IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- The Ellsworth Panthers will take some momentum into this weekend's region softball tournament after winning a couple of low-scoring games with NIACC Wednesday afternoon.  The Panthers won the opener, 1-0, on Grace Gordon's run-scoring triple that accounted for the lone run.  In the second game, Kaysee Dale raced home on a NIACC fielding error in the bottom of the 7th to allow ECC to win, 4-3.

"These games were just what we needed as a team," said ECC coach Nate Forsyth.  "We were able to close out the regular season on a 3-game winning streak and we had a lot of individuals post really good numbers on the season.  We have had a difficult year and it is a major accomplishment to make it to this point.  I am very proud of what we have accomplished so far."

Gordon's three-base hit, which scored Maggie Braniff who had doubled, was the only run Delaney Vetter needed in her 3rd shutout of the year.  Vetter managed to pitch around six walks and struck out 11 in evening her season record at 12-12.  Her 11 Ks are a season high.  Mya Mathes had a triple for the other ECC hit.  "Delaney has been great all year for us," her coach said.  "She struggled in a couple of innings (Wednesday) but was able to get herself out of the jams."

Game two began with ECC's Gwen Hovorka bringing in a run with a sacrifice fly and Chelsea Buck following with an RBI single for a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st.  NIACC knotted the score at two before ECC regained the lead in the 5th when Abby Harding singled and came around to score on Chloe Roberts' single.  After NIACC drew even at 3-3 in the 6th, the Panthers pushed across the winning run on base hits by Dale and Roberts and the NIACC error.  Roberts had two singles and a triple and Buck provided two hits and an RBI.  Freshman Lili Ruiz made her first start in the circle this year and went five innings, allowing only two hits and two runs.  Cheyanne Collins picked up the victory with two innings of relief work.  "Lili gave us five really good innings.  She was able to get ahead of the batters and force contact.  I am very excited with how she performed," Forsyth explained.

The wins were numbers 19 and 20 for the Panthers, the most victories they have had in a season since 2012. 

Now, it's on to the postseason where Ellsworth will take part in the Region XI-B four-team double elimination tournament in Cedar Rapids which begins Saturday.  The Panthers' first-game opponent will be Iowa Central at 2:00 Saturday afternoon.  Kirkwood and NIACC are the other teams in the tourney. 

Forsyth looked ahead to the weekend, saying, "This is the best time of the year.  I expect us to play hard and battle every pitch of the game.  There are some really good teams in our bracket and we had some success against all of them this year so it should be an exciting tournament."