Photo courtesy of Iowa Central Athletics: The Iowa Central baseball team poses with its North Plains District championship plaque after Saturday’s rout of Dakota County at Rogers Park.

While the adage of April showers bringing May flowers may be true, the spring months have recently brought another rite of passage for the Iowa Central Community College baseball program.

Victorious dog piles have become a habit for head coach Eric Stein’s Tritons of late. Less than a week removed from a memorable run to the Region 11 crown in Carroll, Iowa Central enjoyed another celebration on their home field Saturday at Rogers Park.

The No. 13 Tritons ripped open a nip-and-tuck clash with Dakota County Technical College to the tune of an 18-run rally over the final five innings to lock up the Northern Plains District championship by a 19-4 count.

“It all came down to a bunch of guys who didn’t want the season to end,” Stein said, smiling broadly after the program clinched its first NJCAA Division II World Series berth since 2010. “Every game the last two weeks has seen us grow stronger and stronger chemistry-wise.

“It seemed like we had a different player stepping in every situation.”

Saturday’s rout came over a Blue Knights squad who had arrived in Fort Dodge as one of the hottest in the nation. Dakota County had won 20 in a row before dropping a 9-7 thriller in the series opener. After a tense first four innings which only produced one run, redshirt sophomore catcher Chayton Fischer got a pitch he liked and belted a three-run shot well above the center field wall in the fifth, sparking a four-run binge that got the Tritons rolling.

Sophomore pinch-hitter Eric Nuno blasted a pair of homers, and freshman outfielder Cade Sears drilled a long ball and a triple as well.

“We’ve got such a great chemistry on this team,” Nuno said. “It doesn’t matter who it is…we’re all ready to step in contribute.”

“We all wanted to see this continue,” Sears added. “We’re having a great time playing baseball together.”

All the offensive production was more than enough for freshman hurler Carter Giesen. He kept DCTC at bay to the tune of only three hits while striking out six over six innings.

“Carter is such a competitor,” Stein said. “You always know you have a chance to win when he is on the mound. He’s really good at mixing his pitches and keeping our opponents off balance.”

Iowa Central (44-15) now awaits its seeding for the 2025 NJCAA Div. II championships, which will be May 24-30 in Enid, Oklahoma.

“We’ll take a little bit of time to celebrate this great run that got us here,” Stein said. “But come (this) week, it is back to work.

“I know this team is excited for the opportunity.”

ICCC 010 042 444 – 19 14 1

DCTC 000 000 121 – 4 7 3

WP – Giesen. LP – Kane Sheahan. 2B – Jake Busson, Luke Behonek, George Anderson. 3B – Sears. HR – Nuno (2), Fischer, Sears, Brady Schafer. E – Justin Benjamin, Jr., Jake Grubele, Sheahan, Jun Moeller.