By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline softball team made short work of Republic County on Tuesday, sweeping the Lady Buffs in finals of 16-0 and 15-3 to improve to 5-1 on the year.
Karlee Zurfluh was the star of the show, tossing a perfect game in the opener, and closing out the nightcap with a grand slam, an inside-the-park home run, and 7 RBI to help the Lady Trojans complete the sweep.
Game 1: SE of Saline 16, Republic County 0
Zurfluh began her big day by tossing three perfect innings, setting down the entire Lady Buffalo order 1-9 with six strikeouts.
Offensively, every single member of the Lady Trojan lineup contributed either with a hit or a run scored. Reese Heinrich led the charge with two hits and three RBI as Southeast poured on the runs and ended the opener after just three innings.
With the win, Zurfluh improves to 3-0 on the year, and keeps her ERA spotless, with a season strikeout to walk ratio of 18-4.
Game 2: SE of Saline 15, Republic County 3
The second game of this set did take seven innings to complete, but the Lady Trojans looked just as dominant, scoring 15 runs on 10 hits while allowing just three runs to come in and score.
This time, it was Hannah Thiel’s turn to dominate in the circle, recording seven strikeouts in six innings of three-hit ball and holding the Lady Buffs to just one earned run.
Seven different members of the Lady Trojan lineup recorded at least one hit, but it was Zurfluh’s bat that shone the brightest, driving in 7 of Southeast’s 12 RBI on the day and accounting in some way for 10 of 15 total runs.
Zurfluh drove in two runs on an RBI single in the sixth, showcased her speed on an inside-the-park home run in the seventh, and crushed a no-doubter grand slam to close out a five-run seventh inning.
Madelyn McFadden came out of the pen to close out the win, adding another strikeout and finishing off the Lady Buffaloes.
With this sweep, Southeast improves to 5-1 while Republic County falls to 1-5.
The Lady Trojans are back in action on Friday as they travel to Abilene for a showdown with the Cowgirls.