-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Jayda Long of Iowa Central pitches against Northeast on Wednesday at Rogers park

The Iowa Central softball team christens a new field at Rogers Park on Thursday in its 2025 home debut.

The 19th-ranked (NJCAA Div. II) Tritons feel like they have a product to match the enthusiasm surrounding the environment this season.

After 21 games spread over places like Florida, Kansas and Missouri, head coach Bo Tjebben’s squad finally gets to experience the comforts of home in a showdown with national power Kirkwood to begin ICCAC league play.

Iowa Central boasts a 19-2 record to date, with victories in 15 of its last 16 games. Tjebben has been able to balance veteran leadership with youthful enthusiasm as the Tritons have found both success and chemistry to flow freely in the early stages of the year.

“We’ve always stressed the importance of creating a family culture and bonding as a group,” said Tjebben, who is in his fifth season at the helm. “Fortunately, the kids have bought into that and embraced their roles. They believe in each other, and our dugout is both fun and loud.

“When you recruit as a coach and have anywhere from 10 to 15 newcomers join (the current players) every year, you hope it all comes together and the pieces of the puzzle fit. Our girls deserve a ton of credit for making it work and being very competitive in the process.”

Sophomore veterans Kennedy Palmer, Breanna Nolte and Jayda Long have been the driving force behind the seamless transition. Palmer, a returning second team All-American from Ankeny, is batting .369 to date with five doubles and 13 RBI. Nolte– an Indianola native and, like Palmer, a returning all-ICCAC honoree — has a .517 average with two homers and 19 runs driven in.

Long, who starred at Southeast Polk, has done a little of everything. She’s hitting .417 with a team-best 20 RBI, and is also 8-1 with a 1.93 earned run average as a pitcher.

“The sophomores have really set the tone,” Tjebben said. “A lot of them have so much going on away from (softball) with academic (requirements), but they come in on their own and make sure they’ve put in the time. They’re prepared no matter what.”

Freshman Avery McKinney, sophomore Carly Ryan, sophomore Sydney Wilson and freshman Kyra Kain are all hitting above .350 in a balanced Triton lineup. Tjebben is also pleased with the depth of his staff, as freshman Jillian French (5-0) and sophomore Jadeyn Stahr (3-0, 3 saves) have flanked Long nicely.

“I’ve learned you can never have enough pitching,” said Tjebben, a former Fort Dodge Dodger all-state hurler who is 125-67 in his four years as head coach. “It’s important to build depth and show versatility, and I really think this team has done that.

“We’ve made plenty of mistakes, of course — softball is a sport of dealing with failure. How do you react to adversity? Are you able to be resilient? So far, we’ve done a good job of having a short memory when things don’t go our way.”

Tjebben knows the ICCAC is “always stacked.” Currently, in addition to Iowa Central cracking the Top-20, DMACC is ranked 7th nationally, Kirkwood is 10th and NIACC is 14th.

“It’s going to be an incredible challenge over these next six or so weeks,” Tjebben said. “We’ll see how we handle it (record-wise), but we know playing a schedule like this will only make us better.

“We’ll just keep taking it one game at a time.”

Tjebben said his players are “thrilled” to finally be at home.

“They’re all super excited,” Tjebben said. “Being back in familiar territory and having the new (field turf) just makes for a terrific gameday experience. The weather is going to be great (on Thursday) and Kirkwood is an outstanding ballclub.

“We’re more than ready.”

Tjebben is assisted by his daughters Cassie Tjebben and Bre Hiracheta, along with Bill Myers.