- DMACC takes a 55-5 record and a No. 4 seed into the tournament
- Bears also riding a 17-game winning streak
- DMACC is in the national tournament for the 11th consecutive season
The DMACC softball team will face a team they have already seen this season or a brand new opponent when the Bears begin play in the 2025 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division II Softball World Series May 20 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala.
The team DMACC is familiar with is Illinois Central College (ICC) and the new opponent is Mott Community College (MCC). ICC, seeded 13th, and MCC, seeded 20th, meet at 11 a.m. today and the winner will move on to face the fourth-seeded Bears at 11 a.m. on May 20.
DMACC softball coach Bob Ligouri said he did not have a preference as to which team the Bears might face.
"We're just thankful to be there," said Ligouri, who has led DMACC to its 11th consecutive appearance in the national tournament and its 12th in the past 13 seasons.
"We've started looking at little bit of tape on Mott and we've played Illinois Central so we have a pretty good idea what they are," Ligouri said. "We're looking at Mott a little bit more because we don't know as much about them."
DMACC played ICC in the second game of the season at the Southeastern Community College (SCC) Turf Tournament Feb. 14 at West Burlington. The Bears scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to come away with a 1-0 victory.
"They are a real solid team," Ligouri said. "They are really well coached, they have some power, have some speed and their pitching is solid. They beat some good teams to get (to the national tournament) so if we play them, it will be a good game."
DMACC brings a 55-5 record and a 17-game winning streak into the tournament. The Bears, who are ranked in the top 10 nationally in a number of statistical categories, have a team batting average of .408, an on-base percentage of .472 and a slugging percentage of .655.
Freshman Ella Husak of Polk City leads six regulars batting .400 or higher with a .508 average. Freshman Macee Reilling of Dallas Center has belted 13 home runs and driven in 86 runs and freshmen Bri Tigges of Urbandale and Erin Ades of Boone are right behind Reilling in home runs with 12 and 11 respectively.
Two other freshmen, Kierra Jungers of Fonda and Jacki Baas of Bondurant are DMACC's top two pitchers with 25-1 and 19-1 records respectively. Jungers has 212 strikeouts and a 1.41 earned run average and Baas has stuck out 107 batters and sports a 1.40 ERA.
The Bears received a boost late in the season when sophomore outfielder Breanna Caffery of Bettendorf was given clearance to play after sitting out several games because of an ankle injury. Caffery is batting .492 and leads the Bears in stolen bases with 54 from 55 attempts.
"That's a huge addition," Ligouri said. "I think we have a nice blend between some good solid leaders in our sophomore class and some of the younger ones who have really stepped up. It's a good balance and we have to hope the younger ones stay relaxed and the ones who have been here can help them get adjusted."
DMACC has four third place and a fourth-place finish in the tournament but has not finished any higher.
"I think the key is to stay calm," Ligouri said. "When we stay calm and don't play tight, we play really, really well. We have seven freshmen starting and I think the big thing is that the stage doesn't get too big and we just play the game the way we can play it and not worry about anything else."
Three other DMACC opponents from the 2024-25 regular season are also in the tournament. Jones College (JC) is seeded third, Kirkwood Community College (KCC) is seeded sixth and Iowa Central Community College (ICCC) is seeded 10th. JC needed a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Bears 9-8 in a matchup Feb. 21 at Columbus, Ga. DMACC faced KCC and ICCC in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) and was 4-0 against KCC and 2-2 against ICCC.
Ligouri believes his team has the potential to win the national championship.
"I don't think there is any reason why we can't," Ligouri said. "We've played Jones and they were rated No. 1 for a long time. We can compete with them, the big thing with us is to be ourselves."
The double-elimination tournament continues at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala., through May 24 when the championship game will be played.