Knights Softball opens season in Iowa

The North Platte Community College softball team opened its season with a double loss in Burlington, Iowa Friday. 

The Knights played Iowa Wesleyan University first in the Southeastern Community College Turf Tournament. They watched the game slip away early and, ultimately, couldn't recover in a 21-5 loss. 

Kendall Hufford, of Westminster, Colo., Cameron Rollison, of Anchorage, Alaska, and Kelsey Woodhouse, of Duchesne, Utah, each drove in runs during the third inning. 

Righthander Angelina Lockhart, of Anchorage, Alaska, went four and two-thirds innings, allowing 11 runs on four hits and striking out four. 

The Knights racked up a total of eight hits with Hufford, Rollison and Elena Montoya, of Denver, Colo., each managing two. 

North Platte then went up against Ellsworth Community College for the second game. Again, the Knights fell behind early and were unable to come back in an 11-3 loss despite outhitting the Panthers 11-9. 

Jenny Singer, of Alberta, Calgary, took the rubber for the Knights. The righty allowed one hit and four runs over two innings. Taelyn Dakamas, of Wailua, Hawaii, threw three and a third innings in relief. Dakamas, Woodhouse and Montoya each managed two hits. 

The scores put the Knights at 0-2 on the season. 

"We are playing behind right now as our first eight games have been canceled or postponed, so we have a lot of catching up to do and not a lot of time to do it," said Janelle Higgins, NPCC head women's softball coach. "We are young and have a lot of growing and learning to do. It can only go up from here." 

The tournament will continue into the weekend with North Platte playing Southeastern Community College at 1 p.m. and Iowa Central Community College at 5 p.m. Saturday. 

The most up-to-date information about NPCC athletics can be found on the Knights Facebook and Twitter accounts and online at npccknights.com.