Megan Swingen May 8, 2009

NCAA tourney run is short for Central

 INDIANOLA—These Dutch deserved better.

A memorable Iowa Conference championship season ended in disappointment for the Central College softball team, which was ousted from NCAA Division III tournament play with a 5-0 setback against Washington-St. Louis Univ. (Mo.) Friday. Central was coming back on short rest after being ousted from the winner’s bracket late Thursday night by Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) 11-4.

Washington hurler Claire Voris, among Division III’s best, struck out eight batters and limited Central to just two hits in the first six innings before settling for a five-hitter. It was Central’s only shutout loss of the year.

The game followed an all too familiar scenario for the Dutch (36-8), who committed two errors in the first two innings and found themselves trailing 3-0. Central yielded first-inning tallies in five of the last seven games. Washington (25-12) added two runs in the fourth and finished with 10 hits.

“That’s been the story down the stretch,” coach George Wares said. “We’ve been playing from behind the last six or seven games. That’s tough to come back from, especially playing the quality of teams that we did. The other thing we haven’t done recently is that we did not get clutch hits. We stranded a lot more runners than earlier in the year.”

Alysha OverturfThe Dutch left 25 runners on base in the past three games, including five Friday.

Pitcher Megan Swingen (senior, Woden, Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka HS) put the wraps on her career by absorbing the loss. She allowed eight hits and two earned runs in three innings, walking none and striking out one. Still Swingen closed with a 16-2 record and a 1.43 earned run average. A gritty competitor, she was 7-0 in Iowa Conference play and was named the league’s pitcher of the year while also earning second-team all-region honors. Not bad for a player who arrived on campus four years ago virtually unknown.

“I don’t think anybody else was recruiting her,” Wares said. “It seemed like nobody thought she was a college pitcher except us.”

Swingen more than held her own, finishing with a 48-21 career mark.

One trait Central displayed all year was resiliency, and the Dutch displayed flashes of that one more time in the bottom of the seventh. Leading off, first baseman Katie Tenboer (sophomore, Morrison, Ill.), after hammering a foul ball deep over the outfield fence, ripped another shot that clipped the top of the fence in center field before caroming upwards and into the hands of the center fielder. After a lengthy discussion among the umpires, it was ruled a long single. Unfortunately, another hard-hit ball by designated player Rachael Everingham (freshman, Georgetown, Ill., Ridge Farm HS) then turned into a double play. But shortstop Kelsey Wright (freshman, Gilbertville, Don Bosco HS) followed with a single to left and center fielder Alysha Overturf (senior, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) stroked a hit to left-center in her final collegiate at-bat and stretched it into a double.

Washington was well aware of Central’s comeback abilities. The Bears saw the Dutch rally from a 3-0 seventh-inning deficit for a 4-3 win at Pella April 3. But this time Washington was finally able to record the final out and extend its season until at least Saturday.

“That inning was important,” Wares said. “I didn’t completely think we were out of the game yet but regardless, the big thing is we kept competing. That’s something this team has done all year.”

Hannah WeindruchThe sting of the NCAA losses will fade, Wares said.

“Initially, all you think about are the final games,” he said. “But when you look at the whole season, I can’t remember a team that provided so much excitement for the fans. This was a team that people really enjoyed watching.”

Not soon to be forgotten were a string of dramatic walk-off victories over eventual NCAA tourney qualifiers Wis.-La Crosse, Washington and Luther as well as a walk-off win over Augustana (Ill.) and a six-run, sixth-inning rally for a 6-4 win over then No. 2 Wis.-Eau Claire.                                                               

The Dutch were also typically entertaining on the base paths again. Central held a 121-14 advantage over opponents in stolen bases.

After finishing fifth in the Iowa Conference a year ago at 8-8, the Dutch were picked for fourth this season, but instead claimed their 10th league championship with a 13-3 mark. Central was making its 21st NCAA tournament appearance.

Ryann EngholmIn addition to Swingen and Overturf, Central also graduates two other long-time regulars. Ryann Engholm (senior, Bloomington, Minn., Thomas Jefferson HS) served with Swingen as a team co-captain and was a first-team all-conference honoree in 2007. She spent time as a first baseman, designated player and outfielder. Engholm batted .342 for the year and racked up 111 career hits.

Hannah Weindruch (senior, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS) transferred to Central after her freshman year and quickly found a home in left field. A first-team all-conference player last season, Weindruch hit .291 this season and committed just two errors.

Overturf, a first-team all-league and all-region pick as a freshman in 2006, repeated those honors in 2009. She hit .366 with a team-high seven doubles, and notched 153 career hits, ranking 10th on Central’s all-time charts. Yet Wares said she was even better with the glove.

“I’ve not seen a better defensive center fielder anywhere,” he said. “She had a phenomenal year.

“We’re really going to miss all four of our seniors, but I know that they are going to continue our tradition of becoming outstanding softball alumni and remain an important part of our program.”

They’ve also paved the way for even brighter days for Central softball. The Dutch started four freshmen.

“We have high expectations for our returning players and the improvement we think they can make and we’re excited about the group of players we have coming in,” Wares said.