A Central College softball team that has thrived on comebacks, was in need of a bounceback.
An excruciating 9-6, 10-inning loss to Bethel University (Minn.) Saturday forced a final deciding game but the determined Dutch responded with a resounding 9-3 victory to capture the four-team NCAA Division III Regional crown in a doubleheader heard live on 92.1 KRLS.
It’s Central’s 15th regional title, its first since 2015 and sends the Dutch (32-11) into a best-of-three super regional next Thursday and Friday at a site to be determined with Linfield University (Ore.) (46-1), the top-ranked team in the NFCA Division III Coaches’ Top 25. The 62-team NCAA tournament field is now whittled to 16, with next week’s eight super regional winners advancing to the national finals May 30-June 5 in Marshall, Texas.
No. 25-ranked Central, is making a record 32nd NCAA tournament appearance and seemingly had the regional crown within its grasp in the eighth inning of the opener. After Central wriggled free from a bases-loaded jam in the 6-6 game in the top of the eighth, all-region second baseman Haley Bach (junior, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) slashed a single to right field and the Dutch filled the bases with one out. Catcher Rylee Dunkin (freshman, Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) lofted a fly ball to left that looked like it might bring home the winning run but instead resulted in Bach getting thrown out at the plate after an unfortunate stumble.
Central was in position for the win thanks to a gritty relief effort from pitcher Morgan Schaben (5th-year, Portsmouth, Harlan HS), who has carved out an invaluable bullpen role. She made her 33rd appearance as starter Emma Beck (sophomore, Holland, Grundy Center HS) struggled with control issues on a windswept day at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field and was lifted in the third inning. Schaben largely kept Bethel in check through her longest outing of the season, throwing more than 100 pitches in seven innings. Central, down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the second, erupted for six runs on six hits off Bethel all-American hurler Kayla Simacek, getting a two-run double from right fielder Mariah Parton (sophomore, Ankeny) and an RBI double from left fielder Megan Doty (5th-year, Grinnell).
A two-run Bethel homer tied it 6-6 in the fourth inning and the Royals finally broke through with three runs on four hits in the 10th. Schaben (7-1) was charged with five runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts, but the numbers don’t measure the effort.
“Morgan did everything she could,” Wares said. “We had her ready for one inning and she threw 127 pitches or whatever. Even though she got her first loss of the season extremely well. She has really picked up the slack.”
Central was in need of a reset, but the clock was ticking for the start of the next game.
“I’m not going to kid you, it was really tough,” Wares said. “And you know you have to come back against (Simacek) again with momentum going their way. But we finally said, just treat it like the regular season. OK, we just got beat by a good team. We haven’t been swept all year and let’s come back and do what we need to do again and that’s what we did.”
After three scoreless innings, Central broke the tension with a five-run fourth-inning outburst, capped by Doty circling the bases on a squeeze bunt, when an errant throw to first base sailed into the right field corner. Designated player Hannah Higgins (sophomore, Macomb, Ill.) had an RBI single and Parton had a run-scoring double. The Dutch added a run in the fourth and three more in the sixth in breaking Simacek’s five-game win streak over Central.
Bach, who had two of Central’s eight hits in the disappointing opener, showed her resilience by coming back with two more in the second game. But she had to overcome some bumpy early moments.
“These are the games that we all want to be in and that’s why I came here,” Bach said. “My mentality is refusing to lose and going out and trying to win pitch by pitch. And that’s what I tried to do.”
Beck (16-5) was equally resilient, coming back to record a complete-game win. She allowed three runs on six hits with five walks and six strikeouts over seven innings.
“She’s prone to some weird walks and she went 3-0 early in game two, so I went out and it wasn’t a strategic conversation,” Wares said. “And then, boom, boom, boom, three strikes and we’re out of it. Sometimes she doesn’t realize how good she is in terms of the movement of her pitches and overthinks it. But she was very good.”
Higgins also had two hits and two RBIs as did third baseman Franie Burnett (senior, Ankeny, Centennial HS). Burnett, swinging a hot bat down the stretch, hit a steamy .533 in four games in the regional with eight hits and seven RBIs. She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player while Beck, Bach and Parton joined her on the all-tournament team.
Wares called Burnett’s showing gratifying and noted she dazzled in the field as well.
“This was so good for her to be able to do what she’s done,” he said. “She went through a spurt, because of injuries, where she just wasn’t hitting the way she wanted to and the way that she’s capable. But she was phenomenal and very deserving of the all-tournament honor.”
Dunkin, in her first season at Central, is soaking up every minute of it.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” she said.
Meanwhile, Wares is in year 40. He’s coached four national championship teams and is the nation’s winningest Division III coach with a 1,264-447-3 record, yet he never tires of tournament runs.
“We’ve had plenty of teams that are really, really good and not make it beyond the regional so you never take anything for granted,” Wares said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, that’s obvious when you play Linfield, but there’s a reason that we play. We’ll go play and do what we can to give ourselves a chance.”
2024 NCAA Division III Pella, Iowa Softball Regional
All-tournament team
Larissa Snyder–Wis.-Superior
Bella Eggert–Wis.-Whitewater
Maddy Anderson–Wis.-Whitewater
Lexi DeBace–Bethel (Minn.)
Autumn Earney–Bethel (Minn.)
Mariah Parton–Central
Emma Beck–Central
Haley Bach–Central
Kayla Simacek–Bethel (Minn.)
Most Outstanding Player
Franie Burnett–Central
GAME 1 AUDIO HIGHLIGHTS:
GAME 2 AUDIO HIGHLIGHTS: