DECORAH—On second thought, maybe bunting was a bad idea.
           
Offense was in short supply Tuesday, but after fouling off a seventh-inning bunt attempt, Central College freshman shortstop Daria Parchert (Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS) delivered a game-winning double into the right-center field gap for a sixth-inning run and a 2-1 victory at Luther College in a clash of nationally ranked squads. The No. 12-rated Norse took the opener, 3-1.
           
No. 16 Central (27-9 overall, 12-4 Iowa Conference) needed a sweep to tie Coe College  (13-3 conference) for the league title, but the split secures the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in this weekend's six-team league tournament in Cedar Rapids. The Dutch will play Saturday at 1:30 p.m. against the winner of Friday's game between third-seeded Luther (32-8) and sixth-seeded Simpson College (21-15). Host Coe (25-11) carries the top seed in the single-elimination tourney. The championship game is at 4 p.m. Saturday with the winner receiving the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships.
           
 Catcher Emily Walton's (senior, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS) leadoff single led to an unearned fifth-inning run for the Dutch but Luther tied the game in the sixth.
           
Parchert came up with two on and one out in the seventh. Coach George Wares initially opted to have her try for a bunt single, then changed his mind after the foul.
           
"Something I've done rarely, after I talked to Coach (Alicia) O'Brien, we asked the players, 'OK, what do you want Daria to do?," Wares said. "And they all said bunt/base hit because they thought she could beat it out. She laid a nice bunt down. But after that I thought, Daria's kind of been on a roll, let's let her go, and she drilled it."
           
Central has had a few issues closing out wins but pitcher Annie DeVries (senior, Eldridge, North Scott HS) capped a masterful outing with a 1-2-3 seventh inning for the victory. DeVries (13-3) scattered four hits, walking four and striking out one.

"She was in command," Wares said. "I don't know if people give her enough credit. If she misses 2-3 inches she gets hit pretty hard because her velocity is not overpowering. So that tells you how good she is in terms of location because they did not put the bat on the ball overly hard with her better pitches. She missed a couple but she pitched well. In fact, I can't think of the last time she didn't pitch well."
           
The Dutch had just four hits in the game, but did have some additional opportunities.

"Give Luther credit, we had a couple chances to break it open with a runner at third and less than two out twice and they made some really good defensive plays," Wares said. "They're good. They're a really good team."

The victory ended a seven-game losing skid against the Norse.
           
Central mustered only three hits in the opener off Luther ace Samantha Bratland (18-4). Tallman used her speed to notch Central's lone run in the first inning with an infield hit and a pair of stolen bases, scoring when the throw to third base was wild. Tallman upped her school season-record steals total to 43. But Luther tied the game in the second inning and took charge with runs in the fifth and sixth off Mariah Fritz (junior, Tama, East Marshall HS). Fritz (12-6) was tagged for three runs on seven hits with five walks.

"We knew Bratland would be tough," Wares said. "She hasn't given up a whole lot all year. I thought maybe when we got that first run that would give us some energy but it's just so tough to score runs. And when you're Mariah pitching against a kid like that, you almost have to be perfect. We did all we could defensively. We didn't have an error all day. But Luther's very, very good and it's tough to keep them down."

 Wares said nothing will come easily in the league tourney.

"It's anybody's tournament," he said.
           
Tuesday's split with a nationally ranked foe strengthens Central's case for an NCAA tournament bid, but a league tourney title would eliminate any uncertainty.
           
"You can take nothing for granted," Wares said. "Obviously this helps a lot but there are way too many games to be played to feel like anybody's locked in."
           
Pairings for the 62-team Division III tournament field will be announced on an NCAA tournament selection show Monday at noon via NCAA.com. The Dutch have made a Division III record 28 tourney appearances in the past 32 years, and appeared six times in the past seven seasons, including 2017. Central's captured four national titles.

Iowa Conference tournament
At Cedar Rapids
Single-elimination--Winner advances to NCAA Division III Championships
Highest seeded team in each game is home

Friday, May 4
Game 1            2 p.m.             #4 Nebraska Wesleyan (21-17) vs. #5 Loras (19-18—Not incl. SA)
Game 2            4:30 p.m.         #3 Luther (32-8) vs. #6 Simpson (21-15)
 
Saturday, May 5
Game 3            11 a.m.            #1 Coe (25-11) vs. Game 1 winner
Game 4            1:30 p.m.         #2 Central (27-9) vs. Game 2 winner
Game 5            4 p.m.             Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
 
(Rain date Sunday, May 6)