By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline softball team will look to build on the momentum of a thoroughly successful 16-6 campaign in 2021, bringing back almost everyone from that run.
“We are definitely excited to get back on the field to compete again,” SES head coach Pesha Ptacek said. “Hopefully, we can get some consistent field time with the weather as we prepare for our first doubleheader.”
Opening day for SES softball will be Friday, April 1st as the Lady Trojans prepare to host Smoky Valley in a two-game set.
Southeast returns all three of their top pitchers from a season ago and will be loaded in the circle with Lexi Jacobson, Brenna Baird, and Carly Commerford each throwing off hitters in their own way.
“We have three very good, very comparable pitchers this year,” Ptacek said. “All of them are capable of being good varsity starters and their styles are different enough that we can mix them in to suit what we need.”
Offensively, the Lady Trojans return five all-league players to the lineup, including three sophomores in Maddie Harris, Brielle Ptacek and Lexi Jacobson, and two juniors in Chase Gilpin and Carly Commerford.
“Having almost everybody back is really nice and those kids have another year of experience now,” she said. “We’re young but what we’ve seen from them is very exciting.”
While many of the returners will stay locked into their traditional positions, the piece that makes all of this work for the Trojans is super utility player Savannah Sutton, who will see time all over the diamond this year.
This year’s team will be young once again, but with another year of experience comes a great deal of poise that should translate to the field come game time.
“We are a lot more confident coming into this year,” Ptacek said. “Last year they knew that they were young and we had two classes of freshmen because our sophomores missed their freshman year to Covid. I think these girls are less nervous and more confidently aware of what they’re capable of.”
In terms of goals and aspirations, this year’s Lady Trojan team wants to continue the tradition of excellence surrounding the program.
“These girls want a league championship and they want to go to state,” she said. “They’ve grown up watching successful SES softball teams and they’re hungry to do that for themselves.”
First pitch on Friday between the Trojans and Vikings is set for 3:30 pm.
For continuing coverage of SES softball throughout the season stay tuned to the Salina Post.