Iowa Central projected 2nd in ICCAC Conference

Another ICCAC Baseball season awaits as the 2025 begins on Friday with ICCAC teams starting competition as early as Feb. 1.

Division II was extremely competitive among the top teams last season. Kirkwood finished atop the conference standings, but it was the No. 5 seed DMACC that won the Region Tournament and went to the National Tournament. 

Southeastern was the runners-up in the Region and earned an at-large bid to Enid as well. 

Unfortunately for Iowa Central and Kirkwood, who both finished with over 40 wins in the regular season, did not earn at-large bids to the World Series following their exits in the Region Tournament.

For the upcoming season, going off the coaches' poll, it will be Kirkwood, Iowa Central, Southeastern and DMACC battling it out for most of the season. Sitting right on the cusp are Northeast and NIACC that will likely both be fighting it out for the final spots in the Region 11 Tournament.

Ellsworth, Iowa Lakes and Marshalltown were the bottom three teams in 2024 and were a ways off from making the Region Tournament. All three teams will be hoping to significantly improve this season and make a run at postseason play. 

With so many strong teams in the conference the 2025 ICCAC Baseball season will likely be as unpredictable as the 2024 season.  

Iowa Central Preview - 

Iowa Central fell short in 2024 of their preseason expectations despite an outstanding season. A 22-11 conference record earned them the No. 3 seed at the Region Tournament -- which they hosted in Fort Dodge. Their season ended with a loss in the semifinals to Kirkwood --and among three worthy at-large candidates were left on the outside looking in come World Series selection day.

The Tritons finished the 2024 season with a 46-13 overall record with all but two of those losses coming in conference. The Tritons were unfortunate to miss out on the World Series considering they were an elite offensive club -- ranking first in the conference in all major production categories; Runs, Hits Home Runs, Batting Average and On-Base Percentage.

The offense will need to reload their lineup which led the country in runs scored with 661 in 2024 while also setting a NJCAA DII record for home runs with 134. The return of key players like Cooper Nicholson (ICCAC Player of the Year), Jake Busson, and Spencer Pederson will lead the way offensively. The team will also lose over 300 innings pitched from the 2024 team but Ryan Ohm will be a key piece in making up some of that, while other returnees and talented newcomers will need to log the rest of the remaining innings.

Going into the 2025 season the Tritons, who last won the region in 2017, are predicted to finish second in the conference. This time around will hope to advance to their first World Series since 2003.