When it comes to state tournament softball, it don't mean a thing if you don't have that swing.
And few have the swing Westminster Christian will bring to the park when it plays in the Class 3 final four Friday and Saturday at Killian Sports Complex in Springfield.
Westminster (18-6 and No. 7 in the STLhighschoolsports.com small-schools rankings) will meet Centralia (26-2), a team that has the same score-first-ask-questions-later approach to offense, in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday. Sullivan (23-4) and Chillicothe (23-3) will play in the other semifinal.
The championship is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. The third-place game is at 6:15 p.m. Friday.
"I believe we've been very smart at the plate," Westminster shortstop Jocelyn Sheffield said. "That has helped us score a lot of runs."
Westminster has scored in double figures 11 times and is averaging 9.7 runs. Centralia, with a strike-first approach, is nearly the Wildcats' offensive match.
"I feel like we are playing very well right now," Centralia coach Jill Angell said. "The last three games we've scored early, in the first inning. We've talked about spreading the scoring out and not just scoring in one inning, or even two. We want to spread it out. ‘Score early' and ‘Score often' are a couple of our mottos."
The key cogs for the Panthers are leadoff hitter Jennifer Mills and pitcher Baylee Douglass.
Mills is hitting .505 and is in the middle of things when Centralia's offense jumps to an early lead.
"She gets on, and our plan typically is to score her in that first inning," Angell said. "We're pretty solid the rest of the way through the lineup … all of the way through the nine spot."
Westminster also counts on production up and down its lineup. The Wildcats have five regulars hitting .300 or better. That group includes Bryn McKie (.581 average, 24 RBIs), Sheffield (.563, 46), Ellie Huffman (.460, 45), Sydney Seabaugh (.395) and Bryn Benes (.324).
Westminster's impressive offensive totals haven't escaped Angell.
"I've talked to a couple of people and looked at the (STLhighschoolsports.com) website, and it looks like they score a lot of runs," she said. "I don't know that we score a lot, but we typically run a lot, and it sounds like they do, too. It sounds like we'll be very similar."
While the offenses vie for the spotlight, Westminster coach Andy Benes said the game may be decided by the pitchers. If that's the case, Benes said he'll take his chances with right-hander Jessica Johnson.
Johnson has a 16-6 record. She has allowed slightly more than four runs per game in 134.7 innings.
"Jessica has thrown real well lately, and she has been much more confident," he said. "She is not overpowering, but she keeps the ball down."
Angell said the wildcard could be nerves. Neither Centralia nor Westminster has played in the final four.
"I think our chances are as good as anybody else's," she said. "State is somewhere we've never been, so I think the kids are really excited about the opportunity, so we'll just go there ready to play."
