By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Before their 2022 campaign began, the Ell-Saline softball team listed out four goals for the season.
The Lady Cardinals dominated familiar foes, cruising to big wins to accomplish their first goal of winning league.
On May 10th, they defeated the Bennington Bulldogs to achieve an undefeated 20-0 season.
On May 17th they knocked out the Sacred Heart Knights to win their regional championship and punch a ticket to state.
Finally, on Thursday, the Lady Cardinals eliminated St. Mary’s Colgan to advance to the second round of the state tournament, checking the fourth and final goal off the list.
Despite achieving all they set out to do this season, Ell-Saline sits undefeated at 24-0, and just two wins away from a state championship.
“It’s exciting to know that we’re here to play two today,” Ell-Saline head coach Kris Bell said. “The girls were excited yesterday to have accomplished all of our goals and I don’t think they would be disappointed beyond that unless we played a bad game today.”
Checklists completed or not, there’s no question that a state title is on the minds of the Lady Cards today, and their first opponent will be one of their toughest to date.
The Lady Cardinals and Vikings will each send one of the best hurlers in Class 1-2A to the circle today as fans brace for a pitchers duel between Ell-Saline’s Raleigh Kramer and Eskridge’s Morgan Tomlinson.
Kramer will come into this game looking for her 20th win of the season with an opportunity to record her 100th strikeout of the season and with a rock-solid defense at her back.
“Raleigh plays her role as a leader well and her defense backed her up well on Thursday,” Bell said. “Having a pitcher of her caliber who can eat up innings and dominate like that is huge and it’s been a relief to have someone like Raleigh in the circle who never gets rattled.”
On the other side, Tomlinson has been virtually unhittable this season, boasting a .80 ERA and a stunning 210 strikeouts compared to just 13 walks all year.
“Their strength is definitely in Tomlinson,” she said. “She throws harder than anything we’ve seen this year and we’ll have to stay patient and play some small ball with her.”
First pitch between the Lady Cards and Vikings is set for 11 am on Field A with the winner advancing to play either 22-0 Troy or 15-7 Richmond Heights for the state title at 1:30.
The losers of those two contests will play in the third-place game at 1:00.
For continuing coverage of Ell-Saline’s state tournament run stay tuned to the Salina Post.