By: Eric Pratt
Messenger Sports Editor
The Iowa Central baseball team flashed its full potential for the first six innings of their game against Indian Hills on Sunday at Rogers Park.
The seventh-ranked Tritons then had to finish the job on sheer guts.
Cooper Nicholson's walk-off home run to straight-away centerfield capped a dramatic 11-10 victory over the Warriors in 10 innings, which gave head coach Eric Stein's squad the win in the weekend series.
Iowa Central (36-9 overall, 14-9 in the ICCAC) had split with Indian Hills (30-12, 15-8) on Saturday, with the Tritons rolling in the nightcap by a final of 15-4 after the Warriors had prevailed in the opener, 9-4. Nicholson, a freshman infielder from West Des Moines Dowling, had a monster weekend at the plate, homering twice the day before and then adding a dramatic encore on Sunday.
"Cooper had a big weekend," Stein said. "We played really well and built a 10-2 lead in the first six innings (of the finale), but things got really interesting in the last three.
"Our lineup was very productive. We had four home runs and put baserunners on all day. It's just a matter of not giving good opponents extra outs and free passes. Things kind of unraveled for a while, but to our guys' credit, they found a way and wiggled out of the jam."
Nicholson was 4-for-6 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Michael Siemer, Jack Mausser and Will Smoot also went deep for Iowa Central.
Siemer and Peter Johnson had three hits a piece, with Johnson recording a pair of doubles. Jake Busson drove in three.
The Tritons plated three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to help build their eight-run advantage.
Busson worked 1ª innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. He struck out a pair.
"Indian Hills is a tough team," Stein said. "They are very athletic and put pressure on you with their style of play.
"It's good to get into those situations and pull through. Definitely a solid series win."
Iowa Central returns to action on Tuesday at DMACC. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.