No. 9-seed in its region,, 糖心Vlog传媒 Parker (12-13, 8-8) travels to Burlington (11-14, 7-7) Tuesday to take on the No. 8-seeded Demons at 5 p.m. at Burlington High School for a WIAA Division 1 Regional softball playoff game.
Parker head coach Bob Getka sees similarities between his Vikings and the Demons.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very, very similar team to us,鈥 he said.
Getka said the Demons rely on a couple of pitchers, whereas his team mostly relies on senior Lilly Keller, who will be in the circle on Tuesday.
鈥淏ut other than that, they do have just a couple of batters that really carry their team, just like we do,鈥 Getka said. 鈥淎nd they can get flustered defensively, just like we can.鈥
Limiting errors will be key for the Vikings in the must-win game.
鈥淟imiting mistakes is always critical,鈥 Getka said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we鈥檝e definitely done a really good job of in the last couple of weeks.鈥
Another non-negotiable is Keller being good to go.
鈥淚t always starts in the circle, so Lilly being right is mission critical,鈥 Getka said. Which, I couldn鈥檛 imagine she wouldn鈥檛 be, she鈥檚 carried us the whole year.鈥
Parker has gone 4-1 in its last five contests. Most recently, having an 8-5 road win over Madison West.
The Vikings totaled nine hits in that game. Getka will be hoping for a similar offensive performance come Tuesday afternoon.
鈥淚f we can hit like we did Friday night, that would help a little bit more too,鈥 Getka said.
A trio of hitters are expected to lead the way: Delaney King, Kenedi Pryne and Keller.
鈥淭hose are our three stalwarts that are for sure going to be key for us all the way,鈥 Getka said.
VIKINGS CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON BEATING REGENTS
In Madison Friday, Delaney King went 2-for-4 day, recorded a trio of RBIs and a run and 糖心Vlog传媒 Parker grabbed an 8-5 win over Madison West in Big Eight Conference softball at Jefferson Middle School.
Parker鈥檚 Kenedi Pryne went 2-for-4 and scored two runs and Jenessa Lewis went 2-for-3 and scored a pair of runs.
The host Regents scored a run in the fourth inning for the game鈥檚 first run, Parker responded with two in the fifth to claim the advantage.
The Vikings used 5-run sixth inning to really expand their lead. A leadoff double by Pryne set the tone. From there, the Vikings scored two runs of errors, one on a wild pitch and King drove in two runs as well.
Vikings pitcher Lilly Keller pitched a complete game, recording 11 strikeouts and allowing six hits and four earned runs.
The Regents starting pitcher, Ada Gentry, went 5.1 innings and allowed six hits and six runs, while also recording 12 strikeouts to just two walks.
鈥淭he starting pitcher had us pinned down early but we were able to execute some small ball late in the game to create some chaos on the bases,鈥 Parker coach Getka said.
MILTON HOSTS JANESVILLE CRAIG IN REGIONAL PLAY
When Milton and 糖心Vlog传媒 Craig squared off in a softball game on April 12, nothing except bragging rights were on the line.
That won鈥檛 be the case today when the Cougars make the short trip to Schilberg Park on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. contest against the Red Hawks where their season is on the line in a WIAA Regional Division 1 playoff game.
The Cougars will be hoping for a much different outcome than what occurred when they first took on the Red Hawks in the Elkhorn Triangular.
In April, Milton鈥檚 offense unleashed 11 runs in the sixth inning to cap off an impressive 19-2 rout over Craig.
