SophiaVirgillito

Class A’s third-ranked Marian softball team was the host for the A-3 district tournament. They started off the day with an (11-2) win over Columbus, continuing on with a (12-4) win over Papillion-LaVista South. On day two, Marian was to face Papillion La-Vista South (PLVS) again. Game one ended with a loss, (9-6), sending Marian and PLVS into sudden death. The girls came out on top with a (9-0) shutout win. The team advanced to the state tournament at Hastings on Oct. 14-16. On the morning of Oct. 14 the Crusaders shut out Lincoln East (3-0) with home runs by Abby Russell ’21 and Danielle Schlader ’22. Later that day, they fell (14-0) to Papillion-LaVista, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation. On day two, Marian defeated Lincoln Southeast (8-2). The Crusaders fought hard, but fell to Lincoln Southwest (11-2). By the end of the state tournament, the team finished with a total of 23 strikeouts, 17 of those contributed by sophomore pitcher and outfielder Maddia Groff ’23. The team also had five home runs and 106 plate appearances.