Central College rallied from an early deficit to earn a 3-2 victory over Grinnell in the opening round of the NCAA softball regional on May 18th – the number four story on our countdown of the Top 10 moments of the 2022-23 school year at Central College. 

The Pioneers struck the first blow with two runs in the top of the second inning, only to see the Dutch answer with one on an RBI single by Emma Jensen. Then in the fourth, Megan Stuhr and Megan Doty drew back-to-back walks before Makenna Hall laced a two-run double. 

It was an improbable hit from Hall, who was used exclusively as a pinch runner for most of the season, before an injury to all-region centerfielder Emma Johnson pressed her into more regular duty.

“Coach was talking to us yesterday a lot about culture and how belief is what drives our culture”, Hall said. “I knew that even though I haven’t gotten to play a lot this year and even though my hitting is usually not very good and I don’t have very good form and I’m not the best hitter on the team by any stretch, I knew that if Coach was going to leave me in that he believed in me and the team believed in me. So I just went up there and did my best.”

After a rocky start, Dutch starting pitcher Syndi Huisman settled in, getting through 5-1/3 innings to earn the victory. Morgan Schaben got the final five outs to earn her school-record-tying fifth save of the season.

The Dutch finished the regional 2-2, beating Grinnell twice and dropping a pair of one-run games to eventual regional champ Bethel of Minnesota. Central went 33-11 on the season.