PELLA—This is what they signed up for.
           
The seniors, in particular, on the Central College softball team, know all about the program's NCAA Division III tournament tradition, the 14 trips to the NCAA finals, the four national titles. It's near the top of their collegiate bucket list. They've visualized it, listened intently to alumni describe playing in it, had coach George Wares prepare them for it, and endured a global pandemic and injuries seeking it, but until now they've never experienced an NCAA tournament.
           
But Thursday, for a record 31st time, yet the first time since 2019, the Dutch will start NCAA tourney action as they play host to a four-team regional that continues through Saturday in Pella. That's one of 16 regionals that comprise a 62-team NCAA field announced Monday.
           
Central (31-9), rated No. 22 in last week's NFCA Division III Top 25, is seeded first in the double-elimination regional at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex softball field. The Dutch will take on fourth-seeded Grinnell College (29-12) Thursday at 4:30 p.m. No. 11-ranked Bethel University (Minn.) (33-3) meets the second-seeded University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (28-13) at 2 p.m. Thursday's winners clash at 11 a.m. in the first of three Friday contests. The championship is set for noon Saturday with an additional game at 2:30 p.m. if necessary.
                
The regional winner advances to the super regional May 26-27 against the winner of a two-time regional at McMinnville, Oregon that features Linfield University (Ore.) (41-4) against Redlands University (Calif.) (27-14). The eight super regional winners move on to the national finals June 1-7 at Marshall, Texas.
           
The Dutch are eager to embark on the tourney trail at last.
           
"I chose Central for the winning culture," said pitcher Sydni Huisman (senior, Treynor), who missed much of 2022 with injury. "These past three abnormal years have been tough, but this moment is just amazing."
           
It's admittedly been a long wait for the Dutch, Wares said.
           
"For these players, it's their first time," he said. "We've talked a lot about how much the senior class has gone through and we didn't hold anything back: This and beyond was our goal."
           
Tickets—Tickets each day are $10, with seniors and college students charged $7 and youth $6. Children age 3 and under are admitted free. All tickets will be sold at the gate.
           
Roll Rivers--The American Rivers Conference has four teams in the field for the sixth time and the first time since 2009 (also in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1994). Wartburg College won the conference tourney over the weekend and received the accompanying automatic bid. The Knights (23-16) travel to Angola, Indiana to meet Millikin University (Ill.) (30-9) in a regional hosted by Trine University. Luther College (32-8) is at Oshkosh, Wisconsin tackling the top-seeded University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (34-7) and Coe College (31-8) is paired with Transylvania University (Pa.) (33-9) in a regional at Whitewater, Wisconsin.
           
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 for each game can be accessed through the tournament web page, located on the Central athletics website at athletics.central.edu. The webcast can also be accessed via the Central Dutch Network app.
           
Regional road--Central was rated No. 3 in last week's NCAA regional rankings and gets high marks for its strength of schedule. The Dutch posted a 10-2 mark at the Tucson Invitational Games in Arizona March 10-17, playing three games against Concordia (Wis.) (37-3), which was rated No. 15 in last week's NFCA poll, and also taking on NCAA qualifiers Redlands University (Calif.) and Wisconsin-La Crosse.
           
The Dutch posted a 9-5 record against NCAA qualifiers. That includes a doubleheader sweep of Thursday's opponent, Grinnell. Central scored a 15-1, five-inning decision March 28 over Pioneers before escaping 6-5 in the second game as the Dutch had to score two in the seventh inning to get the walk-off win.
           
"I think we've done enough from a standpoint of who we've played and the number of wins that we have," Wares said. "We're excited. It's a tough regional but there's never going to be an easy one in this area."
           
Grinnell coach Lexy Determan is a former Luther College pitcher who competed in the 2010 Division III finals.
           
"They've had a great season," Wares said. "Obviously, they're well-coached and (Determan) has experience at Luther as a player so she knows all about the postseason. They have already beaten Coe this year, they beat Simpson and they had us beat in game two, so we're definitely not thinking about La Crosse or Bethel or anything beyond that. We're thinking Grinnell."
           
Bethel pitcher Kayla Simacek carries a remarkable 31-3 record with a 1.03 earned run average into Thursday's early game.
           
"With all due respect to all the pitchers we've seen, and we've seen a lot, she's as good as anybody in the country," Wares said. "And La Crosse is on a roll. We played them early, but you can toss that one out. They're playing really well. They won their conference tournament and they swing the bat well. So Thursday's game will be a fun game to watch."
           
Pitching and defense still win—A deep and balanced pitching staff has helped propel the Dutch to their 29th 30-win season. Finally healthy, Huisman is 15-4 with a 2.09 earned run average. The staff was bolstered with the addition of Emma Beck (freshman, Holland, Grundy Center HS) who has put up a 10-3 mark with a 2.29 ERA in her rookie season. And Morgan Schaben (senior, Portsmouth, Harlan HS), who carried most of the load last year, has been recast as a reliever and thrived in the new role. She has a 5-2 mark with four saves, one shy of the school record set by Corrie Schmidt in Central's 2003 national championship season and sixth in the NCAA Division III. Schaben has appeared in 32 of Central's 40 games, which ranks 12th nationally.           
Central's .968 fielding percentage is tops in the American Rivers. But the Dutch are without one of their defensive statistical leaders as center fielder Emma Johnson (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) was injured April 29 at Coe and is now limited to designated player duties. She has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 45 putouts and one assist. First baseman Megan Stuhr (junior, Sigourney) has also put up a 1.000 mark with 247 putouts and five assists. She's part of a rock-solid Dutch infield that also includes four-year starting catcher Madison Farrington (senior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS) (.983 fielding percentage), second baseman Haley Bach (sophomore, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) (.949 fielding percentage), shortstop Carson Fisk (senior, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS) (.950 fielding percentage) and outfielder-turned-third baseman Franie Burnett (junior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) (.927 fielding percentage).
           
Bach is the spark at the top of the lineup for Central's traditional small-ball offensive attack. She's hitting a team-high .410 and has tied Abbey Strajack's 2015 school record for season runs scored (52), which ranks seventh nationally. She's drawn 30 walks (ninth in Division III) and has a .541 on-base percentage along with 14 stolen bases.
           
The Dutch offense was bolstered by the return of the speedy Johnson. She's hitting .389, has scored 27 runs and shares the team stolen base lead with 15. Burnett is the team RBI leader with 45 and also has 15 steals.
           
Central has 102 stolen bases, topping the century mark for the 22nd time since 1990, while limiting opponents to just 18 steals.
           
Milestones--Wares became the first coach in Division III history to reach the 1,200-win mark with a victory in the March 10 opener against Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) and enters the tourney with a 1,230-435-3 mark. Associate head coach Alicia O'Brien also reached a milestone Friday, recording her 900th career victory with Central's 1-0 win over Nebraska Wesleyan University at the American Rivers tourney at Cedar Rapids. She has a 900-402-3 record over 36 seasons.

Tournament history--Central has played host to regional tournaments 15 times, including eight times since 2011. The Central field was also the site of a 2015 super regional and the 1992 national finals.

Central has a 95-60 (.612) all-time NCAA tournament mark. The school's 95 tournament wins are nine shy of the Division III record held by the College of New Jersey.

The tourney wait has been even longer for Grinnell, which is making its first-ever NCAA appearance. Bethel cracked the field for the first time last year, posting a 5-2 mark. Wis.-La Crosse is in the tourney for the seventh time and has an 11-13 record in tournament games.

The formula—There is no secret to tournament success, Wares said.

"A lot of times, the teams that do well are the teams that pitch and defend first, then find a way to score a run or two," he said. "It's definitely been pitching-dominated recently, when you look at our conference tournament or some of these other schools. I mean, Bethel, their three games in their conference were 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 and they won all three. So you've got to be able to do that and then we've got to find a way to get better offensively."
 
NCAA Division III Regional at Central site
Pella, Iowa
Thursday, May 18
Game 1             2 p.m.             #Wis.-La Crosse (28-13) vs. #Bethel (Minn.) (33-3)
Game 2             4:30 p.m.          #Central (31-9) vs. #Grinnell (29-12)
Friday, May 19
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
Saturday, May 20
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)