-singles by Nicole Steinle and Beaver ended the contest early with the run-rule.

Kylee Coughlin went the distance in the circle for IHCC. She allowed five hits and struck out two.

It was the fourth game in a row in which the Warriors scored at least nine runs.

Next up for Indian Hills is a pair of weekend doubleheaders with Iowa Central, in Fort Dodge on Saturday and at home on Sunday.

Sweep Puts Winning Streak at Nine

2011-04-07T05:58:00.000-07:00

Pella, IA -- The Indian Hills softball ran its current winning streak to nine games with a doubleheader sweep of the Central College junior varsity on Wednesday. The Warriors won 9-0 in five innings and 9-1 to run their season record to 24-10.

IHCC pitchers have allowed a total of only eight runs in the nine-game stretch.

On Wednesday, it was Sonja Holmes, Hannah Washburn and Emily Hemming that continued the outstanding pitching the Warriors have featured of late.

Holmes spun a two-hit shutout in the first game and her teammates back her with a 12-hit attack. Tory Beaver and Sydney Hallbauer had homers, Morgan Powers collected three hits and Hallbauer, Kristen Paulson and Jordan Grell had two each. Kylee Homewood knocked in three runs.

The Warriors started fast with four runs in the first and five more in the second.

Washburn went the first four innings in the second game and recorded her 10th win of the season. She allowed only hit and so did Hemming, who finished up the sweep with three innings of work.

Indian Hills pounded out 17 hits in the nightcap. Powers and Sarah Wilcox were both 4-for-4 and Cortney Wood also had four hits. Wood scored three runs and Hallbauer had two RBIs.

Indian Hills is slated to host Illinois Central in a makeup doubleheader at home on Thursday.

Ranked Teams Fall as Warriors Get Weekend Sweep

2011-04-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

Overland Park, Kan. -- The Indian Hills softball team put together as complete a performance as they have all spring in sweeping four games in a weekend tournament hosted by Johnson County (KS) CC.

Warriors' pitching gave up only three runs in the four games, IHCC committed only one error and there were timely hits in each game as Indian Hills improved to 22-10 for the season.

Two of the wins came against Butler (KS) CC, ranked 9th in the latest Division I ratings. Indian Hills also knocked off the No. 3-ranked team in Division II, Iowa Central, and finished off the sweep with a 9-0 whitewashing of host Johnson County.

On Saturday, Hannah Washburn held Butler in check, allowing only six hits while striking out a season-high 13 in a 3-1 win.

Indian Hills managed only four hits, but three went for extra bases and provided all the Warriors' runs. Tory Beaver and Cortney Wood each had an RBI double and Nicole Steinle slammed a solo homer.

It was Kylee Coughlin's time to shine in the second game as the sophomore threw a three-hit shutout in a 3-0 blanking of Iowa Central. Batterymate Sydney Hallbauer supplied a three-run homer and Kylee Homewood doubled twice. Morgan Powers also had two hits.

A 3-2 win against Butler started Sunday's action. Freshman Ali Martin went the first three innings for IHCC, Sonja Holmes the next three and Coughlin came on to register a save with a scoreless 7th.

Jordan Grell continued her torrid hitting of late with a two-run homer in the 1st to start the scoring and Homewood knocked in what proved to be the winning run with a 2nd-inning single.

Homewood and Grell both went deep in the final game of the tourney, a 9-0 win over Johnson County. Washburn and Coughlin combined on a three-hit shutout and eight different Warriors had hits. Homewood added a pair of doubles to her round-tripper and Wood had two hits.

IHCC coach Jim Overturf was understandably happy with the weekend's results, saying "The girls kept their focus all weekend. It was just a really solid tournament for us."

The pitching has been a little inconsistent lately, but there were no problems in that area in the four-game sweep. "Our pitching really stepped it up to do what they had to do," said Overturf.

The Warriors will take a season-best seven-game winning streak into a doubleheader at Pella against the Central JV on Wednesday.

Stingy Pitching Leads to IHCC Sweep

2011-04-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills pitchers Kylee Coughlin and Hannah Washburn combined to allow only four hits and one run as the Warriors cruised to a pair of wins against visiting North Cental Missouri at Hellyer Field on Thursday.

Coughlin allowed only two hits and one run in a 7-1 game-one win; Washburn fired a two-hit shutout in the second game as the Warriors completed the sweep with a 9-0 blanking.

North Central scored their only run of the day to take a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning of the opener. The Warriors quickly answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Morgan Powers drove in the tying run with a groundout. Nicole Steinle then followed a Tory Beaver infield single with a two-run homer to left field. Cortney Wood added an RBI double in the inning.

Powers had a run-scoring single in the 4th and a sacrifice fly in the 7th for a three-RBI game.

Coughlin struck out seven and walked three in gaining her 6th win against 5 losses.

Washburn upped her record to 7-2 in the second game, fanning seven.

For the second straight game, IHCC took control with a four-run 3rd. Powers had another RBI with a double and Jenna Wolfe added an RBI single. Lindsay Evans doubled the lead with a two-run double.

A five-run 5th ended the game early. Jordan Grell started the uprising with an RBI single. Sydney Hallbauer and Kylee Homewood each singled in a run and Sarah Wilcox finished off the Lady Pirates with another RBI hit.

Grell, Wood, Homewood and Wolfe all had four hits apiece in the twinbill.

Indian Hills is now 18-10 and goes to Overland Park, Kansas this weekend for four games in a tournament hosted by Johnson County (KS).

Warriors Storm Back After Tough Loss

2011-03-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

West Burlington, IA -- The Indian Hills softball team showed some toughness on Sunday. The Warriors dropped a 5-4 game to Southeastern CC in the opener of a conference doubleheader, then pounded out 15 hits, including three home runs, in a 16-3 rout of the Blackhawks in the second game.

The split is the second one in conference play for IHCC, now 16-10 overall.

One bad pitch spelled doom for Indian Hills and starter Kylee Coughlin in game one. Coughlin took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the 6th inning, but she gave up a three-run homer to Joseline Torrealba that proved to be the game-winner for SCC.

IHCC jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the 3rd. Jordan Grell had a double and a triple for the Warriors who benefited from a couple of SCC errors in their big inning.

Southeastern started their comeback with a homer, a two-run shot by Myleinys Graterol in the 3rd, and ended it with their second round-tripper.

The Blackhawks slugged two more homers in the second game but they weren't nearly enough against a rejuvenated IHCC offense. Nicole Steinle had a three-run homer in the 1st and Grell went deep with the bases loaded in the 2nd. Jenna Wolfe also homered in the five-inning second game.

Cortney Wood was 4-for-4 and four Warriors -- Sarah Wilcox, Tory Beaver, Kristen Paulson and Wolfe -- all had two hits. Grell had five RBIs and Steinle and Wolfe three each.

Hannah Washburn was the beneficiary of the offensive explosion, going all five innings for IHCC while giving up six hits and striking out two.

A home doubleheader with Illinois Central on Tuesday is next on the schedule for IHCC.

League Schedule Begins With Split for IHCC

2011-03-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

Muscatine, IA -- Indian Hills and Muscatine, the teams that battled it out in the final game of last spring's Region 11 postseason tournament, opened the 2011 conference season with a doubleheader split on Tuesday. The Warriors won the first game, 7-2, but were blanked by MCC's Michaela Fligg on just two hits in the second game as the Cardinals got revenge with a 9-0 win.

Indian Hills had won both games they played against Muscatine in last year's regional tourney. And they won the schools' first meeting this year, in Tuesday's opener.

IHCC took advantage of nine walks from MCC starting pitcher Rachel Brisker. The Warriors scored their seven runs on just five hits, two of them by Lindsey Evans who also drove in two runs. Starter Kylee Coughlin and reliever Hannah Washburn combined to give up only six hits and two runs. Muscatine left 10 runners on base.

IHCC pitchers Ali Martin and Sonja Holmes were knocked around in game two, surrendering nine runs and 12 hits. Tory Beaver and Sarah Wilcox had the only hits for Indian Hills as the Warriors were held in check in the five-inning game.

Indian Hills' season record is 15-9. The Warriors resume conference play with a doubleheader at Southeastern next Sunday, after they play two games against the Graceland JV on Saturday.

Two Days, Two Wins, Two Losses for IHCC in Missouri

2011-03-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

Carthage/Neosho, Mo. -- The 19th-ranked Indian Hills softball team had mixed results on a weekend trip to southern Missouri. The Warriors won two games in the abbreviated Carthage Bash on Saturday, then lost two contests played on Crowder CC's diamond in Neosho on Sunday.

IHCC blanked Connors State (OK) in the first game on Saturday. Ali Martin gave up just one hit in notching her 4th win of the spring against only one loss. The Warriors scored twice in the first inning and three times in the 3rd in building a big early cushion.

Morgan Powers had three hits and Tory Beaver two for IHCC and Nicole Steinle drove in three of the five runs. Powers and Sarah Wilcox each scored twice.

Another fast start helped the Warriors in the second game. They scored five runs in the first two innings on the way to a 9-5 victory against Maple Woods.

Indian Hills pounded out 13 hits, including home runs by Steinle and Sydney Hallbauer. Beaver and Powers had three-hit games and Beaver and Steinle each had two runs scored and two RBIs.

Big innings by Sunday's two opponents led to two defeats. Crowder scored 10 runs in the 4th inning and knocked off the Warriors, 11-3. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M broke a 6-all tie with seven runs in the bottom of the 6th and beat IHCC, 13-7, in the second game of the day.

Hannah Washburn took a 3-1 lead into the 4th against Crowder, the team that Indian Hills defeated in last year's District tournament. But the team that hosted the two Sunday games, erupted against Washburn and reliever Emily Hemming.

Jordan Grell and Powers had two hits each for the Warriors and Grell knocked in two runs.

Kristen Paulson slammed a homer in the second game and she drove in three runs. Wilcox had three hits and Grell and Paulson two apiece.

The Warriors ended the weekend with a 14-8 record. They begin conference play at Muscatine CC on Tuesday.

Home Slate Starts With Sweep for IHCC

2011-03-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- In what was likely one of the earliest home openers in the program's history, the Indian Hills softball team took both games of a doubleheader with Marshalltown CC on Thursday, winning by scores of 4-2 and 4-0.

The Warriors got solid pitching performances from starters Kylee Coughlin and Hannah Washburn and two shutout innings in relief from Ali Martin in improving their season record to 12-6.

Coughlin allowed only five hits and one walk in a five-inning stint in the opener. Washburn fashioned a two-hit complete-game shutout in game two.

Indian Hills jumped on the visiting Tigers with three runs in the bottom of the first in the opening game. Jordan Grell had a two-run double and Jenna Wolfe followed with a run-scoring double for an early 3-0 lead. Both hits came with two outs.

Morgan Powers doubled home Sarah Wilcox with an insurance run in the fifth.

MCC scored their only runs of the day in the 7th against Martin on two hits and a sacrifice fly. But the freshman reliever got out of further trouble in saving the game for Coughlin.

Washburn was in control in the nightcap, spacing the two hits and fanning four.

Her teammates got her all the runs she would need when they scored four times in the 4th inning. Nicole Steinle and Tori Beaver had two-run doubles in the big inning. All eight runs scored on the day by the Warriors came on two-base hits.

Indian Hills will go to Carthage, Missouri this weekend for five games in the Carthage Bash.

Warriors Enjoy Success on Season-Opening Trip

2011-03-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

Ottumwa -- A spring trip that began with five games in Mississippi and ended with six more in a rugged tournament in Florida resulted in a 10-6 record for the Indian Hills softball team, ranked 19th in the preseason NJCAA poll.

The Warriors wound up the 10-day journey by playing in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Junior College Leadoff Classic in Panama City, Florida.

In that tourney, they won two of their first three games and qualified for the Silver Championship Bracket, where they won two of three contests, including an impressive 12-2 thumping of Johnson County (Kans.) in the final game of the trip.

“I was very pleased with the trip,” said IHCC coach Jim Overturf. “I believe any time you return from a southern trip with more wins than losses you have had a lot of success. The Leadoff Classic was a great experience for our players because it had a national tournament atmosphere.”

In fact, the reason Indian Hills was invited to play in the Classic was their appearance in last year’s national tourney.

The first stop for the Warriors was the Tiger Fest tournament in Booneville, Miss. Indian Hills scored seven runs in the first two innings of their first game and rolled over East Central Mississippi, 8-2, in five innings. Kylee Coughlin, one of two returning pitchers on the roster, went the distance, scattering four hits. Sarah Wilcox had a pair of doubles and Lindsey Evans and Tory Beaver also had two hits. Beaver and Jordan Grell had two RBIs and Morgan Powers and Wilcox each scored twice.

Freshman Hannah Washburn got the start in game two against Northeast Mississippi and picked up her initial collegiate victory in a 7-2 win. Grell, Wilcox and Kylee Homewood all had two-hit games and Homewood and Jenna Wolfe each drove in a pair of runs.

Indian Hills kept it going the next day with wins against Itawamba (2-1 in 8 innings) and Northwest Mississippi (8-2) before losing a tough 1-0 decision to Copiah-Lincoln, ranked No. 10 in Division II.

The Warriors had the bases loaded in the top of the 7th of the Copiah-Lincoln game, but Powers lined hard to 3rd base to end the game. They managed only two hits, but Coughlin, a tough-luck loser, gave up only three.

Coughlin started the game with Itawamba and Washburn won it in relief. Beaver, Evans, Homewood and Powers had two hits apiece and Nicole Steinle drove in Powers with the game-winning run in the bottom of the 8th.

Ali Martin, another freshman, got her first career win against Northwest Mississippi, a complete-game five-hitter. Washburn and Powers had three hits and Beaver, Steinle and Washburn had two RBIs.

From Mississippi, the Warriors traveled to Pensacola, Florida where they routed Mercyhurst (Neb.) in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader, 9-0. Emily Hemming tossed the shutout and Sydney Hallbauer homered. IHCC was ahead 4-0 in the second game when it was rained out.

A couple of games with Pensacola State were up next and the Warriors battled back for a split. They lost the opener 6-2 before taking the nightcap 8-5.
Evans had two hits and an RBI in the opener; Homewood drove in four runs in the second game to back the pitching of Coughlin, who won her 2nd game.

The Warriors had a difficult time the following day, getting swept by Northwest Florida State. Indian Hills scored three times in the first inning of game one, but lost 10-5; they tallied five times in the 1st in the second game and lost 21-5.

The Leadoff Classic began with a 5-0 shutout loss to Chipola. IHCC was held to five hits, two of them by Grell.

Indian Hills recovered with a 3-2 win against Chesapeake (Md.) with Washburn allowing only one earned run and six hits. After spotting Chesapeake a 2-0 lead, the Warriors tied the game in the 5th and won it on a run-scoring groundout in the 6th.

The final game of pool play was a 3-2 win against San Jacinto (Tex.). Martin was the winning pitcher. The eventual game-winning run came home on a bases-loaded walk.

The victory against San Jacinto gave the Warriors the No. 5 seed in the Silver Bracket. They started out with a 9-3 loss to Spartanburg (S.C.). Evans homered and Beaver continued her hot hitting with a two-run double.

Washburn then blanked Georgia Perimeter, 4-0, with a seven-hit shutout and the 12-run, 11-hit blowout of Johnson County followed.

A four-run second inning got the Warriors off to a good start and they scored at least one run in every inning after that in defeating the 7th ranked team in DII. Grell and Wolfe each had three hits, Beaver and Grell scored three runs, and Wolfe had three RBIs. Ali Martin and Emily Hemming combined to limit Johnson County to three hits.

IHCC used five pitchers on the trip and Overturf said he is confident that they will continue to improve as the season goes on. “Our staff had some bright moments and some other moments where they struggled,” the coach said. “We need to improve on the way we start the game, an area we are going to focus on in practice. They put themselves in a hole early in a number of games, but battled to keep us close and our offense was able to score some runs.”

It was the offense that Overturf pointed to as one of the highlights, saying, “It was a pleasant surprise. Usually it takes an offense a little while to get going. But we averaged five runs a game and batted .316 as a team. That’s a good start against some quality teams.”

There were some individuals who distinguished themselves offensively. Lindsey Evans hit .487 with seven RBIs; Jordan Grell, who also had a good week defensively at third base, batted .359 with a team-leading 10 RBIs; Kylee Homewood had a .407 average and eight runs-batted-in; and Morgan Powers, batting in the second spot in the order, came back with a .340 average and scored a team-high 13 runs.

“We had a great team effort and a lot of different players stepped up when we needed them to,” said Overturf.

The Warriors will be idle until opening their home schedule against Marshalltown CC on March 17. They are slated to play five games in a tournament in Carthage, Mo. Mar. 19-20 before opening conference play at Muscatine CC on Mar. 22.

Softball Team is Ranked

2011-02-01T11:07:00.000-08:00

Ottumwa -- When the Indian Hills Community College softball team heads south for their season-opening trip later this month they’ll do so as a nationally-ranked team. The Warriors are ranked 19th in the National Junior College Athletic Association’s pre-season poll.

Indian Hills is coming off a season in which they were 33-24 and won the Region 11 and District K championships and qualified for the NJCAA National Tournament.

It’s the first time that Indian Hills has been ranked in the preseason in Jim Overturf’s four years as head coach at IHCC. He calls it “an honor” to be rated, saying, “It just shows how hard our teams have worked the last three years to get the program to this point.”

Overturf was quick to add, “The ranking puts a bulls-eye on our back for the teams we’ll play, especially early in the season, and we’ll have to work even harder. It’s a lot more important where we finish.”

The Warriors return nine players from last year’s national tourney team. They open the spring schedule with five games in the Tiger Fest in Booneville, Mississippi Feb. 25-26.

They’ll play a top-10 team there in Copiah-Lincoln CC and will face four other teams that are ranked in the preseason polls in Division I and II. Indian Hills also will likely play a handful of other rated teams in regular-season tournaments.

The softball team is one of two IHCC teams to receive a preseason national ranking. The Warrior golf team is ranked No. 1.

Softball Clinics in February

2011-01-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills Community College softball coach Jim Overturf has announced the dates for two youth softball clinics that will be held at IHCC in February.

A softball pitching clinic will be held on Saturday, February 5, at the Tom Arnold Net Center on the IHCC Ottumwa campus for ages 8 through 18. The clinic will be divided into two groups: one for those ages 8-12 from 10 to 11:30 a.m., and a second session for those ages 13-18 from 1 to 3 p.m.

The guest instructors will be Molly Cope, a former Indian Hills pitcher who went on to pitch at Morehead State (KY), and her sister, Penny Cope Freeman, a former pitcher at both Alabama and Nebraska. The sisters were both all-state pitchers at Carlisle High School and Academic All-Americans in college.

All participants should bring a glove and tennis shoes and pitchers must have a catcher for the drills.

Coach Overturf, assistants Hilarie Droz and Jennifer Sabourin and Indian Hills players will assist with the camp. The cost to attend is $40. Registration begins 30 minutes prior to the start of each session.

The Indian Hills’ coaches and members of the Warrior softball squad will direct a softball skills clinic on Saturday, February 12, at the Net Center.

Again, there will be two sessions: one for those in grades 4 through 7 from 9 a.m. to noon, and one for grades 8 through 12 from 1 to 4 p.m. The morning session will emphasize skill development in hitting, throwing, fielding, base running and sliding. The afternoon session will emphasize hitting, defensive breakdowns by position, throwing, base running, sliding and the psychology of hitting.

The cost to attend the skills clinic is $30. Clinic participants need to bring workout clothes, tennis shoes, a bat and glove.

Registration forms for the pitching and skills clinics can be found on the IHCC website at www.indianhills.edu/athletics/softball.

Warriors Chosen to Play in Leadoff Classic in Florida

2010-09-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- The Indian Hills Community College softball team has been chosen to play in the prestigious National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic in Florida next March. The field for the tourney will include 16 NJCAA Division I teams and eight NJCAA Division II teams, 14 of which participated in their respective division’s national tournament in 2010.

Indian Hills qualified for the NJCAA Division I national tourney last May, the 16th time the school played in the national tournament. Each participant in the Leadoff Classic was selected on the basis of its cumulative achievements over the past three seasons.

The tournament will be played March 4-6 in Panama City Beach, Florida. The classic will be divided into pool play and bracket play with each team guaranteed a minimum of five games.

Each team will begin the tournament by playing the other three schools in their pool. Once pool play is completed, the teams will be divided into three brackets of eight teams each. The six pool winners and top two second-place teams will form the Gold Championship Bracket, with the remaining four second-place teams and four at-large teams making up the Silver Championship Bracket. The final eight teams will be assigned to the Bronze Championship Bracket.

The Warriors, who were 33-24 and Region 11 and District K champions last year, will make the classic a part of their season-opening spring trip in 2011.

Two Future Warriors on All-Tourney Team

2010-07-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

Two members of IHCC Coach Jim Overturf's incoming recruiting class were named to the All-Tournament team at the state softball tournament in Fort Dodge after leading their respective teams to final-four appearances.

Lindsey Evans from Ottumwa High School was a member of the 11-player Class 4A All-Tournament team after batting .400 in the Bulldogs' three games at state. Evans, a catcher, had a pair of doubles for the Bulldogs, who finished fourth in Class 4A.

Keokuk pitcher Hannah Washburn was named to the Class 3-A All-Tournament team. Washburn pitched Keokuk to wins in their first two state tourney games before losing to Carlisle in the 3-A title game. She threw a two-hit shutout in the quarterfinal game aganst Sioux City Bishop Heelan and then defeated Clear Creek-Amana in the semifinals. Washburn had 20 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched in the tourney.

Washburn was also named to the 3-A All-Tournament team as a junior.

Warriors Claim All-Region Honors

2010-05-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills Community College has three players on the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference All-Region softball team. And IHCC coach Jim Overturf was named the Region XI Coach of the Year.

Sophomore first baseman Lizzy Tucker was the lone Indian Hills player named to the All-Region first team. Tucker led the Warriors in hits, RBIs, total bases, walks and on-base percentage while tying for the team lead in doubles, homers and sacrifice bunts.

Selected for the All-Region second team were outfielders Kris Penick, a sophomore, and freshman Tory Beaver. Penick led IHCC in hitting with a .336 batting average and in stolen bases with nine. Beaver ended the season with a .306 average, 27 runs scored and 29 RBIs.

It was the second straight All-Region selection for Penick who was also named to the second team last year.

Overturf led the Warriors to their first national tournament appearance in five years in his third season at IHCC. Indian Hills entered the postseason as the No. 4 seed in the region tournament and promptly won all three games they played in the tourney to seize the title.

The Warriors then won both games from Crowder College, the Missouri champ, in the district tournament to qualify for nationals. Indian Hills ended the year with a 33-24 record. Their two losses in the national tourney were against Yavapai College and Wallace State CC, teams that finished third and second in the nation, respectively.

Overturf picked up his 600th win as a head softball coach during the 2010 season and has 617 wins in a coaching career that also includes stints at William Penn and Kirkwood.

Warriors Drop Two at National Tourney

2010-05-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

St. George, Utah -- The Indian Hills softball team got to see first-hand the strength of the teams that would go on to finish second and third at the NJCAA Division I National Championships. On the first day of the double-elimination tourney, the Warriors lost to Yavapai (AZ) College, 8-0, and Wallace State (AL) CC, 9-0.

Wallace State overcame a loss in their first game -- right before they defeated Indian Hills -- to make it all the way to the title game, where they were defeated by national champion Miami Dade. Yavapai wound up in third place.

Indian Hills' losses also came against the last two national champs before this year (Wallace State in 2008 and Yavapai last year) and against two pitchers who were both named to the all-tournament team in the '09 tourney.

Yavapai's Audrey Workman shut out IHCC for five innings in the opener and Wallace State's Kelsey Dennis blanked the Warriors for four innings.

It was a day in which the Warriors just couldn't generate any offense. They had only four hits in the first game, singles by Tory Beaver, Ryan Jehle, Kelly Ruepke and Lizzy Tucker.

Yavapai started the scoring with two-out solo homers by Danielle Muniz and Molly Brossart in the 1st inning. They added a run against IHCC starter Brandi Haight in the 4th. Sonja Holmes replaced Haight in the 5th and both runs scored in that inning were charged to Haight.

Holmes allowed three more runs in the 6th.

Indian Hills' only real scoring chance came in the 5th inning when, trailing 3-0, they loaded the bases with nobody out on two hits and an error. But Workman, the Yavapai pitcher, struck out three straight batters to get out of the jam. She had 11 Ks in five innings.

Wallace State pounded three home runs among their 11 hits in Indian Hills' second game in ending IHCC's season. Warriors' starter Kylee Coughlin gave up eight hits and seven runs in 2 1/3 innings and took the loss. Holmes allowed the other two runs.

The Warriors' lone hits were leadoff singles by Brittany Petersen in the 4th and Sarah Wilcox in the 5th.

Indian Hills finished the season with a 33-24 record. The national tournament appearance was their first in five years.

Indian Hills Will Battle Yavapai in National Tourney

2010-05-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills Community College will take on defending national champion Yavapai College from Arizona in the first round of the NJCAA Division I National Softball Championship this week in St. George, Utah.

The pairings for the 16-team event at the Canyons Softball Complex were released Sunday.

Indian Hills (33-22) was given the number-12 seed and will take on No. 5-seed Yavapai (50-14) at 11:00 a.m. Iowa time on Thursday. The winner will play the winner of the first-round game between Wallace State CC (AL) and John A. Logan CC (IL) at 8:00 p.m. The loser of the IHCC-Yavapai matchup will play the loser of that game at 5:30 p.m.

Wallace State won the national title in 2008 and lost to Yavapai in the championship game last year.

Seven of the 16 teams that qualified for last year’s national tourney return to the field this year. The top seed is Salt Lake CC (UT) which has a 59-3 record. They are also in Indian Hills’ bracket and will play Pitt CC (NC) in the opening round.
The other two teams in IHCC’s half of the draw are Seward County CC (KS) and Seminole State CC (OK).

The double-elimination national tournament runs through Saturday.

Indian Hills is making its first appearance in the national softball tourney since 2005.

All of the Indian Hills' games in the national tournament can be heard live on KMGO Radio (98.7 FM) and on the internet at www.kmgo.com.

Two More Wins Put Warriors in National Tourney

2010-05-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Neosho, MO -- The Indian Hills Warriors' run through the postseason continued with back-to-back wins in the District K Tournament against Crowder College on Friday. The Warriors took the best-of-three series with 6-3 and 7-3 wins against Crowder in a battle between two region champions.

The district tourney win puts the Warriors in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament May 20-22 in St. George, Utah. It will be the first trip to the national tournament for IHCC since 2005.

Indian Hills got outstanding pitching performances in their three consecutive wins in the Region 11 tournament and that pattern continued against Crowder. Brandi Haight and Kylee Coughlin had strong outings and the IHCC offense backed them with 13 runs and 21 hits in the two games.

IHCC set the tone for the day in the top of the 1st inning of the first game of the tourney. Kris Penick led off with a walk. A single by Kelly Ruepke and a hit batter loaded the bases. Sarah Wilcox delivered a two-run single to give the Warriors the early lead. Wilcox had four hits in the game. Tory Beaver, who was hit by a pitch to set up the Wilcox two-RBI hit, was hit four times in the two games.

The IHCC lead doubled in the 4th when Jordan Grell singled home Wilcox and came all the way around to score on the play when Crowder committed two errors, one in the outfield and the second when they tried to get Grell at 3rd base.

Crowder scored two runs to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the 5th, but missed a chance to make it a big inning when they left the bases loaded.

The Warriors picked up two big insurance runs in the 7th. Lizzy Tucker's squeeze bunt brought home McKenzie Cason and Wilcox picked up her third RBI when she singled to drive in Ruepke.

Crowder scored a run in the 7th, but again left the bases loaded. They stranded eight baserunners in the final three innings.

Haight got her 14th pitching win of the season, allowing six hits and two earned runs with one walk and four strikeouts. Haight's final strikeout came on a called third strike to end the game. She retired 10 hitters in a row in one stretch.

Indian Hills again scored first in the second game, this time as the home team on the scoreboard.

Lizzy Tucker's two-run double off the center field fence chased home Cason and Ruepke, who had led off the 3rd inning with singles. After two outs, number-nine hitter Morgan Powers came up with a huge hit for Indian Hills, a two-out, two-strike single to center that scored two runs and made it 4-0.

Powers had two hits on the day giving her seven in five postseason games.

Crowder scored once against Coughlin in the 5th and picked up a couple more runs in the 7th, but saw their season end when the IHCC freshman pitcher got a ground ball to third base to end the contest.

Indian Hills added to their lead with single runs in their final three at-bats after their four-run 3rd.

Tucker drove in a run with a groundout in the 4th; Sydney Hallbauer's single brought home Ryan Jehle in the 5th; and Jehle had an RBI-single to score Tucker in the 6th.
Ruepke, Tucker and Jehle each had two hits in the second game for IHCC. Ruepke also had two hits in the opener and Grell also had two in game one to go along with Wilcox's four-hit game.

In game two, Coughlin gave up 11 hits, but only three runs. She walked only one batter.

For the second straight game, Crowder, the Region 16 champions, had lots of opportunities, but couldn't come up with the big hit. They left nine runners on in the second game to match their LOB total in the opener.

Indian Hills will take a 33-22 record into the national tourney. The pairings for the 16-team affair will be released at the start of next week.

Clean Sweep; Warriors Take Region 11 Title

2010-05-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

West Burlington, IA -- The Indian Hills softball team won three games against conference foes in the 2010 regular season. In the span of two days this weekend, the Warriors won that same number of games to win the Region 11 postseason tournament and advance to this week's district tournament.

Indian Hills, which entered the four-team region tourney as the number-four seed, completed their run through the tournament on Sunday with a 4-3 win against Muscatine CC to claim the championship.

Kylee Coughlin came out of the IHCC bullpen to save the game for starter Brandi Haight, who had given the Warriors 6 1/3 solid innings in her second win in as many days.

Of the two batters she faced, Coughlin got a groundout to second base and a popup to second baseman Kelly Ruepke to nail down the clinching victory. Coughlin did throw a wild pitch which allowed Muscatine to make it a one-run game, but she got the final out to preserve Haight's 13th win of the year.

Indian Hills snapped a 1-all tie with a three-run 6th inning. The go-ahead run scored on an error and Sarah Wilcox supplied some much-needed insurance with a two-run triple to center field.

Tory Beaver's 2nd-inning solo homer gave IHCC an early 1-0 lead. Muscatine tied the game on a two-out single in the 4th. The Warriors took their 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 7th. Muscatine made it interesting with their two runs, but the Warriors closed out the Cardinals the same way they had the day before in their second win of the tournament.

In that game late Saturday afternoon, Sonja Holmes entered the contest in place of the starter, Coughlin, with a run in and the tying run on 2nd base. After a wild pitch moved the runner to 3rd, Holmes induced a ground ball to third base to nail down the 2-1 win.

Coughlin allowed only six hits and the lone run in picking up her 10th win of the season. It was a victory that allowed Indian Hills to go to the second day of the tournament as the only unbeaten team.

The Warriors had scored their only two runs against MCC on a bases-loaded single by Lizzy Tucker in the bottom of the 3rd. Indian Hills had only three hits in the game, all of them in the 3rd inning. But Coughlin and Holmes made the two runs stand up.

Indian Hills started the tourney with a big 4-1 win against top-seeded Southeastern CC in Saturday's first game. The Warriors had lost four of five regular season matchups with the BlackHawks, but grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 5th on a Morgan Powers RBI-double and a run-scoring single by McKenzie Cason.

After SCC's Amy Harner slammed a solo homer in the top of the 6th to make it a one-run game, the Warriors got two-out RBI-singles from pinch-hitter Sydney Hallbauer and Powers in the bottom of the inning for the final margin.

Haight scattered six hits in going the distance for the pitching victory for IHCC. Ryan Jehle had three of the Warriors' 11 hits and Powers, Cason and Tucker each had two.

Indian Hills is now 31-22 for the season. The Warriors will head to Neosho, Missouri to play Crowder College in the District K tournament May 7-8. The first game of the district tournament will be at 2:00 Friday afternoon (May 7). Game two will follow. And if a third game is necessary, it will be played at noon on Saturday.

The winner of the best-of-three series will advance to the NJCAA national tournament in St. George, Utah May 19-22.

Warriors and SCC Split in Region XI Play

2010-04-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- A two-run rally in the bottom of the 7th inning allowed Indian Hills to come from behind and knock off league-leader Southeastern CC, 3-2, at Hellyer Field on Wednesday. The BlackHawks came back to defeat IHCC, 5-2, in the second game of the twinbill.

The Warriors' winning rally in the opener started with a walk to Kelly Ruepke. Lizzy Tucker's sacrifice bunt moved Ruepke into scoring position. She scored on a single by Tory Beaver and Beaver scored the game-winning run on Sarah Wilcox's single.

Ryan Jehle had gotten IHCC on the board with a solo homer in the 5th off SCC pitcher Hannah Baker, who went the distance in both games.

Southeastern's Alyssa Magg's two-run single in the 2nd opened the scoring. But that was all the BlackHawks got against IHCC pitcher Brandi Haight who held the visitors to just three hits, none after the 3rd inning.

SCC took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning of game two only to see the Warriors jump in front on a two-run homer by Ruepke in the bottom of the inning.

The Warriors were held in check after that even though they out-hit the visitors, 9-7.

SCC's Milagros Lozada belted a solo homer in the 4th to tie the game at 2 and SCC got the go-ahead run in the 5th on a bases-loaded walk to Lozada. The BlackHawks added two insurance runs in the 7th.

Kylee Coughlin went all the way in the circle in game two and took the loss for IHCC. Kris Penick, Beaver and Nicole Steinle all had two hits for the Warriors.

Indian Hills ends the regular season on Thursday in a 4:00 home doubleheader against Muscatine CC.

Warriors Blank Penn JV

2010-04-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

Oskaloosa, IA -- Indian Hills tuned up for consecutive home doubleheaders against Southeastern and Muscatine with a 4-0 win over the William Penn junior varsity on Tuesday night.

Three IHCC pitchers combined to blank the Statesmen on five hits. Starter Brandi Haight went the first three innings and Kylee Coughlin and Sonja Holmes each pitched two innings. Haight struck out five.

IHCC scored a run in the 1st and added three more in the 4th.

Lizzy Tucker had two doubles for the Warriors while Tory Beaver, McKenzie Cason and Nicole Steinle also had two-base hits.

Beaver drove in two runs and scored one.

The final Region XI regular season action for IHCC takes place Wednesday and Thursday. The Warriors will battle Southeastern Wednesday and Muscatine the following day with the seeding for this weekend's postseason tourney still to be decided.

Warriors and Reivers Split Conference Twinbill

2010-04-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

Council Bluffs, IA -- Indian Hills and Iowa Western each won a well-pitched game in a Region 11 softball doubleheader on Tuesday.

The Warriors got a two-out, two-run double from freshman Morgan Powers to take the first game, 3-1, in eight innings. Iowa Western countered with a leadoff, solo home run in the bottom of the 7th to win game two, 2-1 and gain a split.

Brandi Haight threw seven strong innings in the opener and got the win for IHCC. She allowed only six hits.

After Powers provided the Warriors with the lead in the top of the 8th, Sonja Holmes retired IWCC in order in the bottom of the inning to get the save.

Indian Hills' Tory Beaver had an RBI-single in the 1st inning to start the scoring. Iowa Western tied the game in the bottom of the 7th which set the stage for Powers' game-winning hit.

Kris Penick and Sarah Wilcox each had two hits for Indian Hills.

McKenzie Cason's run-scoring single in the top of the 7th tied the nightcap at 1-1. Penick had tripled and she scored on Cason's hit.

The Reivers tallied a first-inning run against Indian Hills pitcher Kylee Coughlin, who then shut down the home team until the game-deciding homer in the 7th. Coughlin only gave up four hits and struck out two.

The seventh-inning hits by Penick and Cason were two of only three that Indian Hills managed in the second game. Ryan Jehle had a double for the other hit.

Indian Hills is now 26-19 for the season and will host Southeastern CC in a conference doubleheader Saturday, starting at 1:00 at Hellyer Field.

Three Wins for IHCC in Softball Classic

2010-04-05T10:06:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa, IA -- The Indian Hills softball team pushed its season record above the .500 mark as the Warriors won three of four games in the weekend IHCC Classic at R.L. Hellyer Field.

The Warriors played only once on Friday before the rains came, but managed to get in three games Saturday.

IHCC defeated Ellsworth CC 8-0 Friday. The Warriors then routed St. Louis CC-Meramec 15-0 in five innings and St. Charles CC 15-3 before losing to Southeastern CC 9-6 on Saturday.

The Ellsworth win featured a four-hit shutout by freshman Kylee Coughlin of the Warriors. Coughlin didn't walk anyone and struck out six in the complete-game effort. Her teammates backed her with 10 hits, three by freshman Sydney Hallbauer who drove in four runs.

Hallbauer singled in the first IHCC run in the 2nd. She doubled home another run in the 3rd and then supplied a two-run single in a four-run 5th.

Brandi Haight had a pair of RBIs and Ryan Jehle and Morgan Powers both scored twice.

The action Friday was suspended because of rain after only two games.

Saturday's play started with the Warriors erupting for 11 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning against Meramec. Tory Beaver had a grand slam homer and Lizzy Tucker a three-run shot in the opening inning for IHCC. Tucker had a two-run single earlier in the inning. Sarah Wilcox and Hallbauer had RBI hits in the 3rd and the Warriors tallied two unearned runs in the 4th.

Meanwhile, Brandi Haight tossed the second straight shutout in the tourney for the Warriors, limiting Meramec to just one hit in the five-inning complete game.

Indian Hills sprinted out to a 7-0 lead after an inning and a half in the game with St. Charles and finished the contest with a nine-run 7th inning.

The 17-hit IHCC attack was led by McKenzie Cason and Kelly Ruepke with three hits each and Wilcox, Haight and Jordan Grell with two apiece. Ruepke and Hallbauer had three RBIs and Wilcox scored three runs.

In a matchup between two Region XI rivals in the final game of the day -- a game which doesn't count in the conference standings -- Southeastern pushed across three runs in the 7th inning to knock off the Warriors 9-6.

Milagros Lozada had two of SCC's four homers in the game, including a leadoff shot in the 7th that was the game-winner.

Ruepke and Jehle each had two of the Warriors' 10 hits. Molly Mitchell started and went four innings for IHCC. Sonja Holmes took the loss in relief.

Indian Hills has a season record of 17-15-1 and goes to Iowa Central for a doubleheader on Tuesday before hosting Region XI foe Iowa Western on Friday, starting at 1:00.

Back on Track, Warriors Win Two

2010-04-01T05:35:00.000-07:00

Pella, IA -- The Indian Hills softball team picked up a pair of much-needed victories on Wednesday, defeating the Central College junior varsity, 3-0 and 12-1.

The Warriors were reeling a little bit, having lost six straight games entering play against the Dutch JV, but had a couple of strong starting pitching performances and a resurgent offense to up their win total to 14 and get back to the .500 mark for the season.

Molly Mitchell threw six innings in game one, giving up only two hits and striking out six. Sonja Holmes completed the shutout. Sydney Hallbauer drove in two of the three IHCC runs and four different Warriors had a hit.

Brandi Haight earned her 6th win of the season in the second game, going all the way while allowing only three hits. She walked four and struck out three.

Haight benefited from a 12-hit attack that included three hits by Tory Beaver and two each for Kylee Coughlin and Kris Penick. Sarah Wilcox, Kelly Ruepke, Lizzy Tucker and Beaver all scored twice and Coughlin had two RBIs.

Indian Hills will host its own tournament this weekend, playing four games in two days, starting with a contest on Friday at noon against Ellsworth CC.

Offense Struggles as IHCC Drops Two

2010-03-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

Peoria, IL -- Indian Hills managed only seven hits and three runs in dropping both games of a non-conference doubleheader with Illinois Central on Tuesday. The hosts won 6-2 and 6-1.

The Warriors' offense was shut out until the 7th inning of the opener when they pushed across two runs. Sarah Wilcox, Kris Penick, Lizzy Tucker and Brandi Haight had the hits for IHCC and Wilcox and Haight scored the runs.

Starter Kylee Coughlin pitched the first five innings for the Warriors and took the loss. She gave up eight hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts. Haight gave up a run in her only inning of relief.

In game two, Indian Hills was again kept off the scoreboard until late, getting their lone run in the 6th inning. Lizzy Tucker drove in Kelly Ruepke with the IHCC tally. Tucker, Wilcox and Ryan Jehle had the IHCC hits.

Sonja Holmes took the loss, giving up 10 hits and only two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The Warriors are back in action on Wednesday in a doubleheader in Pella against the Central College junior varsity.

Two Shutouts for IHCC at Penn

2010-03-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

Oskaloosa, IA -- The Indian Hills softball team had their weekend trip to Branson, Missouri cancelled because of bad weather in southern Missouri. So coach Jim Overturf went looking for some games that his team could play this week with the start of the conference season looming this weekend.

William Penn agreed to have their junior varsity team host the Warriors on Monday and Indian Hills won both games, shutting out the Statesmen twice, 5-0 and 7-0.

The Warriors are now 12-8-1 for the season and have won all four games they've played since returning from their season-opening trip to Tennessee and Alabama.

Monday's first game was a scoreless tie through six innings before IHCC erupted for five runs in the top of the 7th. Kelly Ruepke and Molly Prybil drove in runs during the big inning and Ruepke, Sydney Hallbauer, Sarah Wilcox, McKenzie Cason and Kris Penick all scored for the Warriors.

Indian Hills was held to only five hits, but three went for extra bases -- a double by Lizzy Tucker and triples by Ruepke and Wilcox.

Brandi Haight was outstanding for Indian Hills, winning her 5th game of the spring. Haight went the distance, allowing only three hits and no walks while striking out five.

The Warriors jumped on top with two runs in the top of the 1st in game two. They tacked on five more runs in the 5th. Ryan Jehle and Tucker each picked up two hits for IHCC and Morgan Powers and Haight had doubles. Tucker had two RBI and Powers scored twice.

Three pitchers combined for the second-game shutout. Kylee Coughlin went the first four innings, giving up four hits. Molly Mitchell and Sonja Holmes provided scoreless relief, Mitchell going two innings and Holmes one. Each gave up only one hit.

Coach Overturf might try to take advantage of a favorable weather forecast for this week by looking for additional games for his team prior to two conference doubleheaders on the road this weekend. Indian Hills will go to Muscatine on Saturday and Southeastern on Sunday.

Sweep Starts Home Schedule for IHCC

2010-03-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

Ottumwa -- In what may be the earliest home opener in the school's history, Indian Hills took both games of a doubleheader with Marshalltown CC on Thursday at R.L. Hellyer Field. The visitors took a brief early lead, but the Warriors rallied to win the first game, 8-3, and then finished off the sweep with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.

Indian Hills' season record is now 10-8 and the Warriors have won eight of their last 10 games.

In game one, Indian Hills jumped on top with an RBI-single by Jordan Grell in the
1st and a run-scoring grouner by Ryan Jehle in the 2nd. Marshalltown got their only offense of the opener on a three-run homer by Cayla Collins in the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead.

Indian Hills answered when Grell's fielder's choice grounder scored Kelly Ruepke, who had led off with a single, to tie the score at 3-all. The Warriors then took the lead for good with three unearned runs in the 5th. Ruepke led off with a single and eventually scored her third run of the game. Jehle's single brought home the final run of the frame.

Ruepke scored one of IHCC's two insurance runs in the 6th, her fourth run scored of the contest.

Brandi Haight started and worked six innings for the Warriors to get the win. Sonja Holmes pitched a perfect 7th inning in relief. Lizzy Tucker had three hits for IHCC.

The nightcap was a pitcher's duel through 4 1/2 innings. Indian Hills finally solved MCC pitcher Rachel Robinson in the bottom of the 5th, scoring two unearned runs. The first run came home on a throwing error and the second scored on McKenzie Cason's single to center.

After Marshalltown pushed across a run against IHCC starter Kylee Coughlin in the top of the 6th, the Warriors' Tricia Bix and Tory Beaver knocked in runs in the bottom of the inning.

Holmes replaced Coughlin with one out in the 7th and despite giving up a run, nailed down the win. Bix had two of the Warriors' seven hits and pinch-runner Morgan Powers scored twice.

The Warriors are slated to travel to Branson, Missouri for a weekend tournament, but the weather forecast for southern Missouri doesn't look good. The next scheduled games, after this weekend, are the first two league contests at home against Muscatine CC on March 27.

IHCC Softball Signs Six for 2010

2010-03-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills softball coach Jim Overturf has announced the signing of a six-player recruiting class for 2010.

The signees include Lindsey Evans, a catcher from Ottumwa High School; pitcher Hannah Washburn and outfielder Autumn Bowen, both from Keokuk; Burlington HS pitcher Ali Martin; Cortney Wood, an infielder from Alburnett; and Jenna Wolfe, an outfielder from Dallas Center-Grimes.

Evans led the Ottumwa Bulldogs in batting average (.395), RBIs (24), doubles (12) and slugging percentage (.521) and was tied for first on the team in hits (47) last year as a junior. She was a first-team catcher on the CIML Metro All-Conference team.

Washburn has been a Class 3A first-team all-state selection each of the last two years. In 2009, she had a 21-10 record and 0.77 ERA while striking out 231 batters in 208 innings pitched. She walked only 18 and allowed 23 earned runs. As a hitter, Washburn batted .289 with seven homers and a team-leading 22 RBIs.

Her teammate, Bowen, had a .282 batting average as a junior in '09. She had 10 doubles and four triples and swiped six bases. She has been an Honorable Mention All-State choice the past two seasons.

Martin compiled a 12-5 pitching record and 0.77 ERA last summer. She is also a strikeout pitcher, having recorded 166 Ks in 118 innings. Like Washburn, Martin also possesses excellent control with only 20 walks allowed. She was a third-team All-State pick in Class 4A.

Both Wood and Wolfe led their teams in batting average as juniors.

Wood hit .529 for Alburnett with 18 doubles, two triples and a homer among her 64 hits. She paced her team in RBIs with 36, had a .593 on-base percentage and a .736 slugging percentage. She was second-team All-State in Class 2A last year after an Honorable Mention All-State selection the year before.

Wolfe recorded a .367 batting average for DC-G last year with 40 hits, 32 runs scored and 26 RBIs. She led her team in all three categories, in addition to topping the team in average.

Winter Softball Camp Dates are Set

2009-12-15T05:45:00.001-08:00

Ottumwa -- Indian Hills softball coach Jim Overturf has announced the dates for two camps he will hold this winter for youth softball players.

The first is a pitching and catching clinic on Saturday, January 30. The clinic will include instruction from former Indian Hills pitcher Tara McClure, who went on to achieve All-American status at the University of Louisville.

Beginning pitchers, those ages 8 through 12, will go from 10:00 to 11:30. Intermediate and advanced pitchers, ages 13 through 18, will have a session from 1:00 to 3:00. The afternoon session is for pitchers and catchers and all pitchers must have someone to catch them for drills.

Participants should bring a glove and tennis shoes and catchers must provide their own equipment.

Registration for both sessions begins a half hour before the session starts. The cost to attend is $40 for pitchers and $30 for catchers. The clinic will be held in the Tom Arnold Net Center on the IHCC Ottumwa campus.

For more information or to register in advance call coach Overturf at (641) 683-5299. Assistant coach Jennifer Sabourin and Indian Hills softball players will assist with the camp.

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A softball skills clinic for those in grades four through 12 will be held on Saturday, February 6, also in the Net Center on the Ottumwa campus.

There will be two sessions -- one for players in grades four through seven in the morning from nine to noon, and another session for grades eight through 12 from one to four in the afternoon.

The morning session will emphasize skill development in hitting, throwing, fielding, base running and sliding. The afternoon session, for the older players, will emphasize hitting and the psychology of hitting, and will also include defensive breakdowns by position, throwing, base running and sliding.

Each session will be limited to 54 participants so you are encouraged to register early. Campers will need to bring workout clothes, tennis shoes, a bat and glove.

The cost to attend the skills clinic is $30. Registration for both sessions begins a half hour prior to the start of the session.

More information can be obtained by calling IHCC softball coach Jim Overturf at (641) 683-5299. Coach Overturf, assistant coach Jennifer Sabourin and members of the IHCC softball team will provide the instruction for the clinic.

2009 Season Review

2009-06-18T13:04:00.000-07:00

The IHCC softball team battled back from an excruciating loss in the second game of the Region XI postseason tournament to get another chance to knock off Southeastern CC, only to see their season end in a 2-0 loss to the BlackHawks. The Warriors had earned a spot in the region title game with a 3-0 win against Iowa Western, a team IHCC dominated in their last three meetings of the season, outscoring the Reivers 13-1.

Indian Hills ended the season with a 28-16 record. They gained the top seed for the postseason region tourney when sophomore Ali Downing threw a no-hitter at Iowa Western in a makeup game to end the regular season. In her last four games against IWCC, Downing gave up only one run in 31 innings.

For the second straight spring, the Warriors were plagued by bad weather with numerous games, including one entire tournament and a part of another one, cancelled.
Indian Hills opened their season with the annual southern trip and came home with a 9-5 record. Two of the losses, by scores of 2-1 and 6-3, were to Wallace State-Hanceville, an Alabama school that won the national championship in 2008 and was runner up in ’09.
Seven players were named to the All-Region teams. Downing, Dallas Schmacker, Carly Hart, Kelly Ruepke and Audrey Crabtree were all first-team picks and Kris Penick and Chelle Phillips were second-team selections.