Another successful season is in the books as the Kirkwood Community College softball team completes the year with an overall 54-11 record. Following the Eagles seventh place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament, five players were recognized on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American squad.
Eagles’ players Amanda Lambrecht, Jena Malmen, Jami Miller and Melissa Walls were named First Team All-Americans while Shelby Dougherty earned second team honors. Kirkwood leads all NJCAA Division II schools with four first team selections.
In familiar territory, Amanda Lambrecht (East Moline, Ill.) closed her Kirkwood career as a two-time NFCA First Team All-American. Lambrecht led the nation in strikeouts with 305, and her 1.00 earned run average (ERA) ranked her third in the country. Breaking nearly every school pitching record, Lambrecht stands atop the record book, holding the single season wins (27), career wins (50), career strikeouts (576), and career shutouts (26) records. Her 576 career strikeouts breaks a 26 year-old record by over 250.
As a freshman, Lambrecht set the single season strikeout record with 254 and added 68 additional strikeouts this season to shatter her own record with 322 on the year. Arguably her most impressive outing came at the national tournament this season, where she broke the school single game and NJCAA National Tournament strikeout record with 17 against Highland Community College. Lambrecht will continue her student-athlete career at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville next fall.
Leading the team and the country in home runs was Jena Malmen (Orion, Ill.) with 28 on the year. Malmen took just 31 games to set the single season home run record, and 41 games to break the school career home run record as a freshman. With the help of Malmen, the Eagles crushed the single season home run record with 95 on the year, beating the previous school record of 56 held last season.
Sophomores Jami Miller (Genoa, Ill.) and Melissa Walls (Tiffin, Iowa) round out the Eagles first team selections. As a two-time NFCA All-American for the Eagles, Miller closed the year with 13 home runs and a .381 batting average. Walls led the nation in RBI’s with 83 and set the school hitting streak record at 24 games. Miller and Walls were instrumental in the Eagles success over the past two years, as they both saw action in all but one game while at Kirkwood. Next season, Miller continues her student-athlete career at the University of Memphis while Walls will continue hers at the University of Northern Iowa.
Pitcher Shelby Dougherty (Belmond, Iowa) closed her sophomore season with the second best ERA in the country (0.95) and a 14-4 record. Dougherty pitched 110 innings and allowed just 13 walks on the season while striking out 77. As a freshman, she finished with a perfect 6-0 season. Next year, Dougherty plans to continue her education at Iowa State University.
The sophomore class leaves an impressive legacy leading to high expectations for the upcoming season. With a two-year career record of 109-17, the sophomores enter history as the winningest class to take the field at Kirkwood. The Eagles will resume play next fall.