Central home for NCAA softball regional
Central College
PELLA—The NCAA Division III tournament road starts in Pella for the Central College softball team.
Making a record 23rd NCAA appearance in the past 26 years, the No. 5-rated Dutch (35-7) will be part of an eight-team, double-elimination regional tourney to be staged Thursday through Monday at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field on the Central campus.
The 60-team tournament field was announced late Monday morning. Central is among eight regional tournament sites. Eight teams advance to the NCAA Division III finals May 20-24 in Salem, Va.
Iowa Conference co-champion Central is seeded second in the Pella Regional and will take on seventh-seeded Benedictine (Ill.) (37-6) Thursday at 4 p.m. In other first-round games, top-seeded Linfield (Ore.) (41-2) meets eighth-seeded Anderson (Ind.) (28-13) at 10 a.m., fourth-seeded Fontbonne (Mo.) (29-8) takes on fifth-seeded Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) (30-9-1) at noon and third-seeded Coe (34-9) tackles sixth-seeded Wis.-Whitewater (26-10) at 2 p.m.
“We’re happy to be in it and we’re happy to be hosting it,” coach George Wares said.
Three Iowa Conference teams are in the national field. League co-champion Luther (36-4) is headed as the top seed to an eight-team regional hosted by Wis.-Eau Claire.
Broadcasts/webcasts—A live video webcast of each Pella Regional game will be available through the Central athletics website at http://www.central.edu/athletics/live/.
The webcasts can also be accessed through the official tournament website at http://www.central.edu/athletics/softball/2011regional.
Central’s games will be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1), with Trevor Castle handling the play-by-play. Audio webcasts can be accessed at www.kniakrls.com.
Rankings—The Pella bracket is loaded, with four regional teams ranked in the top eight in the nation in last week’s NFCA Division III poll. Linfield is the bracket heavyweight. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1 while Central was rated No. 5, Coe was No. 7 and Wis.-Whitewater was No. 8. Washington-St. Louis was among those also receiving votes.
Linfield, which finished second in the nation a year ago, remains a powerhouse, crushing 87 home runs in 2011 and boasting a sizzling .391 batting average. Junior catcher Emilee Lepp, who is hitting .497, has a remarkable 27 home runs and 82 RBI. Junior first baseman Staci Doucette is hitting .549 with 18 homers and 64 RBI.
2011 meetings—Central met two of the regional opponents this year. The Dutch took on Coe three times, sweeping a doubleheader at Pella April 20, 3-2 and 5-4, but dropping a 14-inning marathon 8-7 Friday evening in the conference tournament at Decorah. Central defeated Washington-St. Louis at Grinnell April 1, 3-2.
First-round foe—Benedictine, champion of the Northern Athletics Conference, is making its first NCAA tourney appearance since 2002. Central has clashed with the Eagles in NCAA tournament play four times and holds a 3-1 series lead. The Dutch lost at Benedictine in a regional in 1992, but won in a rematch in the Division III finals in 1993, then defeated the Eagles twice in winning a regional crown in 1995. It’s Benedictine’s second trip to Pella but the program’s first game here against the Dutch. Benedictine played in the 1992 national finals that were staged in Pella.
The Eagles, who defeated Iowa Conference rival Buena Vista March 20, 6-4, are led by junior pitcher Brittany Adcox. She’s 24-6 with a 1.31 earned run average, striking out 163 batters while walking just 29. Junior shortstop Brittany Wolski is hitting .436 with 25 RBI while second baseman Steff Rybarczyk is batting .405 with 26 RBI.
“Benedictine has a very good pitcher and has a nice team that knows how to win,” Wares said. “Nothing will come easy in this tournament.”
Tournament history–Central is the second-winningest team in Division III tournament history with a 79-43 (.648) mark. The Dutch have four national titles (1988, 1991, 1993, 2003) and have reached the national finals 13 times, placing second twice (1986, 2001). Only the College of New Jersey has more tournament wins, with a 95-29 record in 19 appearances with five NCAA crowns.
Central hasn’t claimed a tournament victory since 2006. The Dutch were 0-2 in regional games in 2009 and 2010.
However, after a pair of disappointing losses in last weekend’s conference tournament, and with six seniors on the roster, the Dutch are eager for an opportunity for a strong finish.
“They really want to come back and play,” Wares said. “And we’ve been pretty solid at home during these seniors’ careers.”
This is the eighth time that Central has hosted a softball regional and the first time since 2004. The NCAA Division III finals were staged at Central in 1992.
National bracket—The Pella Regional champion will meet the winner of the Cortland (N.Y.) Regional Friday, May 20 at 11 a.m. (Eastern time) in the eight-team national finals in Salem, Va.
Wares bidding for NCAA wins mark—Wares, in his 27th season at Central after inheriting a struggling program in 1985, needs just one win to tie the all-time Division III coaching victories record. He’s compiled a 905-301-3 (.749) mark. The late Donna Newberry of Muskingum (Ohio) is the all-time wins leader with a 906-419-1 record over 36 years (1975-2010).
Record-breaking offense—Pitching and defense remain the key to softball success, Wares said. But he doesn’t mind the offensive productivity of this year’s team, which shattered numerous school records. The Dutch set season marks for runs (288), home runs (25) and RBIs (262). And their 64 doubles are one shy of the school record while their 393 hits are eight fewer than the school standard.
First baseman Katie Tenboer (senior, Morrison, Ill.), a third-team NFCA Division III All-America honoree last year as well as a Capital One Academic All-District pick, broke the school season RBI record with 43 and has the career marks for home runs (21) and RBI (135). In Thursday’s loss to Coe at the conference tournament, she was on base a record seven times and tied a school single-game mark with five hits.
Tenboer is hitting a team-high .420 and was named the league’s position player of the week twice.
Pitcher Kiley Lythberg (senior, Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) is the second-leading hitter with a .393 mark. She has three homers and has driven in 29 runs. Second baseman Angela Davis (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) is hitting .388 with a team-high 15 doubles and 26 RBIs while catcher Caitlyn Meyer (sophomore, Newton) is batting .377 with three homers and 30 RBI. Meyer had a team-high 16-game hitting streak from March 19-April 17, two games short of the school record.
The Dutch are once again dominant on the basepaths, holding a 108-12 advantage in stolen bases. They’re successful on 79.4 percent of their steal attempts while limiting opponents to 57.1. Left fielder Bethany Koskamp (senior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) is the team leader with 21 in 25 attempts.
Lythberg, named the NFCA Division III player of the week March 23, is 17-5 with a 2.34 earned run average, striking out 103 while walking 37. She ranks third in career strikeouts with 394 and has 62 career victories.
Freshman pitcher Brie Haycraft (Eldridge, North Scott HS) is making rapid strides. She’s posted an 8-2 record with a 2.03 ERA and endured 11.2 innings and 171 pitches Friday against Coe. Sophomore Rhianna Fleetwood (Sycamore, Ill.) is 10-0 with a 2.24 ERA. She tossed a five-inning no-hitter against Grinnell last Wednesday.
