By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After a 15-1 rout of Nickerson in the regional quarterfinals, the Southeast of Saline baseball team will return to Halstead for a semifinal matchup against the 13-8 hosts.
The Dragons defeated 10-8 Hesston in a close 4-3 contest last night and will continue to trust in their veteran-heavy lineup in front of the Halstead faithful.
“They have seven seniors that play the game well and they’ve got a dynamite catcher and a really good shortstop,” SES head coach Mike Garretson said. “You’ll find a lot of really great teams built on that. We’ve got a really great team too and we’re looking forward to a good game.”
Much like the Trojans, Halstead’s lineup features four batters north of .300 on the season, led by Kaleb Wise and Keenan McCune who have combined to drive in 40 runs this season.
The Dragons pitching staff has kept Halstead in games all season, with a staff ERA of 2.73 coming into this year’s regional competition.
On the other side, Landen Allen will take the hill for SES. The Trojan ace boasts a team-best 2.8 ERA and has 34 strikeouts to his name compared to just 11 earned runs allowed all season.
“Landen is a competitive kid with really great stuff,” Garretson said. “All of our pitchers are going to come at you and they don’t play around with the plate. We trust our defense and he’s been a great guy for us all season long.”
With the regional championship game looming in the distance on Tuesday evening the temptation to look ahead is always there, but Southeast remains laser-focused on taking things one small step at a time.
“We’re not worried about anything beyond the pitch that’s ahead of us,” he said. “We’re just showing up to play baseball, we’re not looking ahead to anything.”
First pitch between the Trojans and Dragons is scheduled for 2 pm with the winner advancing to the regional championship to take on 17-4 Haven or 12-7 Hillsboro at approximately 6:00