NJCAA REGION 11 TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | UPDATED BRACKET
Centerville, IA – The Indian Hills Baseball team picked up an opening round win to advance in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Region 11 Baseball Tournament. The Warriors topped Southwestern Community College 5-4 at Pat Daugherty Field.
Originally scheduled for a Thursday afternoon affair but moved back a day due to unfavorable weather in the Centerville area, Friday's contest served as the second game of the NJCAA Region 11 Tournament after top-seeded Iowa Western Community College derailed Marshalltown Community College 13-3. The Warriors built an early 4-0 lead and held on down the stretch to advance in the winner's bracket.
The Warriors used a 10-hit attack from the offense to outlast the Spartans as four different individuals tallied multi-hit performances. Sophomore Adrian Vargas (Caracas, Venezuela/Instituto Central de Educacion Ice) sparked the Warriors with a 3-4 effort, including a double, triple and two RBI.
The Indian Hills pitching staff saw its starter Andrei Gordeev (Balashika, Russia/Global Vision Christian) pick up the win with five strong innings on the mound. Sophomore Sam Hart (Highlands Ranch, CO/ThunderRidge) closed the door in the ninth for his 10th save of the season, the third-most in the nation.
ANOTHER ONE‼️��
— GoHillsTV (@GoHillsTv) May 12, 2023
Figueroa with a diving catch to claim the second out the top of the 4th!@SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/fhCtnuNgfj
The Warriors and Reivers will now meet at 1:00 PM Saturday at Pat Daugherty Field for a spot in the region title game. 2023 marks the sixth consecutive year the two clubs will meet in the region tournament. Over the last five seasons, the two sides have squared off 10 times in postseason play, with each team earning five wins.
Friday's game saw the Warriors strike first in the first inning as Daniel Figueroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy) singled, stole second, and later scored on a RBI groundout from Merrick Mathews (Centerville, IA/Centerville).
Gordeev tossed three consecutive 1-2-3 frames to open the game as the Warriors held on to the lead. Indian Hills broke things in the bottom half of the third as Raul Torres (Caguas, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy) doubled to bring in Figueroa for a 2-0 advantage. With two outs in the frame, Vargas delivered a two-run triple to put the Warriors ahead 4-0.
Both sides traded single runs in the fifth inning as Logan Myers (Andover, MN/Andover) single to center to drive in Torres to regain the four-run advantage, 5-1.
Southwestern chipped away at the Indian Hills bullpen with two more runs in the sixth and another in the seventh. Leading 5-4 in the eighth, freshman Nathan Smithburg (Fairfield, IA/Fairfield) tossed a scoreless eighth inning before sophomore Hart struck a pair in a perfect ninth inning.
Along with Saturday's winner's bracket round matchup, third-seeded Southwestern Community College will play the loser of Indian Hills and Iowa Western at 4:00 PM at Pat Daugherty Field. Southwestern eliminated Marshalltown with a 6-3 win Friday night. Sunday's championship round is tentatively scheduled for 1:00 PM with the if necessary game to follow.
Fans can catch all of the tournament action live on GoHillsTV Facebook, GoHillsTV, and the GoHillsTV App.
WARRIORS ADVANCE! Second-seeded @IHCCBaseball will move on to Saturday's NJCAA Region 11 Tournament Semifinals tomorrow as the Warriors defeated 3rd-seed @SWCC_Baseball, 5-4 today at Pat Daugherty Field. IHCC (31-19) faces @reiverbaseball (37-12) at 1 p.m. on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/s49JgZTJ9h
— IHCC Athletics (@IHCCAthletics) May 12, 2023
