By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
After just one year away, the Southeast of Saline softball team is headed back to the 3A state tournament after battling their way through a brutal regional on Thursday.
The Lady Trojans took down Hesston and Wichita Trinity in back to back games, defending their home turf and earning the 1-seed at next week’s 3A dance.
Game One: SE of Saline 6, Hesston 0
Southeast made short work of Hesston in the regional semifinal, rolling through the Lady Swather lineup en route to another shutout win.
While warming up, Lady Trojan ace Karlee Zurfluh clipped her foot on the newly installed stride mat and went down in a heap, needing a moment to collect herself.
That mat continued to give Zurfluh trouble, as she hit the first batter of the day, and walked the next on four pitches.
Fortunately, Zurfluh figured things out, and a strike from Annabelle Soell to the plate from right field kept things level as the first came to a close.
In their first at-bats of the day, the Lady Trojans showcased their unique brand of softball, as Reese Heinrich was hit by a pitch, stole second and third, and was driven in by Kyiah Samuelson who herself came in one batter later on an RBI single by Soell.
SES doubled their lead in the third when Ashley Whelchel smacked a 2-RBI single, then added two more in the fifth to take a 6-0 lead.
Zurfluh buckled down after that first inning, allowing just six more baserunners the rest of the way. By the final out, Zurfluh had completed another shutout, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out nine.
Samuelson was excellent at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a single, a double, a triple, an RBI and three runs scored.
This win put SES through to the regional final where one of the best teams in the state awaited them in Wichita Trinity.
Game Two: SE of Saline 3, Wichita Trinity 2
In arguably the most loaded bracket in the state of Kansas, baseball or softball, Wichita Trinity was not your average 4-seed.
The Lady Knights had taken on, and beaten, several teams well above their weight, including 6A Manhattan, 5A Bishop Carroll, and a 4A Clearwater team that will also be playing for state next week.
Two batters into the game Trinity looked the part, following a leadoff walk with a Madison Cross inside-the-park home run to take a 2-0 lead.
Trinity threatened to do a lot more than that, loading the bases with just one out, but Karlee Zurfluh locked in and recorded two strikeouts to pitch herself out of the jam.
In the second inning, the Lady Trojans got a chance to respond, and after an Ashley Whelchel leadoff single, Vada Durfee crushed a ball into left center that rolled to the fence.
Initially Durfee was told to hold up at third, but a misplayed relay from the fence gave Southeast a glimmer of light and they pounced, sending Durfee home and narrowly beating a play at the plate.
Inside the park home run, tie game.
“We know how difficult it is to control speed and we like to play with pace and tempo in between the lines,” SES head coach Tyler Smith said. “We want to go and we want to force a good relay, a good throw home and a good tag, that’s a lot of variables and we have a lot of speed to put pressure on people.”
The aggressive baserunning didn’t stop there as in the fourth, Riley Donnelly reached on a leadoff walk.
Donnelly advanced to third on an Ashley Whelchel single, and as Whelchel stole second, a throw down to third got by it’s target, giving Donnelly a clear path to come home and score what would be the game-winning run.
For a team as talented as Wichita Trinity, scoring one run shouldn’t have been an issue, but against a revived Karlee Zurfluh, the lead may as well have been 20.
After allowing two runs, three hits, two walks and a hit batter in the first, Zurfluh shut the Lady Knight bats down for six straight innings, allowing just three baserunners, all on singles, while striking out ten the rest of the way.
“I can’t speak enough about Zurfluh in the circle, even after giving up that two-run home run I don’t think I’ve ever seen her that composed,” Smith said. “Vada Durfee responded with that inside-the-park home run after not getting a bunt down, everybody responded to the challenge and they were fantastic all day.”
With a regional title under their belts, the Lady Trojans, now 24-1, have clinched the 1-seed at state, while Wichita Trinity’s season comes to a close at 24-5.
SES will take on Lakin (15-12) in the opening round at 1:00 on Monday on the campus of Salina South.
Both of today’s games can be watched on-demand below.