By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Following a pristine 18-2 regular season that saw them capture an NCAA league title, the Southeast of Saline softball team is ready to begin their playoff push at home on Tuesday, as they prepare to host two rounds of the Lyons regional.
The Lady Trojans enter this year’s bracket as the undisputed 1-seed and will open quarterfinal play with 8-seed Nickerson in Gypsum.
Southeast cruised through the majority of their regular season contests, winning 15 of their 20 games by mercy rule including eight by shutout, and posting an absurd run differential of +231.
“I was very pleased with our regular season,” SES head coach Pesha Ptacek said. “We showed a lot more maturity than last year and having a lot of juniors and seniors instead of juniors and sophomores really made a big difference in our ability to put games away.”
Despite all of that success, the Lady Trojans know well that in a win-or-go-home format, there’s no time to dwell on the past, and Southeast will be prepared to battle when regional action gets underway on Tuesday.
“This really does feel like a brand new season,” Ptacek said. “Nothing that came before this week holds any water at regionals and we have to prove ourselves all over again here.”
In their playoff opener SES will square off with a Nickerson squad that has struggled mightily this season, limping into the bracket with a 1-19 overall record.
Despite those struggles, Southeast can ill-afford to look ahead, and taking care of business one game at a time remains the Lady Trojan’s top priority.
“There’s a fine line between confidence and overconfidence and I’m hopeful that we’ve found that sweet spot,” she said. “I want us to be hungry but I also want us to know that if we play ball the way we’re capable of this is ours to take.”
The winner of a 4-5 matchup between 9-9 Hesston and 6-12 Smoky Valley will await the victor between SES and Nickerson, and the two will square off in the semifinals on Tuesday looking to punch a ticket to the Lyons regional championship game at 5:30 on Wednesday.
Even as the heavy favorites to make it out of this bracket, Southeast is still committed, even now, to honing the finer details of their game, as they look to truly play their best softball down the stretch.
“We need to have even more consistency this week and it’s important that we don’t get caught up in the moment,” Ptacek said. “We need to do things the way we always do them regionals or otherwise. There will be a sense of urgency but we need that to be calm and controlled.”
First pitch between the Lady Trojans and Panthers will take place 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Hesston Smoky Valley game in Gypsum.
Meanwhile, in Lyons, one team among a group consisting of 15-4 Hoisington, 15-4 Ellsworth, 3-16 Ellinwood, and 1-17 Lyons will advance to the regional final on the other side of the bracket.