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The Atlantic Trojans softball team is one step away from a trip to Fort Dodge after a 13-3 win over Red Oak in 6 innings on Friday night in Atlantic. The Trojans got down in an early 1-0 hole through the first inning but a huge 10-run effort in the 2nd put the Trojans in control the rest of the way.

Lexi Johnson ripped a triple for the Tigers in the first and Chloe Johnson brought her home with a sac grounder to give Red Oak the early lead.  Atlantic loaded the bases up in the bottom half of the inning with 1 out but couldn’t bring anyone home. The Tigers went 3 up, 3 down in the second and then the Trojans started an avalanche in the bottom of the frame. Lauren Nicholas lead off the frame with a walk, one of what would become 7 free bases in the inning. Emma Bierbaum struggled to find the strikezone and was eventually pulled for a portion of the game in favor eighth-grader Josie McCunn. Maleana Woodward highlighted the inning with a 2 RBI double and the Trojans racked up 10 runs on 4 hits with 2 errors and 2 left on base.

Atlantic would add one more run in the 3rd to put the 10-run rule possibly into play but the Tigers extended the game with a run in the 4th. Both teams scored 1 in the 5th with Atlantic squandering chances on a couple of different occasions to bring the winning run home. The Trojans were able to seal the game in the 6th on an RBI single by Caroline Pellett. Atlantic Head Coach Terry Hinzmann liked the overall effort but said there was some things to clean up.

Olivia Engler only gave up 4 hits on the night and struck out 7. She also racked up 3 hits and drew 2 walks on the night. Engler said patience at the plate has been a big focal point in practice.

Atlantic improved to 17-1 on the season and advances to the Class 3A Region 3 Final on Monday night. The Trojans will face the Creston Panthers who picked up a big road win over North Polk 4-3 on Friday. With that result the Trojans will get to host on Monday night with a trip to State on the line. Coach Hinzmann reflected on the team reaching an opportunity they had their sights set on.

Engler said Creston will be a tough opponent on Monday night.

We’ll have that Atlantic vs. Creston game on KJAN with pregame at 6:45 p.m. and first pitch at 7:00 p.m.