By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Going into the bottom of the seventh, the Southeast of Saline softball team was on the brink of another disappointing early exit at this year’s regional tournament.
To pull the upset and bounce the Lady Trojans from the bracket, Riley County, holding a four-run lead, needed to record just three outs.
They would get only one.
“I told them ‘we can fold or we can fight,’ and they chose to fight,” SES head coach Pesha Ptacek said. “We knew that if we played up to what we were capable of that we were more than capable of coming back and winning this game.”
Lexi Jacobson started the rally with a base knock to lead off the seventh and became the first Lady Trojan to score on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze.
SES went back to the small ball well three more times, scoring three additional runs and tying the game with more perfectly placed bunts.
In the biggest at-bat of her career, Brielle Ptacek delivered a single into the gap that brought Carly Commerford home to cap off the five-run comeback as Southeast walked off Riley County 11-10 and punched their ticket to the regional semis.
“In that seventh inning every single girl was on her feet screaming and getting into it and that energy made the difference,” Ptacek said. “This win was huge for us and it says a lot about how resilient these girls are.”
The seventh inning was the second to see five Lady Trojans cross the plate as SES tied the game in the third after falling into an early 5-0 hole.
“We had some breaks that didn’t go our way in that first inning but for us to turn around and answer early was huge for us,” she said.
Riley County quickly snatched the lead back striking for five in the fourth and one in the fifth but the comeback sent Southeast through to the second round where they will face the hosts in Halstead, who eliminated Minneapolis 14-4 earlier today.
First pitch between the Lady Trojans and Dragons is scheduled for 3:30 pm with the winner advancing to this year’s regional championship game at 5:00.