PELLA — As the disappointment of Friday's opening-round 3-2 eight-inning loss to Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) soaked in, rebounding to reel off four straight wins for the NCAA Division III Pella Regional title seemed like a long and arduous task for the Central College softball team.

It was.

But the Dutch did it, leaning heavily on the right arm of tenacious pitcher Mallory Schulenberg (senior, Kansas City, Mo., St. Pius X HS) and capping their comeback with a 2-1, 10-4 sweep of Aurora University (Ill.) Sunday. Schulenberg (17-7) was named the tourney's most outstanding player. Center fielder Paige Heesch (senior, Titonka, WCLT HS), second baseman Abbey Strajack (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) and left fielder Tabitha Taylor (freshman, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) joined her on the all-tournament team.

"It's one thing to win four straight, but every game was a nail-biter," said an admittedly exhausted coach George Wares. "Even though the last game was 10-4, it seemed a lot closer because (Aurora) kept threatening in the latter innings and we were just wearing out. It was an incredibly competitive regional. What an effort by our players, led by our seniors."

Central (34-10) advanced to an NCAA Super Regional, a best two-of-three series Friday and Saturday against hard-hitting Linfield University (Ore.), which also rallied by sweeping Luther College 8-0 (5 innings) and 4-2 to win the Decorah Regional Sunday. It's one of eight super regionals which will determine the eight-team field for the Division III finals May 22-26 in Salem, Va. The super regional sites and game times have not been announced.

The four-team Pella Regional launched Friday as a series of pitching duels. The first three games required extra innings and two were scoreless after seven innings. But by Sunday, the tourney morphed into a battle for survival among weary but fiercely determined competitors. Schulenberg, who got the decision in all five of Central's games, muscled her way through 478 pitches in a tournament-high in just over 48 hours.

"It's what we've asked Mallory to do for four years and that is compete, compete, compete, and she certainly did that the whole weekend," Wares said.

Aurora broke on top with a run in the opener on four straight two-out hits in the second inning before Central responded with two in the bottom of the inning, getting RBI hits from Taylor and Strajack. But that ended the scoring. Schulenberg worked around nine hits, including two doubles, walking none and striking out four. Central slammed the door on a final threat in the seventh inning when catcher Katie Canney (senior, Adel, ADM HS) tossed out Aurora's top baserunner, Mandey Shrader. She was caught stealing for the first time in 25 tries this season.
Strajack and Schreiner each had two hits in the game.

A 6-foot pinch-hit that came to rest on the baseline by Kallie Schive (senior, Marshalltown) put Central on the board in the top of the first inning of the second game and the Dutch appeared to break it open with four runs in the third. Rock and Canney had RBI hits and Schreiner bounced a two-run double over the third-base bag. But in the bottom of the third, Aurora loaded the bases on a hit, an error and a walk. Schulenberg appeared to be showing the effects of the high pitch count when she ran the count to 3-0 on the next hitter and Wares decided it was an opportune time for freshman Annie DeVries (Eldridge, North Scott HS) to make her first NCAA tournament appearance. DeVries surrendered the walk, an infield hit and a sacrifice fly that sliced the lead to 5-3 before ending the frame.

"To Annie's credit, she got us out of a pretty big inning," Wares said. "We gave up three but it could have been a lot worse."

DeVries threw a scoreless fourth inning but with two runners in scoring position in the fifth, Trisha Smith (junior, New Hampton) came in and got a force out that brought in a run to make it 5-4 before walking a batter, prompting Wares to turn to Schulenberg once again. She got the final out of the inning before Central finally got some breathing room with three runs in the sixth and two unearned tallies in the seventh. Schreiner had a two-run infield hit.

The Dutch closed the game with a flourish as Sowers snagged a shot to third and started a 5-4-3 double play.

Schulenberg was charged with just one earned run in 4.2 innings, with five hits a walk and three strikeouts. Strajack, Rock and Schreiner again had two hits. Strajack upped her school season record hits total to 76 while Rock boosted her season record RBI mark to 58.

On a team with 10 seniors, the rookie Taylor was the top hitter for the tournament, taking a firm hold on her starting position after opening the year on the bench. She had six hits with three walks and batted .500 while Strajack had nine hits and two walks, batting .474. Schreiner hit .375.

"Tabitha Taylor had a tremendous tournament," Wares said. "She obviously had some big hits and she played a really good left field. She stepped up big-time—she didn't play like a freshman."

Heesch earned her spot on the all-tourney team with her glove, making eight putouts without an error, including a few highlight-reel grabs.

"It's so gratifying to see that," Wares said. "Again, during the (20) games Paige was out, part of the reason our corner outfielders weren't playing as well is because Paige covers so much ground it makes it easier for our right and left fielders because they know they don't have to handle as much territory. She's very, very deserving. She did some big things, once in a while, on offense, too, but her defense is so valuable. She takes away base hit after base hit."

Equally pleasing to Wares is that contributions are coming from so many in the program's 27th NCAA tourney appearance.

"I don't know if you can look at one or two individuals," he said. "It's just from top to bottom we're becoming pretty hard to defend. We've got a lot of players who can do different things and they're playing within themselves, just doing what they're capable of doing."

NCAA Division III Pella, Iowa Regional Softball All-Tournament Team
Dani Glixman, 3B, Fontbonne
Kailey Morgan, 1B, Gustavus Adolphus
Mandey Shrader, 1B, Aurora
Steph Starr, CF, Aurora
Hannah Heacox, P, Gustavus Adolphus
Abbey Strajack, 2B, Central
Tabitha Taylor, LF, Central
Vanessa Hartzell, P, Aurora
Paige Heesch, CF, Central
Most Outstanding Player—Mallory Schulenberg, P, Central

NCAA Division III Pella Regional
Friday, May 8
Aurora (Ill.) 1, Fontbonne (Mo.) 0 (8 inn.)
Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) 3, Central 2 (8 inn.)

Saturday, May 9
Aurora (Ill.) 3, Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) 2
Central 4, Fontbonne (Mo.) 3
Central 7, Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) 4

Sunday, May 10
Central 2, Aurora (Ill.) 1
Central 10, Aurora (Ill.) 4