Butler wins second straight NJCAA softball title

Brynn Minor hit three home runs and Butler beat Salt Lake 11-7 on Saturday in St. George, Utah, to win the NJCAA softball championship for the second straight year.

Butler (58-1) won five straight games at the tournament, outscoring opponents 53-14. Two of the wins came against second seed Salt Lake.

Minor, a sophomore from Eisenhower, drove in seven runs. She hit a sacrifice fly in the first as Butler took a 2-0 lead. After Salt Lake scored three in the bottom of the first for a 3-2 lead, Minor hit a three-run homer in the second to give Butler a lead it never relinquished. She added a solo homer leading off the fifth and a two-run blast in the sixth. Minor finished the season with 30 homers.

Alexis Reed added a two-run homer for Butler, and Kenzi Young scored three runs.

Minor also pitched the final 2 1/3 ininings, retiring all seven batters she faced.

This story was originally published May 20, 2017 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Butler wins second straight NJCAA softball title."