FREEPORT, ILL. - It did not come easy - what has over the past 14 months - but when the dust settled at the Read Park Diamonds on Sunday, the Madison College softball team earned its third consecutive championship by winning the 2021 NJCAA Region 4 Division II Midwest District B Tournament. The top-seeded WolfPack opened postseason play with a 6-5 walk-off win in extra innings against #4 Highland Community College, then narrowly got by perennial region power and #3-seeded Kankakee Community College 9-8 in the semifinals. A second straight meeting with Kankakee in the championship required extra innings before Madison College walked off with a 5-4 victory. The third region title in program history earns the WolfPack an automatic berth in the NJCAA Division II Softball Championships in Oxford, Alabama, from May 25-29.

Game #1 (Saturday): #1 Madison College 6, #4 Highland Community College 5 (8 innings)

Scoreless after two innings, the WolfPack fell behind in the third when the Cougars tallied three runs on three hits and a walk against starter Mallory Sterling. Madison College got one run back in the home half when sophomore Abby Luczak drove in Katie Joten  with a single to right. The deficit returned to three in the fifth, but again, the 'Pack answered, scoring four runs to take a 5-4 lead. Luczak again came through with a two-run single to center that tied the game at 4-4. Two batters later, second year Megan Miklesh charged a double to center and pinch runner Taylor VonBehren raced in from second to put the WolfPack on top. 

Madison College was one out away from victory when Highland Community College (17-29) doubled in the game-tying run, and after the 'Pack stranded a runner on second in the bottom half, the game was headed to extra innings. The bottom of the eighth opened with a Miklesh double to right, putting the game-winning run in scoring position. Katherine Brandl followed with a single up the middle to drive in Miklesh for the walk-off win.

Luczak, Miklesh, and Brandl each finished with two hits. Luczak, a Rosendale, Wisconsin, native, drove in a team-high three runs batted in, and Miklesh had a run scored and another driven in. Joten led the team with two runs scored and three stolen bases.

Sterling worked 2.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and two walks. Freshman Casey Fountain (12-2) entered in relief and picked up her team-leading 12th victory. The Poynette, Wisconsin, native gave up two earned runs on eight hits and a walk, while also striking out four in her 5.1 innings.

Game #2 (Saturday): #1 Madison College 9, #3 Kankakee Community College 8 (7 innings)

The WolfPack jumped out early in their semifinal match with the Cavaliers. Katie Joten led off the game with a double, and scored three batters later on a ground ball single from Megan Miklesh. A ground out by Katherine Brandl followed and drove in Luczak for a 2-0 advantage. A big five-run second inning was jump started by a two-run homer by freshman Abbie Cavadini. It's the first career home run for the West Salem, Wisconsin, native. With two outs in the inning, the 'Pack added two more runs as Brandl singled home Luczak and Miklesh for a 7-0 lead. A pair of two-run hits, inlcuding a home run, in the top of the third brought Kankakee Community College within three, and a three-run fifth tied the game at 7-7.

In the bottom of the sixth, Luczak provided yet another clutch hit, this time smashing a two-out, two-run blast over the center field wall to give Madison College a 9-7 lead. The Cavaliers threatened in the seventh, scoring one run, however, Casey Fountain recorded three straight outs to end the game with runners on base.

Luczak ended the game going 2 for 3 with three runs scored and three batted in, leading the team in all three categories. Brandl, a Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, native, also had two hits and three RBI. Miklesh used her two hits to generate a run and a run driven in. Cavadini tallied two runs batted in and a run scored with her mighty swing, and Brianna Brandner scored twice.

Fountain (13-2) battled through seven innings and surrendered five earned runs, eight hits, and a walk. The righthander struck out eight en route to pushing the WolfPack into Sunday's title game.

Game #3 (Sunday): #1 Madison College 5, #3 Kankakee Community College 4 (8 innings)

After Kankakee Community College eliminated Highland Community College 7-2, the WolfPack and Cavaliers found themselves in a head-to-head battle between the only two programs to win region titles in the past three years. Madison College again grabbed the first lead, putting up two runs on three hits in the bottom of the first. Katie Joten and Brianna Brandner started the game with consecutive singles, and Abby Luczak drove in Joten with a sac fly to right. A Megan Miklesh single through the left side allowed Brandner to cross home for a 2-0 lead. Kankakee Community College (36-14) rallied in the fourth to score all four of their runs and take the lead. The WolfPack pulled even a half inning later with Luczak's second two-run home run of the tournament and her third homer of the season.

It remained tied at four through the seventh and into extra innings, where the Cavaliers went 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth. Madison College started the home half with a single from Briel Burg, who then stole second and advanced to third on a ground out by Joten. That brought Brandner to the dish with one out, and the freshman from Portage, Wisconsin, grounded a ball through the left side that scored Burg and set off the championship celebration.

Brandner was 3 for 5 with two runs scored and one batted in, and was joined atop the hits category by Brandl and Burg. Luczak posted one hit, three RBI, and a run scored to finish the tournament with five hits, four runs scored, and nine runs batted in.

Casey Fountain (14-2) tossed another eight innings, giving her a tournament total of 20.1. She was credited with five strikeouts in the championship game, and allowed three earned runs on nine hits and three walks. 

Fountain, Luczak, Brandl, and Miklesh were all selected to the Region 4 All-Tournament Team, and Leo Kalinowski was named Region 4 Coach of the Year for the third consecutive tournament. 

Up Next:

Madison College (39-7) will play in the 2021 NJCAA Division II Softball Championships at Oxford, Alabama's Choccolocco Park from May 25-29. In their two previous national tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019, the WolfPack went a combined 4-4. They tournament seeds, pairings, and game times will be announced this week.

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