• Dighton hit seven home runs and drove in 13 runs during the week
• Dighton is tied for the NJCAA Division II lead in home runs
• Dighton is tied for the NJCAA and ICCAC lead in home runs with 11

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has named DMACC softball player Emma Dighton the NJCAA Division II Player of the Week for the week of March 21 to 27.

The announcement comes of the heels of Dighton being named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) Athlete of the Week for Division II softball for the week of March 21 to 27.

Dighton, a freshman from Boone, is the second member of the DMACC softball team to earn the award from the NJCAA this season. Sophomore Abby Flanagan of Coggon was named the NJCAA Division II Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 21 to 27.

Dighton collected nine hits, including seven home runs, in 19 a-bats as the Bears went 4-2 during the week. She was 1-for-3 with an RBI in a 9-3 loss to Kirkwood Community College (KCC) on March 21 and also collected a hit in three at-bats in a 2-1 win in the second game on March 21.

The Bears hosted Iowa Lakes Community College (ILCC) on March 26 and 27 and Dighton led them to three victories in the four games with six home runs. She hit three and drove in four runs in an 11-10 loss in the opener on March 26 and was 1-for-3 with two RBIs in a 13-5 win in the second game. Dighton hit two home runs in four at-bats with four RBIs in a 7-4 win on March 27 and was 1-for-3 with two RBIs in a 4-0 win in the second game on March 27. She hit .571 with runners in scoring position during the week.

Dighton is tied for the NJCAA and ICCAC lead in home runs with 11.

For the season Dighton is batting .304 with 24 hits in 79 at-bats. She has five doubles and a triple to go with her 11 home runs and 29 RBIs. She has scored 19 runs.

Dighton also pitches for DMACC and is 6-1 with a 3.66 earned run average. She has thrown 44 innings and allowed 29 runs on 44 hits with 23 of the runs being earned. She has struck out 29 batters, walked 11 and is averaging 4.61 strikeouts per seven innings pitched.

The DMACC softball team, ranked third in the NJCAA Division II poll, will play doubleheaders against North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) April 2 and 3 at Mason City. NIACC is 2-16 for the season and 0-8 in the ICCAC.