The Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) softball
team will have a chance to win its second consecutive State Title when it
competes at the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament at Goodman Diamond in Madison
Thursday through Saturday, June 8-10.

The eighth-ranked and defending State Champion Panthers
(23-6) trailed 4-1 against Chippewa Falls (20-7) in a WIAA Division 1 Sectional
Final at Chippewa Falls Thursday, June 1, when they rallied for four runs to
take a 5-4 lead, and went on to a 5-4 win to advance to state for the 14th time
in the last 18 years.

SPASH is scheduled to face 10th-ranked Sun Prairie (23-3) in
a WIAA Division 1 State Quarterfinal at approximately 2:30 p.m. Thursday, with
the winner to take on either top-ranked Oshkosh North (25-4) or second-ranked
Kaukauna (26-2) in the State Semifinals at approximately 9 p.m. Friday, June 9.

“We have an opportunity to prove to the state that we’re
still very strong as a team, and we have a lot of potential down there,” said
junior center fielder and NCAA Division 1 University of Wisconsin recruit Ally
Miklesh. “We lost 11 seniors (from last year), but a lot of us have been down
there and a lot of us have played.”

“I’m just really super proud of our kids,” said SPASH
softball head coach Tom Drohner. “We had a rough stretch (in early May), we had
lost four games in a row, and we were able to figure out what we needed to do
to get it back on track.

“And we’ve played pretty good softball from that point on,
and I’m just excited for the opportunity,” he said. “We’ve been talking about
opportunities all year long, and now we’re in a situation where we have another
opportunity to make some noise.”

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