Central can’t complete softball sweep
PELLA Two classes of Central College softball seniors were recognized Sunday and both left disappointed as the Dutch stumbled to a 6-2 loss to Buena Vista University and failed to sweep the teams’ three-game series.
Central defeated the Beavers Thursday at Pella 9-5 and 5-1.
Central’s 2020 class, which had its season come to an abrupt and unceremonious end last March due to the global pandemic, was saluted prior to the game while this year’s seniors completed their regular season and were honored afterwards. What happened in between turned on a missed opportunity in the fifth inning followed by a letdown in the sixth.
Huisman shoulders pitching load, Tallman steals record in Central softball split
ARDEN HILLS, MINN. A determined effort by pitcher Sydni Huisman (sophomore, Treynor) lifted the Central College softball team to a 4-1 victory at Bethel University (Minn.) Friday after a grueling 5-4, 10-inning defeat in the opener.
The twinbill was highlighted by a three-stolen base performance from center fielder Sara Tallman (senior, Pella) that gave her Central’s career thefts mark. In a tradition-rich program largely built on aggressive baserunning, Tallman’s 115 career steals tops the mark established by Daniela Grob from 1997-2000. Remarkably, all of Grob’s steals came as a pinch-runner. She’s the only player in American Rivers Conference (formerly Iowa Conference) history to gain all-conference recognition in that role.