The Iowa Central baseball team used an experienced lineup with strong pitching to make a push towards nationals.

Now, the Tritons will be leaning on an experienced pitching staff to help a relatively new batting order come together in hopes of finishing off a run to the national tournament.

With aces Easton Dermody, John Klein and Matthew Wilkinson back, Iowa Central welcomes in Brett Sears to the fold along with several other key newcomers and returning pieces for head coach Eric Stein.

"Brett is a top-of-the-line starter," Stein said. "We are lucky to have him. Along with the rest of those guys, they really show everybody how it needs to be done in order to succeed. It's great having this kind of pitching because it allows us to be more creative on offense."

Sears, Dermody, Klein and Wilkinson have all committed to Div. I schools for the fall. Sears will head to Nebraska, Dermody to Southern Illinois, Klein to Kansas State and Wilkinson to Wichita State.

In five starts so far for Iowa Central, Sears, a native of Harlan like Stein, is 5-0 with 44 strikeouts and a 2.01 earned run average. Dermody and Klein both have three wins, with Dermody picking up 41 strikeouts in 24 innings.

Wilkinson has taken on the closer role, picking up four saves with almost 15 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Tritons also have Andrew Boeser, Evan Borst, Kai Reum and Webster City standout Tyler Olson on the mound. Olson is fresh off a five-inning outing where he faced just 15 batters, striking out five.

"All of those guys like to compete and push each other," Stein said. "That is what makes them leaders for our team."

At the plate, sophomores, Max Holy, Brock Johnson, Jalen Martinez, Borst and Trey Morris all have double-digit runs scored and hits. Martinez is hitting over .400 on the year and leads the team in RBI.

"Jalen has really shown a lot of improvement since last year," Stein said. "Borst is a kid that can pitch and play the field, Max does a great job of getting on base and Morris is a transfer from Ellsworth, so he knows what the conference is like.

"Once again, our league is as good as any out there. We'll be tested, and we know we'll have to be ready to play each time we step out on the field."

-By Dana Becker