NO.20 EAGLES WIN REGIONAL WITH WILD COMEBACK

The Kirkwood Eagles staged a wild comeback Sunday and stunned Iowa Central, 9-6, in 10 innings to win the NJCAA Region XI title at the Plaster Athletic Complex in Cedar Rapids.

The 20th-ranked Eagles (40-20) will host a district tournament against the Region XIII champion this Friday and Saturday, with the winner going to the NJCAA Division II World Series in Enid, Okla., May 29-June 5.

Kirkwood trailed 6-0 after six innings of the second championship game Sunday, but the Eagles scored twice in the seventh inning and tied the game 6-6 in the top of the ninth after being down to their final out.

The Eagles capitalized on three errors by Iowa Central in the top of the 10th to score three more runs for their 9-6 advantage.

Tyler Tscherter, who sparkled in relief for Kirkwood, retired the side in the bottom of the 10th for the victory. Tscherter (6-1) pitched shutout ball for 5 1/3 innings to give his club a chance to stage a dramatic comeback for the ages.

Kirkwood lost to Iowa Central in the winners bracket finals Saturday afternoon, but the Eagles bounced back by topping Northeast Community College 10-2 in the losers bracket finals Saturday night before erasing Iowa Central, 8-3 and 9-6, in the championship round Sunday.

The Eagles never blinked and are now two victories away from reaching the NJCAA World Series.

Iowa Central pitchers walked five batters in the top of the ninth inning of the final game, including three bases-loaded walks to force in runs. The Eagles trailed 6-4 in the top of the ninth with two outs, but Cade Moss walked with the bases loaded to make it 6-5 and Justin Martinez walked to force in another run and make it 6-6.

Tscherter retired the side in the bottom of the ninth and the Eagles went back to work in the 10th. Josh Fitzgerald and Trevor Burkhart were hit-by-pitches to start the frame. Pendergast reached on a fielding error by the second baseman and Fitzgerald scored on the same play when the second baseman committed a throwing error to make it 7-6.

Joel Vaske followed with an RBI single to make it 8-6, then Pendergast scored on an errant pickoff throw by the pitcher to make it 9-6. The Eagles scored three runs in the 10th inning on one hit and three errors.

Kirkwood trailed 2-0 in the first championship game Sunday. Martinez hit a solo homer in the fifth inning to make it 2-1, then Andrue Henry belted a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the sixth to make it 3-2. Kirkwood added another run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Pendergast to make it 4-2, then the Eagles put the game out of reach with four runs in the top of the ninth that featured a two-run single
by Henry.

Frankie Cresta, Kirkwood's ace closer, entered the game in the fourth inning of the first game Sunday and threw 5 1/3 innings in relief for the victory.

Iowa Central (35-23) stranded 21 runners in Game 1 on Sunday and left the bases loaded five times.