With a Little Hawkeye Conference softball title checked off on their season “to-do list”, the Pella softball team embarks on their next challenge today as they open postseason play in the Class 3A Regional Softball Tournament.

The Lady Dutch carry an 18-7 record into the tourney, and will host a Grinnell squad that went 12-15 this season.

Pella Head Coach Krista DeMeuelenaere says having played the Tigers twice means that Grinnell will be well-accustomed to Pella’s pitching and style of play, which makes it even more important for her team to continue to perform at an elevated level as they open the tournament.

“It’s going to be a good match-up for us, which is good. You want to be challenged, because you want to be able to get to the next game and know you had to work hard for it. Grinnell’s going to give us a challenge,” says DeMeulenaere.

“They come out and swing the bats well. I think Mandy [DeMeulenaere] threw a no-hitter the last time we played them, but they had a couple of nice, hard hits that we were just able to field defensively. They’ve also got a couple of really fast girls, so we’ve got to keep their speed off the bases; and we’ve got to go in again with our bats just swinging with a lot of confidence.”

The first pitch of the Class 3A Regional Softball Tournament game between Pella and Grinnell is slated for 7:00 p.m.

You can hear the live broadcast on 92.1 fm KRLS with Eric Gotschall providing the play-by-play. Coverage from Pella High School will start at 6:50 p.m. tonight.