Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Bryson Carpenter of Iowa Central scores a game-winning run at Rogers Park earlier this season.

ENID, Okla. — The Iowa Central baseball team begins their quest for a national championship here on Saturday night.

The Tritons, who earned the No. 9 seed, will face Frederick at 7 p.m. in the opening round of the NJCAA Div. II World Series — the program’s first appearance here since 2010.

With a win, Iowa Central (44-15 overall) would meet No. 1 seed Pasco-Hernando State (48-10) on Sunday at 7 p.m. A loss would drop them into the consolation round on Monday at 4 p.m. vs. either Heartland, Madison or Lackawanna.

Head coach Eric Stein’s squad hit a combined 98 home runs, led by 21 from Cooper Nicholson and 20 from Jake Busson. Nicholson, the 2024 ICCAC offensive player of the year, hit .320 with 84 runs scored and 18 steals.

Busson drove in a team-high 83 runs, scoring 66 with 11 doubles.

Cade Sears leads the team with 29 steals, scoring 57 runs, as Chayton Fischer is batting .399 with 12 homers, 53 runs scored and 69 RBI.

On the mound, reigning conference pitcher of the year Chris McCormack enters with a 10-0 record and two saves, striking out 73 batters. Ryan Ohm is 7-2 with 93 strikeouts while Carter Giesen has a 9-2 mark and 81 strikeouts.

Frederick (51-11) — located in Maryland — earned an at-large bid to the tournament after falling to Montgomery College in the Region 20 tournament final. Shawn Karpaitis has 19 home runs while Jacob Downey and William Gisriel each have 10.

On the mound, Luke Pietrandrea is 6-0 with 43 strikeouts and Ethan Duff has four wins and 73 strikeouts.

Southeastern, the ICCAC regular season champion, also made the field. They will face Kellogg Community College of Battle Creek, Mich. on Saturday.