Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Kennedy Palmer of Iowa Central had two hits and scored three times against Ellsworth in the team's Region XI tournament opener on Friday in Cedar Rapids.

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Iowa Central softball team was all business in their Region XI-A tournament opener against Ellsworth here on Friday.

Former Humboldt standout Alexis Hansen hit a grand slam, leadoff batter Kennedy Palmer scored three times and drove in a pair, and the Tritons overwhelmed Ellsworth by a final of 14-3 in six innings.

Jayda Long added three hits and scored twice for No. 4 seed Iowa Central (36-19 overall), which advances to face No. 1 seed Kirkwood (46-11) at 2 p.m. back here on Saturday. The Eagles staved off an upset bid by last-place Northeast on Friday, advancing with a 4-3 triumph.

Head coach Bo Tjebben’s squad plated three runs in the first inning and two more in the second to immediately take control against the Panthers (22-30). The Tritons led 9-0 after adding three more runs in the fourth, and when Ellsworth finally scored three of their own in the fifth, Iowa Central responded with another big inning. Hansen capped the rally and ended the contest early with her deep fly.

“Mentally, we were ready to go and locked in from the start,” Tjebben said. “I could see it in BP (batting practice). You never really know what to expect once you get to the postseason, and we hadn’t faced this Ellsworth pitcher (before Friday), but our offense was clicking — especially the top of the lineup.”

Palmer and Long both doubled. Breanna Nolte scored three times.

Hansen now has six home runs and cleared the 50-RBI mark for the year with her slam.

Long (14-8) worked the first three innings, allowing no runs and three hits with two strikeouts to earn the victory. Cailyn Hardy pitched the final two frames and whiffed five.

Iowa Central was 0-4 against the Eagles during the regular season, but one of the losses was by a single run and two more were by a pair.

“It’s a new slate for everyone now,” Tjebben said. “We’ll just have to play our game, execute and see what happens. We have to make good pitches, the defense has to be consistent, and we’ll need timely hitting.”

This tournament follows a double-elimination format.

IOWA CENTRAL 14, ELLSWORTH 3 (6)

Ellsworth 000 030 — 3 7 3

Iowa Central 321 305 — 14 11 1

WP–Jayda Long (14-8); 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K). 2B–ICCC: Kennedy Palmer, Jayda Long. HR–ICCC: Alexis Hansen. SB–ICCC: Kennedy Palmer 2, Calli Schnell, Carly Ryan.