CEDAR RAPIDS — The Iowa Central softball team got Kirkwood’s attention and then some with a Region XI-A tournament victory on Saturday.

The eighth-ranked (NJCAA Div. II) Eagles responded in a big way on their home field 24 hours later, securing the conference championship with a pair of victories over the upset-minded Tritons.

Scores on Sunday were 8-0 and 11-3 in favor of Kirkwood. Iowa Central had pushed the Eagles to the brink of elimination with a 6-4 victory in the winner’s bracket the afternoon before, but the region’s top seed fought their way back with the pressure on.

“I’m heartbroken for our kids,” Triton head coach Bo Tjebben said. “It’s such an emotional rollercoaster. You go from knocking them off and being one step away to coming up short. And we fought hard to put ourselves in this position.

“That’s just the way it goes sometimes. We came out with a sense of urgency and a ton of energy on Saturday, but for whatever reason, we weren’t able to sustain it. I thought it was very uncharacteristic of us, playing timid the way we did (in the finals). Maybe some of the presssure they felt (after Saturday) switched to us once they started to build some momentum back in their favor.”

Trailing 3-2 and down to their final at-bat, the Tritons (37-21 overall) plated four runs with a memorable seventh-inning rally to prevail against Kirkwood on Saturday. Freshman standout Jayda Long delivered a clutch two-run home run to put Iowa Central ahead to stay.

Long drove in three runs. Aleena Sandy went 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of runs scored.

Katelyn Dennis (3-1) earned the win in relief; starter Emma Hoyle went five innings and allowed only a single earned run.

The Tritons led 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, when the Eagles themselves rallied to take a short-lived lead.

Kirkwood bounced back by routing Northeast to grab the other slot in Sunday’s XI-A championship round. The Eagles advance to nationals with a 49-12 record.

DMACC and North Iowa meet on Monday in the Region XI-B finals.

Iowa Central may not be done just yet. The Tritons could receive one of four at-large bids handed out for the national tournament this coming Sunday.

“We’ll just keep our fingers crossed and see what happens,” Tjebben said. “Our conference is so tough. I’m hoping we’re able to qualify, but that’s out of our hands now.

“Regardless of what happens, I’m extremely proud of how far we’ve come in building our cultural foundation. We truly have a family atmosphere.”