CENTERVILLE — The Indian Hills Community College baseball team rose to the occasion while facing elimination at the Region XI Tournament on Sunday before falling in the regional championship on Monday afternoon. After falling to Iowa Western 16-2 on Saturday, the Falcons battled back through the consolation bracket, eliminating Marshalltown 8-4 before holding on for a 4-3 victory over ninth-ranked Iowa Western on Sunday, forcing a regional championship matchup against Iowa Western on Monday.

Then things got wild, as the Falcons took a 22-15 loss to the Rievers at Pat Daugherty Field Monday afternoon.

Indian Hills finishes the season with a 30-26 record while Iowa Western (51-10) advancing to the district tournament, which is scheduled for next weekend in southern Illinois.

The Falcons came back less than 24 hours after their huge win and battled Iowa Western again, this time in a winner-take-all regional championship contest. IHCC committed five errors in the second inning, which led to a nine-run outburst by Iowa Western as the Reivers owned a 10-1 lead after one and one-half innings of play.

The Falcons came back with an outburst of their own, scoring 10 unanswered runs over the next four innings to grab an improbable 11-10 lead after five innings of play.

Iowa Western came back strong with four runs in the sixth and four runs in the seventh, building an 18-11 advantage through seven innings. IHCC added four late runs as the Reivers held on for a wild 22-15 victory.

The story of the contest for Indian Hills was defense, as the Falcons committed 11 errors during the nine-inning game. Jon Piche stayed hot on offense for the Falcons, getting five hits in six at-bats with a double and two runs batted in. Piche wrapped up the tournament as IHCC’s top hitter, going 11-for-19 during the regional tournament. Carlos Zayas had a big day at the plate in his final game in a Falcon uniform, recording three hits in six at-bats, including two doubles and four runs scored.

Travis Whitmore had three hits while Christian Rivera, Bryan Baum, Luke Stamp and Jose Marin added two hits each for Indian Hills.

Iowa Western 22, IHCC 15

IWCC 1 9 0 0 0 4 4 0 4 - 22 19 2

IHCC 1 4 1 4 1 0 0 2 2 - 15 20 11

IHCC pitching — Andres Garcia, Tyler Fries, Josh Gibbs, Milton Velazquez, Milton Gonzalez, Jamie Matos, Brian Graves.

Hitting — Jon Piche 5-6, Carlos Zayas 3-6, Travis Whitmore 3-5, Christian Rivera 2-4, Bryan Baum 2-5, Luke Stamp 2-4, Jose Marin 2-5, Alex Collura 1-3.

2B - Zayas 2, Piche, Rivera, Baum, Whitmore, Stamp, Marin.

RBI - Rivera 3, Whitmore 3, Marin 2, Piche 2, Roderick Barcelo, Stamp.