The Iowa Lakes softball team opens the NJCAA National Championships this afternoon in Normal, Illinois as the number two seed in the tournament. The Lakers are 59-9, giving them the most wins of all the 16 teams in the field. Freshman hurler Julia Nealer has been the leader defensively, with an ERA of 0.68 and nearly 300 strikeouts. Offensively, Christy Cabrera provides the power, coming off an eight RBI performance in the district finals; however, head coach Mike Bosch says it’s their balance of hitting .406 as a team making the season a success. The Lakers opening round opponent is 15th seeded Cecil College of Maryland, who enter with a 29-11 mark. Making their second trip to Nationals in six years, ILCC knows they need to focus on the task at hand, and not look ahead at the rest of the bracket. A win puts the Lakers into the winners bracket with a 4:00 game, while a loss means they will have to play their way through the losers bracket beginning at 2:00 this afternoon.
