DANVILLE — The Danville Area Community College softball team finished the regular season in style over the weekend.
The Lady Jaguars swept Heartland Community College in the final regular season home games at Winter Park on Saturday and finished with a sweep of Lincoln Land Community College on the road on Sunday.
After winning the first game on Saturday 6-3, the Lady Jaguars would finish the sweep with an 8-0 win.
“I thought the girls competed very well today from pitching, defense and hitting. On offense, we were just grinding out the bats and being tough,” DACC softball coach Matt Cervantes said. “We had a game plan today and I thought the girls executed on every facet. When they stick to what they can do, they are pretty tough to beat.”
Kenzie Fasig had four strikeouts and only allowed one hit for DACC, continuing a second half of the regular season that has seen her return to the form of last season.
“I had been in my head a lot. Coming from a good season, I felt I had the pressure and I had to compete and I am starting to figure out that I have to rely on my team,” the sophomore pitcher said. “This is my last season here and I am living in the moment and go out there and be confident.”
“She commanded the zone and worked well and even if she was down in the count, she competed very well. She had a very big presence in the mound and did what she is capable of. To see her make these strides down the stretch have been amazing.
Fasig was helped by the defense, who turned a double playin the fourth and had no errors, and the offense, which had 11 hits.
“I depend a lot on my team. I throw a ot of down pitches so I depend on them to field the ball and have my back.
Kendall Rannebarger had three RBIs for DACC, while Mikayla Cihla had two RBIs, Ava Olson had two hits and an RBI, Kaitlyn Drew and Macy Warner each had an RBI, Ka’Leah Bellik had three hits and Chloe Hunt had two hits.
“We talked about adjusting and doing a job and our girls did that today,” Cervantes said. “We were able to scored first in both games with two out in the inning. They were finding ways to get on base and be gutsy.”
In the first game, Bellik had two hits and two RBIs while Olson had two hits and an RBI and Rannebarger and Bella Dominguez each had a hit and an RBI. Paige Froess had five strikeouts to get the win.
Cervantes said it was a great way to say farewell to the sophomore class, which includes Fasig, Hunt, Drew, Ella Myers, Zoe Foxworthy-Dejournett, Maddie Ummell, Jocelyn Peal, Marin Gonski, Mia Herbert, Alex Brown and Dakota Harrison.
“They told me they wanted to win be tough and gritty and they have come into their own,” Cervantes said of the class. “We have had a lot of great teams in DACC and I think it stems with strong classes and this was a strong class. You have athletes up and down the sophomore class. They go and compete and work hard. They love each other and are great teammates. They have built the culture the right way .I think that’s a testament to why they are having success this season. Everyone had played their part to this season so far and I don’t think we would have been successful without them.”
In Sunday’s first game, Tristan Ring had two hits and five RBIs in an 12-8 win over the Loggers. Rannebarger had three hits and two RBIs, Bellik had two RBIs, Olson had an RBI and Hunt had two hits. Froess had eight strikeouts in the win.
Ring had three hits with a home run and two RBIs in an 10-2 second game win. Dominguez had two hits and two RBIs and Olson, Bellik, Rannebarger, Gonski and Hunt each had one RBI. Fasig had two strikeouts and only gave up five hits.
The Lady Jaguars finish the regular season with a 45-11 record and will return to Winter Park this weekend. Heartland and Lewis & Clark will come to Danville and start action on Saturday with a 1 p.m. game. The winner of that game will play DACC at 3 p.m. The losers of the first two games will face each other at noon on Sunday and the winner of that will move on to the championship game at 2 p.m.
“We are going to concentrate on us and focus on things that we need to do to be successful and I think that is what separates them from other teams,” Cervantes said. “They are constantly asking what we can do better from a players perspective and a coaching perspective.”
“Our region is a tough region and we have to rely on each other,” Fasig said. “We keep to ourselves, keep our heads down and go to work and that’s been our whole thing this year.”