The Atlantic softball team will get a crack at a second straight state tournament appearance on Tuesday. The Trojans earned that chance with an 11-2 win over Clarinda in a Class 3A Region 4 Semifinal on Saturday night.

The Trojans made a few defensive mistakes but they were solid at the plate and Riley Wood had a nice night in the circle. Atlantic pounced early with four runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. The first two batters really set the tone. Ava Rush was hit by a pitch and stole her way over to 2nd. Then Riley Wood delivered an RBI single to bring Rush home. The Trojans took advantage of a couple Cardinal errors to score two more runs and Zoey Kirchhoff had an RBI single as well.

The Fillies plated a run in the second on a Ryplee Sunderman sac fly. Atlantic got 1 run in each of the 2nd and third innings to build a 6-1 lead. The Trojans then scored 4 in the fourth. Malena Woodward had the big hit that inning with a 2-run double. Both teams picked one more run to cap the day. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann thought they played well in a couple of phases of the game.

Atlantic made a big defensive play for a double play to shake of 3 errors in the third inning. Madison Huddleson said that was a big turning point.

Jada Jensen said the youth on this year’s team is coming along well.

Coach Hinzmann said this is the spot they obviously want to be in, they just want a shot.

Atlantic improves to 23-14 on the season. Clarinda ends the season with a 14-18 mark. Next up for the Trojans is a Regional Final match-up at Williamsburg on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. We’ll have coverage of that game on KJAN.