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Box Score 4 GLEN ELLYN, Ill. – The Harper College softball team made a memorable run in the NJCAA Region IV Tournament this past weekend at College of DuPage. The Hawks staved off elimination twice before finally falling to No. 1 Rock Valley College to finish as the Region IV Runner-Up.
Harper College vs. College of DuPage
Harper got off to a rough start on Friday morning as they committed five errors and could not hold off a hot-hitting College of DuPage squad. The Chapparals took a 9-4 lead after four innings and held on for a 10-6 win. Hawks pitcher Olivia Hamilton (Homewood, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) surrendered nine runs, only two earned, in four innings of work. Raegan Fingerman (Fox River Grove, Ill./Barrington) led the offensive attack by going 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Harper College vs. Joliet Junior College
One more loss would knock end the Hawks' season, but they responded on Friday afternoon with a 9-1, five-inning victory over Joliet Junior College. The Harper bats got going early and often as they built up a 7-0 lead after three innings. Fingerman's one-out single in the bottom of the fifth scored Sara Markelonis (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) and ended the game.
Markelonis led the way by going 3-for-3 with a double, triple, and three runs scored. Hamilton picked up the win inside the circle with five innings of one-run ball.
Harper College vs. College of DuPage
Less than 24 hours prior, Harper dropped a 10-6 contest to DuPage. However, this time around was different. The Hawks capitalized on five Chapparal errors for a 13-5 win to advance to the Region IV Championship.
Sam Cummings (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) paced the offensive attack by going 2-for-2 with two doubles, two RBIs, and two runs. In the leadoff spot, Markelonis was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, including the RBI hit that sent the Hawks to the championship. Jessica McCabe (Arlington Heights, Ill. /Prospect ) went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Hamilton pitched six innings and struck out four for her 10th win of the year.
Harper College vs. Rock Valley College
Facing the top team in the nation at the NJCAA Div. III level would not be an easy task. The Golden Eagles came into the contest riding a 27-game winning streak and got off to a fast start with a 10-1 lead over the Hawks.
Harper scored two times each in the third and fourth innings and trailed 11-5 after four innings. Lane Winkler (Arlington Heights, Ill./Rolling Meadows)'s two-run single in the third cut the deficit to 10-3, and the Hawks scored on an error and a Beth Petrunich (McHenry, Ill./McHenry East) RBI groundout in the fourth inning.
Rock Valley scored two times in the fifth inning and exploded for six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Haley Love roped a two-run triple, and N4C MVP Vivi Marquez capped off the big inning with a three-run home run, her 12th of the season, to make it a 19-5 game. The Golden Eagles tallied 17 hits in the game but were also helped by seven Harper errors.
The Hawks had 10 hits in the game, led by Fingerman's 3-for-4 effort.
Season Recap
The Hawks finished the year with a 14-15 record and 7-8 mark in N4C regular season play. Harper finished third in the conference behind only Rock Valley College and Madison College. The 14 wins is the most in head coach Cray Allen's three years as head coach of Harper. Conference and region awards will be posted in future stories.
