The Atlantic Trojans softball team will square off against the Creston Panthers tonight in the Class 3A Region 3 Final, with the victor heading to the State Tournament next week in Fort Dodge. The Trojans come in with a 17-1 record and face a 12-5 Panthers squad. This will be the third meeting of the season between the two Hawkeye Ten clubs. Atlantic took both games of a doubleheader back on July 2nd, 5-2 in game 1 and 9-8 in game 2. The Trojans had to come back from a 4-run deficit in that second contest. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann knows Creston is a strong opponent.

Olivia Engler struck out 9 Panther batters in that first game back on July 2nd. She said she plays travel ball with a number of the Creston players so she knows what to expect and knows they are a tough out.

Both teams won a pair of games to get to this point. The Trojans opened with an 11-0 victory in 5 innings over Clarinda and followed with a Semifinal win over Red Oak on Friday 13-3 in 6 innings. Creston won their Quarterfinal game over Des Moines Christian 12-2 in 4 innings. The Panthers then got a big road win in the Semifinal round over North Polk 4-3.

We’ll have the Regional Final for you tonight on KJAN from the Atlantic Little League Complex. Chris Parks has the call with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and first pitch at 7:00 p.m. Tune in on AM 1220, FM 101.1 or online at KJAN.com.