YORKVILLE, ILL. - The Madison College softball team entered the NJCAA Region IV Division II District B Tournament as the #1-seed after a program record 35 wins during the regular season. The WolfPack, however, fell short of becoming the first team in program history to win the region and advance to the national tournament, going 1-2 over the weekend. Leo Kalinowski's club opened with a 9-2 win over #4 Sauk Valley Community College in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament, but were shut out in an 8-0 semifinal setback against #2 Illinois Valley Community College on Saturday night. Unable to suffer another loss, Madison College coughed up a late lead in a 7-2 extra innings loss in the consolation round against #3 Carl Sandburg College.

Game #1: Madison College 9, Sauk Valley Community College 2

The tournament's top seed didn't take long to show why it had earned such an honor, scoring five runs in the first inning to seize control of their double-elimination opener against Sauk Valley (17-28-1). The inning included three walks and four hits, highlighted by Bailey Kratt's two-RBI triple. Meredith Holt added a run-scoring single and Kiana Smith capped the frame with a RBI double.

Sophomore ace Jenalee Wilson kept it a five-run lead until the third, when the Skyhawks tagged the righthander for two runs on three hits. From that point on, however, Wilson allowed just two base hits while the WolfPack offense continued to go to work.

In the bottom of the fourth, Brooke Heck doubled and Cheyenne Holmes singled to start the inning. After a Hannah Jensen fly out, Kratt registered another RBI with a single to center, as did Holt, who plated two runs on her base knock. Up 8-2 and with the bases loaded, SVCC gifted the game's final run with a walk of Breanna Bollig that scored Holt.

Meredith Holt finished 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, setting single-game highs in hits and runs batted in. Cheyenne Holmes and Bailey Kratt also enjoyed multi-hit efforts, with Kratt matching Holt for team-high honors in the RBI column.

Jenalee Wilson became the first ever 20-game winner in program history, going seven innings with two runs and five hits allowed. She struck out three and walked one.

Game #2: Illinois Valley Community College 8, Madison College 0

In the championship round of the winner's bracket, the tournament's top two seeds squared off for a birth in the championship series. The game, however, would not go the way of the WolfPack, who were held to just three hits by Illinois Valley Community College (25-11) pitching. Those hits belonged to Brooke Heck, Bailey Kratt, and Taylor O'Leksy.

Kratt and O'Leksy hit their singles in the back-to-back at bats in the bottom of the seventh, but remained stranded on the base paths.

Trailing 4-0 in the fourth, Madison College had its best chance to mount a threat against the Eagles. Heck opened the frame with a single and Cheyenne Holmes followed with a walk. Freshman Hannah Jensen then dropped down a bunt that was fielded by the pitcher, who threw out Heck as she tried to advance to third. Holmes would reach third base in the next at bat as Bailey Kratt flew out to right, but the inning would end with a Meredith Holt ground out to the pitcher.

In the circle, freshman Hannah Jensen (11-11) allowed six earned runs on ten hits. The Watertown, Wisconsin, native also walked five and struck out five. IVCC got to Jensen for three runs in the first, one in the third, one in fifth, one in the sixth, and two more in the seventh.

The Madison College defense offered little help, committing five errors in the game for their highest error total since March 18.

Game #3: Carl Sandburg College 7, Madison College 2 (8 innings)

Faced with trying to reach the championship series through the loser's bracket, the WolfPack took on #3 Carl Sandburg on Sunday. Neither team gave an inch in the first two innings, but top-seeded Madison College assumed the game's first lead in a big way. Freshman Samantha Yaeger ripped her first collegiate home run, clearing the fences in left for a 1-0.

Pitching with the lead, sophomore Jenalee Wilson held CSC to five hits through six innings. Looking to close out the win and set up a rematch with Illinois Valley, Wilson induced the first two batters to ground out to start the top of the seventh. It was followed by two singles sandwiched around a walk, the last of which produced the game's tying run.

Madison College did not score in the seventh despite a single from Meredith Holt, so the game went to extra innings. And in the top of the eighth, the wheels fell off for the WolfPack. Carl Sandburg scored six runs on five hits and three Madison College errors, part of a second straight five-error game.

The 7-1 deficit proved too much in the bottom half, though freshman Brooke Heck finished her remarkable season with a solo home run to center. It was the third of the year for the native of Rubicon, Wisconsin.

Heck, Yaeger, Holt, and Jensen each had one hit for the 'Pack. Wilson (20-7), a native of Portage, Wisconsin, suffered the loss after allowing eleven hits and two earned runs over 7 2/3 innings. Six of the hits and all of the seven total runs came in the final 1 2/3 innings.

Madison College finished the season with a 36-22 record, setting numerous team and individual records in the process.

Illinois Valley Community College went on to win the NJCAA Region IV Division II District B Tournament title with a 12-6 win over Carl Sandburg College. The Eagles earned the tournament's automatic bid to the NJCAA Division II National Softball Championships in Clinton, Mississippi, from May 18-21.