For the first time in four years, the Southeast of Saline softball team made an appearance at the state tournament in Manhattan last spring. Entering the tournament, the Trojans were 22-4. They made it through round one, beating Burlington, but fell short to Rossville in round two. They went to the lower side of the bracket and competed for third and fourth place against the number one seed, Haven. The Trojans ended their season as fourth place finishers in class 3A.
Entering the 2024 season, the team will look a little different. Three players graduated, as well as two managers. This season, the Trojans have seven seniors, and approximately 22 girls to complete the roster. The Trojans will start practice on February 26, and the first game will be on March 28. There have been a few schedule changes from the previous season. On April 19th, the softball team will head to McPherson to play Wamego and McPherson in order to fill the schedule and play against two well-respected teams.
The team has a main goal of making it back to state, and going further than they did last year. Coach Ptacek added, “We have a large core of returning seniors who have seen lots of field time over the years. Several of which are four year starters. We will also return very talented veteran pitchers. We also made a good run at state last year and plan to return and do even better.” This will be Coach Ptacek’s 18th year as the head coach of Southeast of Saline softball, and her 20th year as a coach in this program.
Good luck to the Trojans as they work towards the goal of completing a season even better than their last!
