(Van Meter) The (33-6) Atlantic Trojans travel to (31-6) Van Meter for a Class 3A Regional Championship game tonight.
A State Tournament berth is on the line for next week’s State Softball Tournament. The Bulldogs are ranked #6, and Atlantic enters the regional final ranked 8th.
The Trojans defeated Cherokee, Washington, 5-2, in the quarterfinals, and topped Unity-Christian on Saturday night, 9-2. The Bulldogs topped Kuemper Catholic 10-1 in the quarters and downed OABCIG 9-0 in the semifinals.
Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann says reaching the Regional Finals is one of the many goals this team talked about at the beginning of the year, and that this is where they wanted to be at this point in the season.
Van Meter enters the contest with a team batting average of .421. Hinzmann says the Bulldogs are versatile at the plate. The Bulldogs have eight home runs, with a slugging percentage of .599.
Van Meter is aggressive on the base paths with 132 stolen bases. Bristol Curran has 30 base swipes, and Mady Schnell has 26.
Aniston Netten is 16-1 on the season with an ERA of 1.41, with 124 strikeouts, 62 walks, and 10 hit batters. Coach Hinzmann says Netten throws hard and will present pitches a little differently than what the Trojans have faced during the regular season.
The Trojans have two solid pitchers of their own. Peyton McLaren is 15-0 on the season with an ERA of 1.56, with 83 strikeouts, 25 walks, and three hit batters. Brynn Lamp is 17-5 with a 2.46 ERA, 71 strikeouts, 25 walks, and 9 hit batters.
The Trojans are batting .366 and have 66 stolen bases. The defense has been outstanding, posting a field percentage of .946 and just 43 errors out of 801 total chances.
We will have the broadcast on 95.7 F.M., and audio-streamed on westerniowatoday.com. The pregame coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. The first pitch is at 7:00 p.m.
