Stunning sweep gives Central surprising softball title
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA—It was the most improbable of finishes for an improbable league season for the Central College softball team.
Three games out of first place with just four games remaining, the Dutch pushed the resilience meter to new heights and pilfered an American Rivers Conference championship, stunning No. 13-ranked Luther College 8-7 and 10-1 in five innings Sunday. Central got a wild walk-off win in the opener after watching a four-run seventh inning lead melt away, getting a run-scoring double by left fielder Shaye Witte (junior, West Des Moines, Waukee HS).
It’s a record 13th league title for Central (24-8 overall, 12-4 conference) which will play host to the six-team league tournament Friday and Saturday at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field in Pella.
Dutch title hopes appeared to be lying face down in a roadside ditch just nine days earlier after the team suffered a pair of losses at Coe College April 19. But Luther (28-9 overall, 10-6 conference), which won nine of its first 10 league games, was upset in three of four contests heading into Sunday’s action and Coe also dropped a game, opening the door.
Central barreled through.
“Resliency, grit, toughness, this team earned a conference championship,” said coach George Wares, who etched another line into his memorable legacy. “This was not a fluke to do what they did.”
Central displayed all of that in game one. The Dutch broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fourth inning, only to have Luther tie it in the top of the fifth. Central answered with a four-run fifth but the game was far from over.
“I was never comfortable,” Wares said.
With good reason. Luther’s Hannah Halverson belted a three-run homer in the seventh and the Norse added a run before pitcher Mariah Fritz (senior, Tama, East Marshall HS) squirmed free, still tied 7-7.
“That was deflating,” Wares admitted.
But second baseman Kaitlyn Andresen (junior, Davenport, Assumption HS) bounced a one-out single into center field, then pinch-runner Kendra Sexton (senior, Danbury, Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto HS) scampered home when Witte’s double eluded the left fielder.
That assured Central of at least a title share, but there was no letdown in game two, even after the Norse broke on top with a second-inning homer. Central put up four runs in the bottom of the second, with two runs scoring on left fielder Sara Tallman’s (junior, Pella) infield hit. Andresen and Witte followed with RBI singles.
The Dutch stretched it to 10-1 with a six-run fourth inning. Andresen, Witte, third baseman Lauren Bagby (senior, Norwalk) and shortstop Daria Parchert (sophomore, Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS) had RBI hits and Parchert added a run with steal of home.
Wares was eager to end it early.
“When went to the top of the fifth, we told the team we were playing like we were up one,” he said. “We saw what (Luther) did in the seventh (inning of the first game) and also Mariah (Fritz) had thrown enough. We didn’t want to put any more pitches on her.”
Fritz retired the Norse in upping her record to 17-7. She was tagged for six earned runs on 14 hits with five walks in the opener. After throwing 124 pitches, she threw 62 more in the second game, allowing one run on seven hits and one walk in five innings. Fritz carries a modest 3.69 earned run average, but Wares said she epitomizes the team’s determination.
“She just finds a way,” Wares said.
Witte made an oversized contribution with five hits and a walk along with four RBIs. Despite playing through injury, she’s batting a team-high .422. Meanwhile, Parchert remains on a rampage with four more hits in five at-bats along with three RBIs as her average surged to .418. She’s even more valuable on defense and snuffed a Luther first-game threat by snagging a line drive and starting Central’s 18th double play.
The Dutch pounded out 18 hits on the day, including nine against Norse all-American Samantha Bratland.
“Our offense was really good today against some very good pitching,” Wares said. “That was impressive.”
Central will receive a first-round bye in the six-team league tournament. A pair of first-round games between the bottom four seeds are set for Friday, with the Dutch opening play Saturday in the single-elimination tournament. The tourney winner receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.
Central first closes out the regular season with a non-conference doubleheader against Cornell College Tuesday at Mount Vernon at 4 p.m. The Rams took an 18-16 record into a home doubleheader against Beloit College (Wis.) Sunday. The teams first met in 1998 but haven’t squared off since the 2013 NCAA Division III Pella Regional Tournament. Central and Cornell were set to play a single game March 12 at the Tucson (Ariz.) Invitational Games but were rained out.
But Wares and the Dutch will take a few hours to savor the program’s first league title since 2013 and the first outright crown since 2009. It’s been a bumpy road, with three of the team’s four league losses coming by seven runs or more. Yet Wares is a believer in his club.
“I’ve done this a long time,” he said. “To see this team do what they did is very special. I’m so happy for our players and, particularly, for our seniors.”
