Kirkwood softball overcame injury, competition to return to NJCAA World Series

The hard part is done and time for Kirkwood softball to have some fun.

Eagles Coach Eric Frese emphasized the importance of enjoying the opportunities that hard work and a successful regular season has afforded them.

"It’s about playing that one seven-inning game in front of you and competing super hard,” Frese said. “Whether it’s a fast world series or you get to hang around for a while, it makes it a hell of a season either way.”

Kirkwood has overcome injuries and staved off postseason elimination, earning a return trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association D-II World Series, beginning Monday at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Ala. The No. 6-seeded Eagles open against No. 11 Johnson County (Kan.) at 5 p.m.

“We’re familiar with each other,” Frese said. “We play each other early every year. We’re obviously different teams than when we played them in March.

“It’s going to be a very challenging opening round for us because they can really swing the bat.”

Kirkwood (50-16) qualified for its 10 straight national tournament, dating back to 2015 including a second-place finish a year ago. This year’s trek has presented difficulties with injuries surfacing in February and continuing until now.

Pitching ace Peyton Paulsen missed some time and isn’t expected to play this week. Starting shortstop Rachael Schlotter has been in and out of the lineup but will give it a go in Oxford. At least one more injury has popped up in the postseason.

“When it’s all said and done, especially as a coaching staff, we’re going to look back at this and realize how proud we were of the group with all the adversity they have faced,” Frese said. “Getting down here with all we’ve been dealing with is really impressive.”

Kirkwood avoided earlier exits in dramatic fashion. They had to double-dip host Iowa Central in the Region 11-B championship games. The Eagles also lost the first game if the best-of-3 super regional series at Central (Neb.) Community College, sweeping the next two to advance.

Resilience has been demonstrated off and on the field.

“There are times where we put ourselves in that situation based on some attention to detail things and some focus things,” Frese said. “Any time they’ve put themselves in a hole they have more than answered the call.”

Interestingly, Kirkwood traveled to Alabama with an 18-player roster and 15 are from Iowa. All but one of the Iowa preps on the team are within a 90-minute drive from their hometown.

“One of the things we take a ton of pride in here is we have a ton of Eastern Iowa kids,” Frese said. “It is always really rewarding to come down here. Last year we played the national championship game against a former D-I JUCO from Florida. We have all these Iowa kids – a lot of smalltown Iowa kids – and to do what we do on the national stage is really rewarding.”

Peyton Johnson leads Kirkwood with 105 hits, including a team-high 34 doubles and 83 runs. Kiya Johnson packs a punch with 21 home runs and 99 RBIs. She also has 86 hits and 73 runs.

Paulsen recorded a team-best 24 wins in the circle and Natalie Vitek has 11. Jessa DeMoss (7-2) and Kiya Johnson (6-4) have pitched in during the postseason.

DeMoss, a former Benton Community prep, won both games against Iowa Central. Kiya Johnson earned both super regional wins. They have teamed up to save games as well.

“The motto and theme has been ‘next woman in’ and they have lived up to that,” Frese said. “It hasn’t been perfect and has been challenging at times but we’ve won 50 games and qualified for the World Series. What else can we ask for?

“These kids could have quit weeks ago, made excuses and felt sorry for themselves. I’m not going to say we will have a great World Series but I can say we’re going to compete hard. We’re going to see what happens by the end of the week.”

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