Central’s Farrington wins softball honor, Dutch head south again
PELLA—Shutdown defense carried Central College softball catcher Madison Farrington (junior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS) to all-tournament honors at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic.
The team was named following the three-day, 24-team tournament that completed play Sunday in Columbus, Georgia. The elite field featured five of the top six teams in the preseason NFCA Division III rankings.
Farrington had a double and triple with a walk in six games but batted just .118. However, those numbers were far outweighed by her value behind the plate, according to coach George Wares. Farrington threw out five would-be base stealers, shutting down opponent running games. Central held an 18-5 stolen base advantage over opponents. Wares also raved about how well Farrington worked with a Dutch pitching staff that was disrupted by the sudden loss of junior ace Sydni Huisman (Treynor) to injury moments before Friday’s opening game.
“Madison, defensively, is just a rock for us right now,” he said. “She’s just so good and she’s handling our pitchers so well. There are moments where I’m just pointing to her because she knows what pitches we want to call and I’m letting her go. She’s grown up a lot.”
Central faced two top-3 teams in its six games, including defending NCAA Division III champion Virginia Wesleyan University, ranked No. 3 in this week’s NFCA Division III coaches’ poll and No. 2 Salisbury University (Md.). The young Dutch posted a 1-5 mark.
They’ll head back south this weekend at for a spring break week at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Fort Myers and Naples, Florida. Central opens play on the 10-game slate next Monday against Oneonta State (N.Y.) at 9 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time).
