Park Hills, MO - The Illinois Central College softball team used a total team effort to capture the Central District Tournament Title on Sunday, winning three straight elimination games to earn a bid to the World Series on May 20-25 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, AL.

After beating St. Louis 12-6 in the morning game, the #4 seeded Cougars had to beat #1 seed and host Mineral Area twice, after having lost to them nearly 24 hours prior. But ICC did just that, first by a score of 4-3 and then 6-3 in the finale to earn the title.

Ironically, the Cougars played from behind in all three games on Sunday, trailing 5-0 vs. St. Louis, and 1-0 and 2-0 against Mineral Area. But ICC stayed the course and their trust in each other did not waiver.

"Our fight was unbelievable this weekend," coach Heather Doty said, "and it was a total team effort. Everyone stepped up, had confidence in themselves and each other, and we left it all out on the field. We're so proud of our kids' effort and togetherness." 

Sophomore pitcher Emily Compton was dynamite on the mound, pitching 17.1 innings and earning all three wins. She threw 320 pitches on Sunday and a total of 488 in the five games at Districts---all in about 31 hours. 

"Emily was a workhorse," Doty said. "Our defense was solid, so she was able to concentrate on doing her job on the mound which helped her maintain her focus."

Offensively the Cougars had several key hits over the course of the three games, with none bigger than Kayleigh Harr's sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh in the second game to give ICC a 4-3 win and force the "if necessary" game. Courtney Campbell had a strong day with five RBI in three games, including a home run and two triples. Kelsey Bartels had two RBI and a double and Marlee Brown also had a big RBI double. Cassidee Bauer filled in at left field and had big at-bats.

"Our kids wanted to win and wanted it for each other," Doty said. "Even though there were times we were behind, there was never a moment that we didn't feel confident that we couldn't come back and win. We definitely earned the trip to the World Series and are thrilled to be going." 

The trip to the World Series will be ICC's first since 2022 and the program's 11th under Doty and longtime assistant Kathy Holzhauer.

The Cougars (33-21) will find out their seed on Tuesday, May 13 at 2pm (CST) when they watch the NJCAA Selection Show on the NJCAA Network (link: https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index). All teams will attend a banquet on Sunday with games starting Monday, May 19. 

A summary of Sunday's games appears below.

Game 3 - Championship: Illinois Central 6, Mineral Area 3
The Cardinals struck first scoring two runs in the second inning off two walks, a double, another walk, and single for a 2-0 lead. MAC added another run on a double and single in the third to take a 3-0 lead.

Campbell led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run to left field as ICC trailed 3-1.

The Cougars added another run in the third as Brown smacked a 2-1 pitch for a double to left field and her pinch runner (Morgan Kessler) advanced to third on an Olivia Strawn single. Kessler then scored on a sacrifice fly by Graci Guenther to cut the Cardinal lead to 3-2. 

The tide turned in the fifth as Bartels and Reagan Linder singled to lead off the inning. Harr laid down a sacrifice bunt to move runners into scoring position and Bailey Herrick walked to the load bases. Bartels scored on a passed ball, which also moved the runners to second and third. Bauer had an RBI single for a 4-3 lead and Brown's sacrifice fly put the Cougars up 5-3.

ICC added a run in the bottom of the sixth on a bunt single by Bartels and a Linder RBI single. 

The Cardinals went three-up, three-down in the top of the seventh and ICC celebrated winning the Central District title.

COUGAR HITTING
Reagan Linder | 2-4, RBI
Cassidee Bauer | 1-2, RBI
Marlee Brown | 1-2, RBI, double
Courtney Campbell | 1-3, RBI, home run
Graci Guenther | RBI
Kelsey Bartels | 2-4

COUGAR PITCHING
Bailey Herrick | 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 K
Emily Compton | 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K

Game 2 - Illinois Central 4, Mineral Area 3
The Cougars started out behind again as Mineral Area scratched a run in the bottom of the first on a double and a walk for a 1-0 lead. 

Herrick got things brewing in the fourth with a lead-off single to right field. Bauer had a bunt single to put runners on first and second and Olivia Strawn did her job by bunting them into scoring position. Guenther reached on an error that also scored Herrick to tie the score at 1-all. Campbell then lined a triple to center field, scoring Bauer and Guenther for a 3-1 ICC lead.  

The Cardinals tied the score in the fifth using two singles, an error, and another single for a 3-3 score with just one out. The Cougars and Compton dug in, inducing a line out and strikeout to end the inning. 

Campbell reached on an error to start the go-ahead rally. Bartels bunted her way on and advanced Campbell to third and Linder walked to load the bases. Harr then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Campbell with the go-ahead run at 4-3.

In the seventh, Compton had a strikeout and Bauer caught two line-outs in left field to end the game and bring on the "if necessary" game. 

COUGAR HITTING
Courtney Campbell | 1-3, 2 RBI, triple
Kayleigh Harr | RBI
Bailey Herrick | 2-4

COUGAR PITCHING
Emily Compton | 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 K

Game 1: Illinois Central 12, St, Louis 6
STLCC started the game with a bang, scoring three runs in the top of the first and two in the top of the second for a 5-0 lead. But after that, it was all Cougars as they put up a seven-spot in the bottom of the second for a 7-5 lead and never looked back. 

ICC's big second inning included a walk, three singles (by Strawn, Linder, Herrick) and a double (Nivarra Oredina). They also got some help from the Archers who committed four errors, allowing twelve Cougars to the plate that saw ICC take a 7-5 lead. 

After that, the slugfest slowed down and neither team scored until the bottom of the fifth when Linder drew a lead-off walk and scored on a Campbell triple for an 8-5 advantage. 

The Archers got a run back in the top of the sixth to cut their deficit to 8-6 but the Cougars responded again, this time with four runs on a two-out rally started with a Guenther single. Two errors and a walk kept the inning alive and Bartels made the most of the opportunity, doubling to center for two more runs. Harr then singled for a 12-6 score. 

Compton and the Cougars shut STLCC down in the seventh to get the win and advance. 

COUGAR HITTING
Kelsey Bartels | 3-5, 2 RBI, double
Nivarra Oredina | 1-5, 2 RBI, double
Courtney Campbell | 1-3, 2 RBI, triple
Kayleigh Harr | 3-5, RBI
Bailey Herrick | 1-4, RBI

COUGAR PITCHING
Broghan Hall | 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 K
Emily Compton | 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
The World Series - May 20-25 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, AL