The Iowa Lakes Softball team will open up the 2018 season with a double header against Southeast Community College on Friday, March 2nd. The first game will start at 4:30 p.m., with the second game immediately following. The Lakers will then travel to Cloud County Community College to play in five games for their Spring Classic.

Sophomore, Leilani San Pedro, is excited for the season to start, saying "I am looking forward to just being on the field again, it's my happy place. Not only that, but just being able to compete alongside and hang out with my girls/family on the road and on the field."

The Lakers are coming off a great year under third year Head Coach Katie Larson. After winning 34 games (18 in conference) and being ranked #16 in the NJCAA Division II National Poll, ILCC softball has established themselves as a contender in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference. In the season's ICCAC preseason coaches' poll, the Lakers were picked to finish fourth, collecting 39 points in the poll. Des Moines Area Community College and Kirkwood took the top two spots in the poll.

Last year's team also broke the Iowa Lakes softball team homerun record with 65 homeruns (previous record was 54 from the 2001 team). They also saw three athletes get named ICCAC Player of the Week, including, Leilani San Pedro, Deanna Gerrard, and Courtney Calkins. In addition, seven athletes were named to the ICCAC All-Region teams, nine to the ICCAC All-Region Academic teams, and four to the NJCAA All-Academic teams.

Returners

Iowa Lakes Community College will be returning five athletes from their 2017 season, including two 2nd Team All-Region Outfield Players Leilani San Pedro and Julia Sullwold.

A sophomore from Redlands, CA, San Pedro fit in great with the Lakers' lineup last season. She led the Lakers with a .500 batting average, .543 on-base percentage, .845 slugging percentage, 21 doubles, 84 hits, and 69 runs from the three spot. She also made her presence known in the outfield with 53 putouts and 9 assists. For these reasons, San Pedro was selected as a Preseason NFCA 1st Team All-American.

A sophomore from Brooklyn Park, MN, Sullwold returns as the Lakers' leadoff batter. In this position, Sullwold batted .404 with a .451 on-base percentage. She had 72 hits, 55 runs scored, and swiped 31 bases.

The Lakers will also be returning Kaitlin Walsh and Desiree Lopez. Both of which will be seeing significant playing time in the infield this year. Their leadership, knowledge of the game, and hard work is something that Coach Larson leans on to help lead this young infield. Montanna Popp will also be returning for the Lakers in the outfield.

Freshman

The Lakers graduated five athletes that saw significant playing time for the past two years. They will be looking at their freshman class hard to see who will step up and make an impact for them.

Sullwold has high expectations not only for herself, but also for her entire team. "My expectations are to be at the top of the conference. Being in a tough ICCAC conference, we are going to need to play well

throughout the season with consistency and heart. If we can play like we are capable of playing, we should be in good shape."

In the circle, Iowa Lakes will look at freshmen Yasmine Nix, Bibiana Rosales, and Naomi Tolmachoff to lead them. Each of these pitchers are very different in how they throw a game, which will make for a very well-rounded pitching staff. Red-shirt freshman, Kenlee Frank, and freshman Laurie Custard will be the backbone for the young pitchers. Both Frank and Custard are expected to split time at the catching position.

Kacie Salazar, a freshman from Bakersfield, CA, is expected to be a force for the Lakers. Kacie will spend most of her time leading the infield from the shortstop position, while finding herself batting in the heart of a very strong Laker lineup. Tyana Kleis will also be seeing time on the dirt, while Gabby Heckard will be roaming the outfield. Both Lexi Pallisco and Emily Owen will have the opportunity to play both on the infield and outfield.

Coach Larson had this to say about the team, "Although we lost five key players last year, I am very excited about this year. The sophomores have stepped up in every way and the freshman are very talented. We will definitely have some growing bumps along the way, but if we compete in every game there is no reason we should not have a better season than last year."