NIACC falls to Iowa Central, 12-11
WATERLOO - The NIACC baseball team dropped a 12-11 decision to Iowa Central Saturday night in the NJCAA Region XI tournament.
Nick Boys plated Nolan Monthei with a walk-off single to right field with no outs in the ninth inning for the Tritons.
Iowa Central (35-16) advances to Sunday's regional title game at 3:30 p.m. The Tritons will face either NIACC or Southeastern in the championship game.
NIACC (39-18) faces Southeastern at noon on Sunday in an elimination game.
Steven Calderon was 3 for 5 with three home runs and 8 RBIs to lead the Iowa Central offense. Junior Aracena also hit two home runs for the Tritons and Kyle Snuttjer hit a home run.
NIACC received a 2-run home run from Ben Komonsky, a 3-run home run and a 2-run home run from Brandon Michie.
Iowa Central jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three innings. NIACC cut the lead to 6-2 with Komonsky's home run in the fourth inning.
Iowa Central made it 9-2 in its half the fourth inning, but NIACC plated six runs in the fifth inning to make it 9-8.
Iowa Central pushed the lead to 11-8 with two runs in the seventh inning. NIACC tied it at 11-11 in the top of the eighth inning with three runs, including Michie's 2-run blast.
NIACC loaded the bases with one out in the ninth inning but could not gain the lead.
Thursday's results
Ellsworth 8, Iowa Lakes 5 (elimination game)
Kirkwood 10, DMACC 5
Southeastern 6, Ellsworth 4
Friday's results
DMACC 9, Ellsworth 5
NIACC 13, Southeastern 5 (8)
Iowa Central 3, Kirkwood 2
Saturday's games
Southeastern 8, DMACC 0
Southeastern 10, Kirkwood 0 (5 innings)
Iowa Central 12, NIACC 11
Sunday's games
Noon - Southeastern vs. NIACC
3:30 p.m. - Iowa Central vs. Southeastern/NIACC winner (regional title game)
Monday's game
11 a.m. - Second regional title game, if necessary