Molly Jacobsen, a sophomore at the DMACC campus in Boone, has been named the 2018 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Preseason All-American First Team by Fastpitch News, a newsletter covering women’s fast-pitch softball. The honor was based off of the 2017 season.
During the 2017 season last spring, Jacobsen was named the 2017 All-American First Team and Division II Pitcher of the Year.
“[Receiving the honors] means a lot. It’s all the hard work finally paying off,” Jacobsen said.
The Bears had a memorable spring season, winning the NJCAA Region XI-A Championship and the NJCAA District G Title to advance to the NJCAA Division II Championship.
Unfortunately, they lost to LSU Eunice, who ended up winning the whole tournament.
During the fall of 2017, the new, rebuilt team of only five returners, scrimmaged teams to prepare for the spring. Now, they are practicing at Sports Iowa, an indoor turf facility, where the girls scrimmage against each other. The pitchers, including Jacobsen, the starting pitcher, will throw against her teammates.
“They make us (pitchers) better, and we make them better as hitters working on live situations which I think will help a lot,” she said.
The first game of the season is Feb. 25 in Fort Worth, Texas against Hill College.
This is Jacobsen’s last year pitching for the Bears.
“I just want to have fun while playing. I’m not going to put a lot of pressure on myself. I know some people might think I have pressure to be as good as I was last year, but I’m not going to look at it that way. I want to enjoy this last year here and have fun and really just enjoy the moment as my last year at this junior college,” Jacobsen said.
After DMACC, she does want to keep playing softball, but she is undecided as to where.
“If we make it to nationals, there’s a lot of Division I coaches there so that could help. I do have other options if we weren’t to make it,” she said. “But I think we’re going to make it.”
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