By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After defeating Riley County in a thrilling come from behind seventh-inning walk-off the Southeast of Saline softball team will return to Halstead for a semifinal showdown against the 13-8 hosts.
The Dragons defeated Minneapolis 14-4 in a comfortable quarterfinal win and will be poised to give the Lady Trojans a run in front of their home crowd on Tuesday.
“Halstead looks solid from top to bottom and both of the pitchers they threw against Minneapolis looked good,” SES head coach Pesha Ptacek said. “They squared a few balls up well and we’ll have to be on our game Tuesday.”
While the Dragons breezed to a comfortable win over the Lady Lions, Southeast will come into this game carrying all of the emotion of a five-run rally that allowed them to come back and defeat the Falcons 11-10.
“I think this group needs to ride that excitement and momentum,” Ptacek said. “I’ve had teams in the past that I’ve had to reign in the energy level but for this group, I think having that fire coming in will help.”
The Lady Trojans played the small ball game beautifully against Riley County, scoring three of their final five runs on suicide squeeze plays, and will need to be on their game again to secure a big win against the Dragons and advance to the regional final.
“Our keys are the same going into this game,” Ptacek said. “Small ball and baserunning were important for us against the Falcons and they’ll be important for us again to get and keep a lead against Halstead.”
While it may be tempting to look ahead to a potential 5:00 championship game, SES is committed to taking things one step at a time on Tuesday.
“It’s critical that we take things one game at a time here,” she said. “I think human nature is to start looking ahead but we really want to take things one inning at a time and one at-bat at a time.”
First pitch between the Lady Trojans and Dragons is set for approximately 4 pm with the winner advancing to the championship game to take on 19-2 Council Grove or 11-8 Hillsboro.