Cardinals split in softball openers
SOFTBALL
HENDERSON, Nev. - Sophomore Alyssa Erickson allowed three hits over five innings as North Idaho College beat Gateway Community College of Phoenix 11-0 to finish with a split of their first two games at the season-opening Mizuno Kickoff Classic on Friday.
Kristina DeAnda went 3 of 3 with three RBIs and four runs scored for NIC in the win over Gateway. Freshman KaSara Wise scored five runs for NIC, which faces El Paso, Western Arizona and South Mountain today. Erickson also went 3 for 5 and drove in five runs.
Earlier, Brianna Bishop singled with one out in the sixth for the Cardinals' only hit in an 11-0 loss to Pima Community College of Tucson, Ariz., in their season opener. Pima is ranked 12th in the NJCAA's preseason poll.
PIMA 11, NORTH IDAHO 0
Pima 024 014 - 11 10 0
North Idaho 000 000 - 0 1 0
Game called after 6 innings due to 8-run rule.
Silva and Ballesteros; Blake Meredith, Jocelynn Probert (3) and Shelby Gonzales. W - Silva. L - Meredith.
HITS: PCC - Asher, Sipe 2, Schneider 2, Marcia 3, Weldon, Baldwin. NIC - Bishop. 2B - Asher, Sipe, Schneider, Garcia. HR - Garcia.
NORTH IDAHO 21, GATEWAY 0
North Idaho 2(13)0 33 - 21 13 0
Gateway 000 00 - 0 3 6
Game called after 5 innings due to 8-run rule.
Alyssa Erickson and Shelby Gonzales, Maddie Edwards (3); D. Morales, remainder of battery unavailable. W - Erickson. L - Morales.
HITS: NIC - Wise 2, DeAnda 4, LaVaute 2, Meredith 2, Gonzales, Erickson 3, Tinoco. GCC - Gutierrez 2, Charley. 2B - DeAnda, LaVaute, Meredith.
WRESTLING
North Idaho 40
Western Wyoming 9
POWELL, Wyo. - Freshman Jake Mason (165 pounds) and Jamelle Jones (197) had pins for the third-ranked Cardinals in a win over Western Wyoming on the opening day of the Apodaca Duals at Northwest College.
"It wasn't our best match of the year, but we'll take winning 40-9," NIC coach Pat Whitcomb said. "We'll need to wrestle better against Iowa Lakes on Saturday. It was good to get the bus trip out of their systems and now we'll get back down to weight, go out and have a couple of good duals to end the regular season."
Former Coeur d'Alene High standout Jesse Nielsen defeated Shawn Seppala by a 17-0 technical fall for NIC (10-0), which concludes the regular season today against Iowa Lakes and host Northwest College.
"Jesse went out and got right after his guy," Whitcomb said. "He's always prepared to wrestle. It's good to see that no matter where it is, Jesse is going to be ready to wrestle. It speaks volumes for him headed into nationals in (four) weeks."
125 - Kyle McCrite, NIC, by forfeit. 133 - Brock Banta, NIC, d. Richard Serna, 7-5. 141 - Markos Serna, WWC, d. Braden Mowry, 6-4. 149 - Justin Schumacher, WWC, p. McKray Jones, 2:47. 157 - Jeremy Bommarito, NIC, d. Scott Verner, 11-6. 165 - Jake Mason, NIC, p. Dylan Bushby, 3:58. 174 - Jesse Nielsen, NIC, tf. Shawn Seppala, 17-0. 184 - Justin Korthuis, NIC, tf. Matthew Spoon, 16-0. 197 - Jamelle Jones, NIC, p. Simas Norkus, :47. 285 - Matthew Foxworthy, NIC, by forfeit.