Two area softball teams head to state
5:54 p.m. Thursday, May 22, 2008
The high school state softball tournament kicks off Friday afternoon and a few Northeast Kansas schools will be on a quest for a state championship.
First up is Washburn Rural. They are making their second consecutive trip to the state tourney.
The Lady Blues will take on Blue Valley for the third time this year in the opening round on Friday.
Wash Rural split with the Tigers earlier in the year in a double header.
Despite staying in Topeka for their state tournament and being the number one seed, the Blues know that all the teams left are very good.
"We have five teams that are 20-2, but we have the one seed. But the four and five seed have the same record as us," Washburn Rural head coach Brenda Holaday said. "So it's a stacked tournament. There's great teams there, including Olathe East winning the last State Championships and clearly they are the defending champs and the team to beat."
"We have five teams with the same record so number one just came by chance," senior catcher Ashley Fox said. "We could have been number five, we could have been number three. It just happened we were number one. So I don't think it really means that much, just a number."
The Lady Blues will play in the Capitol City Friday night at Hummer Sports Complex. The first pitch against Blue Valley is at 5:00.
Next up, the Seaman softball team makes the long trek to Wichita to take on Bishop Carroll in the opening round their state tournament.
The Vikes have twenty players who are either sophomores or freshman and four seniors on the team who have been to the state playoffs two out of the last three years.
With Seaman being the five seed and Carroll the fourth, one would think it would be a coin flip game. But the Vikings are playing in the Eagles' backyard.
"We're kind of feeling like it's more of a road trip battle kind of thing. We're looking at it from that perspective.We'll have a pretty good fight on our hands," Seaman head coach Kevin Hoffmanns said.
"All week we've been focusing on this game because we have similar records," senior pitcher-outfielder Rachel Burton said. "We are just trying to focus in on hitting and getting our pitchers ready."
The Vikes will sail south to Wichita to take on Bishop Carroll Friday. First pitch is at 7:00.
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