—Photo courtesy of Iowa Central Athletics iowa central players celebrate after beating Southeastern 9-8 to win the Region XI championship on Sunday night.

CARROLL — Down to their final strike, the 16th-ranked Iowa Central baseball team showed the heart of a champion.

Trailing 8-7 with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the 10th inning, sophomore Spencer Pederson connected with a slider over the left fielders head to score Bryson Carpenter for the tying run and pinch-runner TJ Logan crossed the plate for the Regional XI championship and a 9-8 victory over Southeastern.

“Obviously the intensity is ratchet up, with the final out and the final strike,” said Iowa Central head coach Eric Stein. “Spencer just had to slow his heart rate and he executed his plan and found a pitch to hit.”

The Tritons (42-15 overall) won what boiled down to a best of three with Southeastern. Iowa Central earned a 12-3 win on Friday. Southeastern started the day with a 20-11 win, forcing a winner take all contest.

Iowa Central has earned the right to host the district tournament next weekend. The Tritons will play a best-of-three series with Dakota County Tech for the right to advance to the NJCAA College World Series.

“We play in one of the best regions in the country,” Stein said. “This is a six team tournament that anyone can win.

“I’m excited for our guys and the team. They put the time and energy and effort in this and it’s cool to see them reap the benefits of their work.”