PELLA—Riding a late-season surge that sent Central College to its record 30th NCAA Division III softball tournament, the Dutch will host a four-team regional Friday through Sunday in Pella.
           
Central (26-8), rated No. 22 in last week's NFCA Division III Top 25, is seeded first in the double-elimination Pella, Iowa Regional that will be staged Friday through Sunday at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field. The Dutch will take on Lake Forest College (Ill.) (24-15). Friday's other first-round game features the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.) (27-13) against Wis.-La Crosse (25-17).

"I'm glad we're at home," said coach George Wares, who has piloted Central to all 30 of its NCAA berths, along with four national titles in his memorable 35-year career. "It's very special for our players."
           
But Wares said his club understands the challenge it faces.

"When you're in the NCAA tournament in this area (of the country), you're just not going to get anything easy," he said. "Lake Forest was in the NCAA tournament last year, as was Saint Benedict. Wis.-La Crosse missed out last year but they're always there and already beat us this year out in Arizona, so it's going to be a very competitive regional like it always is."
           
The regional winner advances to the super regional May 17-18 against the winner of the St. Paul, Minnesota, Iowa Regional, which features conference rival Wartburg College (26-11).  The Knights meet Wis.-Eau Claire (26-11-1) in the regional which also includes the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) (38-5) against Northwestern-St. Paul (Minn.) (27-15) Another league school, Coe College (32-9), is at the Whitewater, Wisconsin Regional, meeting Carthage University (Wis.) (26-14) while Wis.-Whitewater (26-12) plays Eureka College (Ill.) (27-6) in the other game.
           
The eight super regional winners move on to the national finals May 23-28 at Tyler, Texas.
           
Ithaca College (N.Y.) also cracked the NCAA field and shares the record for most appearances with Central at 30.
           

Team Turnaround-- Two weeks ago, Central looked like a long shot to even crack the 62-team field that was announced Monday. The Dutch were swept at Coe College April 19 and were three games out of first place in the American Rivers Conference standings with just four league games remaining. But Central scored an 8-7, 10-1 sweep of nationally ranked Luther College April 28 for an outright league championship, the program's 13th. The Dutch then secured the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tourney by winning the six-team conference tournament in Pella Saturday, defeating the University of Dubuque 8-2 and blanking No. 19-rated Coe College 3-0. They enter NCAA play on an eight-game winning streak.
           
Wares, the winningest coach in Division III history with a 1,151-392-3 mark, savors the league crown and tournament title.
           
"Just seeing the reaction of people connected to Central softball, whether it's currently or in the past, and how much it means to them to win the conference, that makes it pretty special," he said.
           
On the air-- Central's games will be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1) and via www.kniakrls.com with the voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle. A video webcast and live stats can be accessed through the tournament web page, located on the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu.

Tournament history--Central has played host to regional tournaments in seven of the past eight years, traveling to St. Paul, Minnesota last year for a regional at the University of St. Thomas (Minn.). It's the 14th regional tournament played at Pella. The Central field has also been the site of a 2015 super regional and the 1992 national finals.

Central has a 94-58 (.618) all-time NCAA tournament mark. The school's 94 tournament wins are six shy of the Division III record held by the College of New Jersey.
Lake Forest is making its 10th tournament appearance and its fifth in the past six seasons. The Foresters are 22-19 all-time. Saint Benedict is in the field for the fourth time and the second year in a row and carries a 4-6 tourney mark. Wis.-La Crosse gained its sixth berth and second straight by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament, sweeping Wis.-Eau Claire on the final day. The Eagles are 7-10 in tournament play.

Defense still wins—An air-tight defense, Central's traditional aggressiveness on the base paths and remarkable resiliency from pitcher Mariah Fritz (senior, Tama, East Marshall HS) carried the Dutch back to the NCAA tourney.

Fritz's numbers aren't eye-popping, at 17-7 with a 3.69 earned run average, 67 walks and 65 strikeouts. But she's muscled through 140.1 innings and come up big at key moments, starting both ends of eight doubleheaders against league foes. She's thrown more than 200 pitches in a day on multiple occasions and had back-to-back complete-game victories in the sweep of Luther April 28 and in Saturday's league tournament, including a five-hit shutout in the 3-0 title game win over Coe. Fritz was tabbed as the conference female athlete of the week.

"I'm happy now that we did what we did because she's going to be used to it so it's not like throwing 200 pitches in a day is going to be foreign to her and she's really handled that well," Wares said."There have been a lot of conversations that if you don't have your best, give us the best you have, and she's been able to adapt to that."

Despite dealing with a series of injuries, left fielder Shaye Witte (junior, West Des Moines, Waukee HS) is Central's top hitter with a .422 mark with a team-high 10 doubles and 19 RBIs.

On a team of defensive standouts, none have flashed more leather than shortstop Daria Parchert (sophomore, Illinois City, Ill., Rockridge HS), but she's also emerged as an offensive force with a .418 mark. She has 10 doubles and 24 RBIs and was the league's leading hitter in conference games with a .522 mark.

Center fielder Sara Tallman (junior, Pella) is a perfect fit for the Central attack as leadoff hitter. A two-time all-region pick, she's hitting .413 with a team-best 33 runs scored and 23 stolen bases. And Kaitlyn Andresen (junior, Davenport, Assumption HS), in her first season as a second baseman, is also above the .400 mark, hitting .409, and is Central's RBI leader with 27.

Right fielder Sadie Baugher (senior, Eddyville, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont HS) was named the league's position player of the week after hitting .800 and driving in five runs in the two tournament wins Saturday.

The Dutch have swiped 82 bases to opponents' 37 and sport a .953 fielding percentage.
 

NCAA numbers—Central is eighth in Division III in double plays (18) and 12th in stolen bases per game (2.56). Fritz is 17th in victories (17).
           
The Foresters—Lake Forest used a two-run home run for a 5-4 walk-off victory over St. Norbert College (Wis.) to claim the Midwest Conference tournament crown and an NCAA berth. The Foresters took the regular-season title as well. Five Lake Forest players received all-league honors. Senior outfielder Maria Zepeda was a first-team pick for the third straight year, hitting .351. Junior first baseman Riley Frisbie was also a first-team honoree. Sophomore infielder/pitcher Shaye Gauthier is batting a team-high .375. Senior shortstop Alyssa Grimm has six homers and 33 RBIs.
           
Pitcher Kyra Lenzi, a second-team all-conference selection, is 9-3 with a 2.30 earned run average in 82.0 innings. Junior Missy Dieckman-Meyer is 7-8 with a 2.69 ERA over 109.1 innings.

"Lake Forest has played a really good schedule," Wares said. "They've played Linfield (Ore.), they've played Hope (Mich.), they've played Illinois Wesleyan, so it's not like they're going to come in here and say they're not used to this because they are used to it. It will be very competitive."

Common opponents—Wis.-La Crosse defeated Central 8-6 March 17 at the Tucson (Ariz.) Invitational Games but none of the other teams have faced each other this season.

Central has never met Lake Forest but has a 6-5 all-time mark against Wis.-La Crosse and is 5-3 against Saint Benedict (Minn.), falling to the Blazers 5-4 in eight innings in Arizona in 2018.

Saint Benedict hasn't played since April 30. The Blazers missed the four-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament but some impressive wins over ranked opponents carried them to an NCAA berth. They also made an NCAA appearance in Pella in 1993, finishing second behind Central in regional play.
Wis.-La Crosse grabbed its NCAA spot by sweeping Wis.-Eau Claire on the final day of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament.

Tournament ready--Wares is quick to note that Central hasn't always looked like a playoff contender this year.

"We've been really bad at times and really good at times," he said. "But if the good Central softball team shows up, we'll be very competitive."

The Dutch are prepared to take on playoff pressure, Wares said.

"We felt like we had to win a lot of games down the stretch to even be in this position," he said. "So I think we're a little more ready for that if-you-lose-you-go-home type of thing because that's what we've been doing the last couple of weeks.

As always, Wares wants his players maintain their intensity throughout the tournament, while enjoying the experience.

"You're supposed to have fun with this," he said. "(The players) have earned the right to be where they are."

It's an opportunity the Dutch have strived for since they first gathered in the fall.

"We've said all along that if we can get (to the NCAA tournament), we've got the type of team that can do something," Wares said. "Now we get a chance to show that."

Tickets--Tickets each day are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, students and veterans and $5 for children under age 12. By NCAA rule, no alcohol or pets are permitted at the tournament site.

NCAA Division III Pella, Iowa Regional
Friday, May 10
Game 1            2 p.m.             #3 Wis.-La Crosse (25-17) vs. #2 St. Benedict (Minn.) (27-13)
Game 2            4:30 p.m.         #4 Lake Forest (Ill.) (24-15) vs.#1 Central (26-8)
Saturday, May 11
Game 3            11 a.m.             Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Game 4            1:30 p.m.         Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 5            4 p.m.              Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3
Sunday, May 12
Game 6            1 p.m.              Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7            3:30 p.m.         Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6 (if necessary)