The sting from the closing act will linger, as the odds-defying Central College softball team saw its dream season end Friday, after throwing a scare into top-ranked Linfield University (Ore.) on its home field in the NCAA Division III Super Regional. Following Central’s 4-2, 11-inning stunner Thursday evening, Linfield (48-2) came back to sweep the final two games Friday in devastating fashion, 11-0 and 13-1, both in five innings to take the best-of-three series and gain a spot in next week’s eight-team NCAA Division III Finals in Marshall, Texas.
Linfield’s offensive thunder, stymied in Thursday’s victory by pitcher Emma Beck (sophomore, Holland, Grundy Center HS) and an airtight Central defense, emerged as feared on Friday. The Wildcats unleashed a 24-hit barrage in the two games that included five home runs. There was no hint of suspense in either contest, with the Wildcats jumping on top with two runs in the first inning of the opener and three more in the first inning of the second game.
Beck (16-7) absorbed both losses in limited action. She allowed three runs on two hits in 3.0 innings of the opener and three runs on two hits without retiring a batter in the second game. She walked six in the two contests and struck out one. The Dutch (33-13) used four pitchers in both contests and had no answers for Linfield’s power display. Central mustered just a fourth-inning single by catcher Rylee Dunkin (freshman, Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) in the opener and five hits in the nightcap, scratching out a two-out run in the final frame.
“You can’t get down against a team like that because they can keep adding on the runs and some of the stuff we like to do gets somewhat nullified because of the margin that we’re down,” said NFCA Hall of Fame coach George Wares, the winningest coach in Division III history with a 1265-449-3 (.738) record.
But Friday’s disappointment will ultimately be overshadowed by all that preceded it. Year 40 of Wares’ storybook Central career ended the way 35 others have, without the national title that Dutch players start each season fervently believing is destined to be theirs. But that doesn’t diminish the effort that went into the pursuit or the accomplishments that resulted.
“As much as it hurts, it’s not going to take that long and you’re going to start remembering all those good things, and I hope the underclassmen take those things with them, the experiences and what they learned from the underclassmen,” Wares said. “It’s so important that we continue that.”
For the five fifth-year seniors who found a way to return to Central this spring, it was perhaps the season they were denied four years ago. Pitcher Sydni Huisman (Treynor), pitcher Morgan Schaben (Portsmouth, Harlan HS), shortstop Carson Fisk (Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS), center fielder Emma Johnson (Davenport, Assumption Catholic HS) and left fielder Megan Doty (Grinnell) all returned for another shot in their fifth year. Their freshman season in 2020 started with such promise, with a surprising 6-1 mark that included four wins in five games against Division III’s best a the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Arizona. A spring-break trip to Florida was just two days away when the season was abruptly snatched away by a deadly pandemic.
No one knows exactly how that season would have unfolded, yet what played out in 2024 is likely what those players had in mind. A 14th conference championship, the squad’s first NCAA Division III regional crown since 2015 and the type of improbable victories that are a Central trademark. A four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh in knocking off preseason conference favorite Coe College 10-9 in eight innings in part of an attention-grabbing sweep. Two surprising five-inning runaways over Wartburg College. A pair of late comebacks for a sweep of Simpson College. Snapping a five-game losing streak against Bethel University (Minn.) to take the regional crown. And then taking down No. 1 Linfield Thursday in an 11-inning 4-2 tension-filled victory that will be on rewind in Central fans’ minds for years to come.
“There was a lot of the Central magic in this group,” Wares said. “That’s something you have to create and this team really believed in that, even going back to the Coe game, being down 6-0 and thinking that it’s over, then finding a way to come back and win. I think that then helped us to win the Bethel game and to win the Linfield game yesterday.”
Wares said he was gratified that the fifth-year players were rewarded for the sacrifices they made in returning.
“I’m really happy for them,” he said.
The Dutch also lose three other seniors as third baseman Franie Burnett (Ankeny, Centennial HS), first baseman Megan Stuhr (Sigourney) and catcher Taylor Wyeth (Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS).
“All of them have contributed in their own way, obviously Franie and Megan on the field, and then Taylor goes unnoticed, I was glad we were able to get her out there as a pinch-runner today,” Wares said. “She’s been so valuable as a bullpen catcher for us.”
As enjoyable as those players are to coach, Wares said, the hardest part is a final loss and then seeing them go.
“It’s really hard,” he said. “It started to become apparent early in the game and you could already start seeing some of the tears. You know the old saying, if it doesn’t hurt, it means you weren’t invested enough. It’s hurting quite a bit for a lot of people right now.”
Designated player Hannah Higgins (sophomore, Macomb, Ill.) finished as Central’s top hitter with a .371 average. Johnson was the hits leader with 53. Second baseman Haley Bach (junior, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) was tops in runs with 43.
Schaben topped the pitching staff in ERA at 3.83 while Beck threw the most innings (127.1) and top win total (16).
Central stole 161 bases on the season, the team’s highest total since stealing a record 182 in 2000. Six players swiped 15 or more and Johnson led with 26.
Schaben set a school career record for appearances with 125. Stuhr ranks sixth in school history in career RBIs (114) and Burnett is sixth in stolen bases (74).
As always, the season’s end soon sparks hopes for the year ahead.
“We’ve obviously got some really good returning players so we feel really good about it,” Wares said. “It’s going to be different, because we lose so many, but one year just goes to the next. These seniors are going to be part of the alumni base and they’ll come back and watch the team play. We’ve got something that’s very unique in terms of our alumni support for our players. You can’t believe all the messages we received after the game yesterday. It’s special.”