AUSTIN, Minn. (KTTC) – For the first time since 1995, Southland softball is headed to state.
The Rebels shut out Houston in the Section 1A Championship game, winning 2-0 to earn the program’s first state tournament appearance in 31 years. Junior Laney Weis led the winning effort with a stellar two-way performance, hitting the go-ahead home run in the third inning while pitching a shutout on the mound.
“If we weren’t getting timely hitting I knew I had to do something, so that was my time to do that,” Weis said, referring to her home run. “And then my time on the mound is just as important as batting. I just have to have two different mindsets and it paid off. All the practice paid off.”
This was the fourth meeting between Southland and Houston this season. Southland has only lost two games all year, both coming at the hands of the Hurricanes in the regular season. Houston finishes their season with just two losses as well, both coming at the hands of the Rebels this week.
“We’re not afraid of anybody,” Southland head coach Tom Clements said. “These girls have played high-level competition during the summer, school… it doesn’t really phase them. They don’t get shook up and worried.”
The Rebels are led by a nine-player junior class that has played together for nearly a decade.
“We’ve worked so hard all year for this, many years,” junior Kiley Koenigs said. “Tried for it every year and this year’s finally our year.”
Southland will play on the state tournament stage next week in Mankato. Their first game at Caswell Park is set for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
“I think we just have to go in, be relaxed, be ourselves, not worry about what other teams are doing,” Clements said. “Just come out and be relaxed.”
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