The Sabetha Lady Jays entered the Regional Softball Tournament in Silver Lake as the number six seed with a 7-11 record. Sabetha defeated Royal Valley in the first round to advance to the semi-finals. Then, they would take on Rossville, who eventually became regional champions. Sabetha ended the 2023 season with an 8-12 record.

Royal Valley

In the opening game of Regionals, Sabetha took the early lead when junior Alexia Hayden stepped up to the plate as the lead-off batter and knocked one out of the park to score Sabetha’s first run of the game. Then, senior Trinity Detweiler drove in sophomore Erin Boltz — for Sabetha’s second run of the inning — when she hit a single to centerfield.

In the second inning, Sabetha advanced their 2-0 lead by two more runs on a Detweiler single and a sophomore Laura Edelman double.

Innings three, four and five stayed scoreless for both teams, but Royal Valley finally got on the board in the sixth inning. The score heading into the final inning was 4-2, Sabetha.

In the final inning, Hayden scored after Edelman hit a sacrifice fly to left field, which made the score 5-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Royal Valley fought back and closed the gap when they scored two runs, however, their efforts weren’t enough and Sabetha would advance to the semi finals with a 5-4 win under their belt.

Hayden pitched the entire game for Sabetha. She allowed four runs on 13 hits, while striking out one batter and walking three.

This is the first regional victory in the Sabetha High School program’s history.

Rossville

In the semi-final round, Sabetha met up with the number two seeded Rossville Dawgs, who daunted a 13-4 record. Sabetha’s defense held Rossville scoreless in the first two innings, but the Dawgs got their first run on the board in the third. They extended their lead by three more runs. Rossville’s defense kept Sabetha’s offense from scoring throughout the game, however, the Lady Jays collected three hits, while Rossville tallied four.

Rossville would defeat Sabetha 4-0 to end the Lady Jays’ season.

Hayden threw the first four innings for Sabetha. She surrendered four runs on four hits. She also walked two batters.