Central gets NCAA softball win; Wares ties record
Central College
PELLA—It was a milestone win for coach George Wares, but of more immediate significance, it was an advance in the winners bracket of the NCAA Division III tournament as the Central College softball team outlasted Benedictine (Ill.) 12-7 Thursday.
That sets up the season’s fourth meeting between No. 5 Central (36-7) and No. 7 Coe (37-9) Friday at 4 p.m. in the eight-team, double-elimination Pella Regional. Coe escaped No. 16 Wis.-Whitewater 1-0. In other first-round games at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field, No. 1 Linfield (Ore.) hammered Anderson (Ind.) 10-0 in six innings and Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) topped city rival Fontbonne (Mo.) 3-2.
Wares tied the all-time NCAA Division III record for coaching victories, upping his 27-year career record to 906-301-3 (.749). The late Donna Newberry of Muskingum (Ohio) set the record of 906-419-1 over 36 years (1975-2010).
For a coach who built his club’s reputation on pitching and defense, it was an uncharacteristic effort Thursday as the Dutch yielded 14 hits. But Central never trailed, using 12 hits and a season-high six stolen bases to outscore the Eagles (37-7).
“It’s a win but the score seems strange,” Wares said. “Obviously, it’s going to be impossible to continue getting 10, 11 or 12 runs a game. We’ve got to get to the point where we limit the opposition.”
Center fielder Holly Von Fumetti (junior, Johnston) lined a two-run, two-out double in the second inning to put the Dutch on the board. Central then erupted for four runs in the third and fourth. Shortstop Annie Sarcone (freshman, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) bounced a two-run single through the left side in the third.
First baseman Katie Tenboer (senior, Morrison, Ill.), designated player Rachael Everingham (junior, Georgetown, Ill., Georgetown-Ridge Farm HS) and right fielder Emily Te Brink (sophomore, Le Mars) each had two hits. Tenboer and Sarcone both had a pair of RBIs as well, as Tenboer upped her school-record season mark to 45 with Sarcone at 44.
Central knocked out Benedictine ace Brittany Cox (24-7) in the fourth inning.
“She’s a very good pitcher and I’m sure it was just a bad day for her, but I think you have to give some credit to our schedule,” Wares said. “We’ve seen a lot of quality pitching all year and I thought we were able to stay pretty disciplined at the plate, for the most part. And we were able to get our running game going.”
Senior pitcher Kiley Lythberg (Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) improved to 18-5, but had a bumpy outing as well, giving up four runs on eight hits in four innings, walking one and striking out none. Rhianna Fleetwood (sophomore, Sycamore, Ill.) surrendered three runs on six hits with no walks and a strikeout in three innings to pick up her second save.
The win snapped a five-game NCAA tournament losing streak for the Dutch, who were ousted in two games in 2009 and 2010.
Coe presents a huge tournament hurdle. The Kohawks outslugged Central 8-7 in 14 innings last Thursday in the Iowa Conference tournament at Decorah. The Dutch prevailed in a league doubleheader at Pella April 19, 5-4 and 3-2.
“Obviously all three were one-run games,” Wares said. “We could easily be 0-3 or 3-0. We know we’ll have to play well to be successful.”
Central is 1-3 against Coe in NCAA tournament play.
Friday’s winner plays at 2 p.m. Saturday against the winner of Friday’s 2 p.m. game between Linfield and Washington-St. Louis. The Central-Coe loser plays at noon Saturday against the winner of Friday’s noon contest between Anderson and Fontbonne.
