A super regional softball surprise–Central topples No. 1 Linfield
McMINNVILLE, OREGON-And to think that was only game one.
No. 24-ranked Central College super-charged the NCAA Division III Super Regional in Oregon Friday by surprising No. 1 Linfield University (Ore.), as well as many onlookers, with with an edge-of-your-seat 4-2, 11-inning thriller.
Freshman catcher Riley Dunkin (Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) rocketed a two-run, two-out single into right-center field to break a 2-2 tie in the 11th inning. Then reliever Morgan Schaben (5th-year, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) secured the final three outs, with the aid of an errorless Dutch defense.
It’s only a step but it’s a memorable one in the best-of-three tourney. The teams come back Friday in a 1 p.m. clash at Del Smith Stadium. A Linfield win forces a deciding third game at 4 p.m., with a trip to the eight-team Division III finals in Marshall, Texas starting next Thursday hanging in the balance.
But regardless of Friday’s outcome, both teams will long remember Thursday’s 3-hour staredown.
“I’ve been in Division III my whole life and that’s where I’ve wanted to be,” NFCA Hall of Fame coach George Wares said after his program’s 101st NCAA tournament victory. “I call it a big-time atmosphere and a small environment. That game was just as exciting as Alabama playing Tennessee. That was a classic softball game and the fans from both sides got treated to something really special.”
It was only the second loss in 48 games for Linfield (46-2), which won an astounding 21 of its games via the eight-run mercy rule in racing through its season schedule. It also dropped Wildcats hurler Tayah Kelly, the frontrunner for Division III pitcher of the year honors, to 28-2. Kelly, who had walked just 37 hitters in 167.2 innings entering the contest, uncharacteristically issued eight free passes to the Dutch while still striking out 12. She threw all 11 innings, firing a staggering 196 high-octane pitches.
“We had not faced her and she’s everything they said she was with her velocity,” Wares said. “We were able to draw some walks and got some timely hits, obviously.”
Central was actually just two outs away from pulling off the upset in seven innings. Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the seventh, Linfield finally unleased its power after pitcher Emma Beck (sophomore, Holland, Grundy Center HS) was able to keep it under wraps much of the night. But then shortstop Cydney Hess crushed the squad’s 52nd home run of the season to tie the game. The Wildcats nearly ended it one batter later. but second baseman Brynn Nelson’s shot down the left-field line was about a foot outside of the foul pole.
Enter Schaben. She did what she’s done all season, get thrown into a tense situation and somehow wriggle free. After misfiring on her first anxious pitches and walking the next batter, Schaben was rescued when second baseman Haley Bach (junior, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) made a bid to take away a potential game-winning hit on a bloop to short right field, dropped the ball, then fired back to the infield to start a double play as two Linfield runners had retreated to the bags. Schaben (8-1) then surrendered just one hit over the final 4.1 innings to go with two walks.
Beck, meanwhile, went 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and five strikeouts.
