Council Bluffs, IA—The Marshalltown Community College baseball team suffered a pair of losses to No. 12 Iowa Western Community College in the team's regular season finale Sunday afternoon at Doc Ross Field. The Tigers finish the regular season with a 19-31 overall record and 8-16 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play.
Despite the two losses, the Tigers have secured the No. 3 seed in the upcoming NJCAA Region XI Division I Baseball Tournament. Postseason play begins Friday, May 12 in Centerville, IA hosted by Indian Hills Community College. Iowa Western earned the top seed in the tournament while the Tigers will open up against No. 2 seed Indian Hills at 2:00 PM Friday. Iowa Western and fourth-seeded Southwestern Community College play in game one of the double-elimination tournament at 11:00 AM.
The Tigers split Saturday's doubleheader with the Reivers, but early deficits cost MCC in Sunday's twinbill. In gam one, the Tigers fell behind 2-0 to the Reivers. MCC scored a single run in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, but Iowa Western outscored the Tigers in each frame to take the opener.
Sophomore Tony Salato (Knoxville, IA/Knoxville) went 2-3 at the plate while Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) and John Magnuson (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East) collected RBI base hits.
MCC used a big first inning in game two of Saturday's doubleheader to earn a victory and the Tigers looked to replicate that production on Sunday with three runs in the first frame of game two. Unlike Saturday's contest, the Reivers answered immediately, scoring nine runs in the bottom half of the first inning.
Peyton Stephens (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle connected on a three-run home run in the fifth to pull the Tigers within four, 11-7, but the Reivers held on for the victory.
Stephens finished the game with a career-high five RBI after going 2-4. Sophomore Luis Duran (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Centro de Estudio Espaillat) snapped his 14-game hitting streak after not recording a hit in game one, but had a standout game in the nightcap, going 3-4 with a solo home run and a pair of RBI. Jose Mieses (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Prepara) added two hits in the loss.
Duran finished the regular season as the league leader in home runs (10) and RBI (56) and tied for second in the conference with a .412 batting average.
Stay tuned for the Region XI Tournament preview by following the Tigers on Twitter:
BASEBALL
— ICCAC Sports (@ICCACSports) May 7, 2017
The DI Region XI Tournament bracket:
(1) @ReiverBaseball vs. (4) @SWCC_Baseball
(2) @IHCCBaseball vs. (3) @MCCTigers_BB#ICCAC pic.twitter.com/s58Mur6D1J
