It was a different kind of nervous energy inside of the Kuyper Fieldhouse for Selection Monday for the Central College softball team.

The last two years, the Dutch watched anxiously before finally seeing their name called as an at-large selection to the 62-team postseason tournament.  This year, Central knew they were in because of an American Rivers Conference tournament championship, but watched to see if they would be selected to host and who they would play.

Those questions were finally answered late in the selection show.  Yes, Central will host a four-team regional this Friday through Sunday at the Kuyper Athletic Complex.  They’ll play Lake Forest of Illinois in the opening round, while Wisconsin LaCross and St. Benedict of Minnesota round out the field.

The postseason outlook for Central seemed bleak two weeks ago after getting swept by league rival Coe in Cedar Rapids on Good Friday.  Senior third baseman Lauren Bagby, one of the team’s captains, said she’s tried to keep her teammates focused for what became an 8-0 finish and both a regular season and tournament conference championship.

“I pride myself on being one of the more level-headed people on the team, so after Coe I tried to not let it show that I was upset.  There were some people on the team who were shaken about it, but I tried to keep myself focused on the fact that there are two weeks left in the season and the season isn’t over.  That Coe game was important, but we saw what happened after that, winning eight straight and beating Luther for the outright conference title. I knew the season wasn’t over, so I tried to keep focused on that.”

Central’s season will extend at least into this weekend.  Opening round games will be played Friday, with action Saturday and Sunday to crown the regional champion.  You can hear all of Central’s games live on 92.1 KRLS.

For audio highlights of Central’s conference championship victory over Coe from Saturday on KRLS, click below.