PELLA—It was not an enviable opening assignment for the Central College softball team, which came up empty against a pair of hard-hitting nationally ranked foes at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic Friday.
The No. 21-rated Dutch were outslugged by No. 6 Trine University (Ind.) 11-3 in six innings and by No. 11 Christopher Newport (Va.) 5-2.
And there's more to come. It's the first of three days of elite competition, followed by a 10-game slate in the Tucson Invitational Games, played at the same site. Taking the long view, Hall of Fame coach
George Wares saw reason to come away encouraged.
"It's hard not to get caught up in the scores," Wares said. "But there's a lot of upside. That gets overlooked."
Some of that upside got lost in the whirlwind Trine offense, which quickly erupted for five runs in the fourth inning after Central had quietly worked its way to an early 3-0 lead, fueled by a two-run third-inning homer by catcher
Emily Walton (senior, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS). It was her first appearance since 2016 after having to endure a year in the dugout due to injury. Central broke on top earlier in the frame on a run-scoring triple by third baseman
Lauren Bagby (junior, Norwalk). But the Dutch were limited to three hits in the game.
Mariah Fritz (junior, Tama, East Marshall HS) drew the opening-game pitching assignment and threw five innings, surrendering seven runs on 10 hits and an unsightly seven walks to go with two strikeouts. She was replaced in the sixth by junior
Danielle Riley (Afton, East Union HS), who Wares termed the team's biggest surprise of the preseason after two years with the junior varsity. It was a rough baptism as she was touched for four runs on three hits in her only inning of work.
"We just didn't want to go any longer with Mariah," Wares said. "It's too long of a week and it's too long of a season to put very much more on her today. Obviously we would prefer to put Danielle in a situation where she could establish more confidence, but the schedule doesn't allow that.
"Danielle will be fine. She understands that the team she was facing was very good."
Central also broke on top against Christopher Newport before the Captains' bats broke through against
Annie DeVries (senior, Pella) with a four-run second inning, adding a tally in the sixth. DeVries yielded eight hits and five walks.
Walton had two hits and an RBI, as did left fielder
Tabitha Taylor (senior, Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), who hit a solo homer to left field in the fifth inning. Second baseman
Paige Dickel (senior, Norwalk) had a single and two walks.
Three players made their first Central starts as freshman
Daria Parchert (Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS) debuted at shortstop, sophomore
Kaitlyn Andresen (Davenport, Assumption HS) appeared as the designated player and sophomore
Shaye Witte (West Des Moines, Waukee HS) got the nod in right field against Christopher Newport after a notable rookie campaign for Division II Winona State (Minn.) last year. Parchert and Andresen each had their first Central hits.
"Shaye had some quality at-bats," Wares said. "Daria was up and down but mostly up. She took a couple of base hits away in the field and had some decent at-bats."
Walton's return was a welcome sight.
"She had some quality at-bats," Wares said. "We had a lot of good at-bats today. These teams have more than good hitters. We faced some good pitchers. And we saw more really good defensive plays made against us than we usually see. We had some hits taken away. But they're ranked above us for a reason. They're both better teams than we are right now. We just hope to keep improving so that we can be more competitive against teams like this."
Central takes on DePauw University (Ind.) at 2 p.m. (Central Time) Saturday before meeting No. 24 Babson (Mass.) at 4:30 p.m. DePauw (3-1) overwhelmed Messiah (Pa.) 11-4 Friday but was outscored by George Fox (Ore.) 8-5. Babson (1-1) outlasted Christopher Newport 6-4 but was edged in the final frame by Trine 3-2.
