Trojans Back For Another Chance
BOURBON – Across the board, Triton pretty much knew its 2013 softball regional would be a rough one. Having to deal with state powerhouse Lakewood Park Christian at home and its juggernaut program, head coach Steve McBride and his Lady Trojans were almost ‘just happy to be here’ given the mood following the 9-0 loss.
This season, there isn’t that ‘welcome to the show’ mentality. Triton are in the 2014 regional round and focused to hang its first regional crown on the school’s wall of champions.
With an altered sectional lineup in 2014 because of LPC, Fort Wayne Canterbury and others moving to Class 2-A, Triton found themselves hosting a four-team sectional from the old sectional 52. With shutout wins against overmatched Bethany Christian and Hamilton, Triton won just its third sectional title. A win is a win, according to McBride, especially in the state tournament.
“As long as we are throwing strikes and fielding the ball, we think we’ll get some runs,” McBride said. “It doesn’t matter who we are playing. Those things have to happen for us to be successful.”
Triton, now 22-6 and equaling its 2013 win output that matches a school record, can move into the record books alone with a potentially historic win at South Central (Union Mills), which was a sectional foe in last year’s old Sectional 51 lineup. Looking for the school’s first regional title, Triton will need to find an answer against a South Central team that stands 18-5 overall and very tough to beat on its home field, where it’s 9-1.
As has been for this run for Triton, as Mallorie Jennings goes in the circle, so go the Lady Trojans. Jennings gave up just two hits in the sectional and given up just three earned runs in her last five starts. Triton is also putting the ball in play on offense, batting .388 as a team this season and belted 28 hits in the two sectional games.
“Our whole lineup has been pretty consistent for us all season,” McBride said. “We’re a little better one through nine than we have been in the past. We don’t have to say we hope the middle of the lineup comes through for us, even through they have.”
The Satellites made easy work of its four-team sectional to reach the regional. South Central crushed Culver, 17-4, then pushed past LaCrosse, 7-1, to win its tenth sectional title. Senior Madi Walter is the staff ace for South Central, which uses defense and small-ball offense to win its games. The Satellites have hit a grand total of one home run this season.
For Triton to advance to its first semi-state, which will be hosted by Clinton Prairie, McBride knows his club must take care of the little things.
“Pretty much all year, we have put the ball in play, and that starts up everything,” McBride said. “We haven’t really had much trouble defensively, we make a mistake and we come back and make the next play. Now, when we don’t, that’s when we’ve been in trouble in some of the games we’ve lost. So far lately, we’ve played well defensively and I hope we can keep that up.”
The winner of the South Central (Union Mills) Regional will advance to Saturday’s Clinton Prairie Semi-state, where either Kouts (11-14) or North Miami (27-4) will await. The evening’s semi-state final will feature from the other bracket either Carroll, Covington, Tri or Tri-Central.