For a record 29th time, Central College is headed to the NCAA Division III Softball Championships.

The Dutch, who were squarely on the bubble after a one-and-done showing at Saturday’s Iowa Conference tournament, are headed to St. Paul, Minnesota for a four-team regional hosted by the University of St. Thomas.

The team gathered together to watch the selection show as a group, and while coach George Wares was a member of this year’s selection committee, he hadn’t shared the news with his team. Sophomore outfielder Sara Tallman of Pella says that it was incredible to see “Central” flashed on the screen.

“I was holding Maddie DeLeon’s hand and Sarah Sponder’s hand and saying ‘please, please let us see our name pop on the screen’. And then seeing it up there, it was a feeling of ‘oh my gosh, it’s real’. It was a sigh of relief. Now we’re in, which is great, so let’s focus on the week ahead.”

The region at St. Thomas is one of two regions that will start on Thursday, with the other 54 teams waiting until Friday.

Central will open play against Wisconsin-Oshkosh, while the host Tommies play their neighbors, Northwestern of Minnesota.

The Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, will be making the trip with Central, and will have every pitch live on 92.1 KRLS.

The double elimination regional will run through Saturday, with the winner advancing to a Super Regional next weekend, and the winner of that series moving on to the eight-team NCAA Nationals later in May in Oklahoma City.