Centerville -- Christian Pena smashed a three-run homer that broke a 4-4 tie and allowed Indian Hills to knock off Iowa Western, 7-4, and complete a riun through the Region XI tourney that saw the Falcons win all three of their games, including two against the nationally-ranked Reivers.
After Pena's tie-breaking long ball in the top of the 6th, the IHCC bullpen trio of DJ DePiero, Caleb Miley and Zach Fascia shut down Iowa Western, combining to hold them to one hit and no runs over the final four frames.
The region posteason title is the first for IHCC in 13 years. The last time they won the tourney they went on to quallfy for the JUCO World Series.
Pena drove in one of the Falcons' early runs in the title game as he helped them get to the 6th tied at 4-all. Dillon Nelson, Jacob Rhinesmith and Luis Gimenez had the other runs-batted-in, and Nelson scored twice. Oracio Deleon went the first five innings on the mound for IHCC, allowing all four IWCC runs.
The Sunday win was the second over Iowa Western on the weekend. The Falcons, who dropped six of eight regular season matchups with the Reivers, used another outstanding pitching performance by freshman Jared Spearing to win an 8-0 contest on Saturday. Spearing threw seven shutout innings, permitting only four hits, with five Ks and five walks. Miley finished up. The 14-hit Indian Hills attack included triples by Rhinesmith and Lane Harvey and doubles from Will Zimmerman and Hunter Capps.
The Falcons scored a run in the 2nd, two in the 5th, two more in the 7th, then ended things early via the run-rule with three in the 8th.
Rhinesmith's triple was part of a three-hit, three runs scored game for the sophomore. Gimenez had two hits and scored twice and Zimmerman chipped in two hits and two RBIs. Ryan Humeniuk and Capps also had two hits each.
The tourney began for IHCC with a 5-2 win against Marshalltown. The Falcons plated three runs in the 2nd and added single tallies in the 3rd and 4th innings and that was more than enough for sophomore righthander Jacob Thiessen, who tossed a nine-inning complete game. Thiessen scattered 10 hits, didn't walk anyone and fanned seven. He held MCC scoreless until they pushed across their two runs in the 6th, then blanked them after that.
Harvey collected three hits, including a double, the Falcons' lone extra-base hit among their dozen safeties. Humeniuk, Gimenez and Pena all had two-hit games. The RBIs were provided by the lower third of the lineup. Fascia, Pena and Capps each had one and Gimenez scored two times.
Indian Hills will compete in this weekend's Northern District Tournament with three Illinois schools -- Wabash Valley, Lincoln Trail and Triton. The Falcons draw Wabash Valley in the first round Friday at noon.