(Atlantic) Atlantic travels to southeast Iowa tonight for a Class 3A Regional final against Davis County. The Trojans (23-15) defeated Shenandoah 3-0 in a regional semifinal, and Davis County (23-4) topped Centerville 7-2.
Mustangs’ pitcher Madeline Barker is 22-2, in 161 innings pitched, held teams to a .176 batting average, 235 strikeouts, 23 walks, and an earned run average of 1.26. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann says Barker throws the entire gamut of stuff at opposing batters.
Speaking of strikeouts, the Mustangs offense has been solid with a team total of 87 strikeouts in 27 games played—Atlantic Head Softball Coach Terry Hinzmann, which is going to be something his defense will have to overcome. Davis County is hitting .335 as a team.
Hinzmann admits his ballclub has seen pitching like this in the highly competitive weekend tournaments against 5A schools.
The Trojans’ defense has been much improved since the beginning of the season. Hinzmann said when the season started, the coaching staff continued to evaluate players and positions, either lost to graduation or injury in the case of Jada Jensen, who was lost for the year with a knee injury.
Atlantic carries a seven-game winning streak into the regional final tonight. The Trojans are hitting .325 as a group, and Riley Wood has been solid in the circle with an ERA of 1.90.
We will have the game on 95.7 F.M. and audio-streamed on westerniowatoday.com. The pre-game show starts at 6:40 p.m.
