PELLA— Led by a strong contingent of seniors, the Central College baseball team is ready to take on the American Rivers Conference tournament this weekend in Cedar Rapids.
           
The Dutch (23-14, 11-13 conference) are seeded No. 5 entering the weekend, the highest seed for the team since being No. 3 in 2015 in coach Matt Schirm's first season at Central. The 23 wins are the most in a season for Schirm, who has two other 20-win seasons on his resume.
           
The top seed for the tournament is Coe College (32-3, 22-2 conference), the No. 12 team in the country according to the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3baseball.com. Central is responsible for handing the Kohawks one of their two league losses, dropping them 8-7 on March 26 in the home opener for Coe.
           
Of the eight seniors on Central's roster, shortstop Garrett Saunders (Bonaparte, Van Buren HS), first baseman Ryan Bouwman (Bloomington, Ill., Normal HS), centerfield Coy Moore (Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) and right fielder/pitcher Tanner Wood (Pella) have started all 37 games.
           
Saunders joined the 200-hit club this season, becoming just the third Dutch player in history to achieve the feat. He also set the new school record with 46 career doubles.
           
Wood leads the team with 35 RBI and 14 doubles while Bouwman (.338) and Moore (.300) have batting averages of .300 or better.
           
On the mound, sophomore Ryan Riddle (sophomore, Omaha, Neb., Mount Michael HS) tied a team record with eight saves.  He's struck out 23 batters in 18.0 innings with a 1.00 earned run average. Wood has also been the team's top starting pitcher statistically, meriting a 3-2 record in eight starts. He carries an ERA over 3.18 and 30 strike outs.
           
Central opens against No. 4 University of Dubuque (23-13-1, 12-11 conference) on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Daniels Park on Coe's campus. Dubuque won the season series 2-1 in Pella April 19-20, but Central won the first game 10-0 on Friday night.