Marysville punched a ticket to the Class 3A state softball tournament on Thursday afternoon with a 3-0 win over Riley County in the semifinals and a 1-0 over Sabetha in the championship game.

Before the championship game, Sabetha defeated Big 7 foe Royal Valley 3-2 with early scoring and masterful pitching from Chloe Detweiler.

Sabetha 3, Royal Valley 2

Sabetha scored first with a couple of runs in the first inning. Victoria Bachtold got an RBI single, and Laura Edelman got a sac fly to right field to give the Bluejays the early advantage.

The Panthers responded with a run in the top of the second inning thanks to Dru Probst scoring on an infield error.

Sabetha would score again immediately after that with an RBI ground-rule double from Alexia Hayden to make it 3-1.

However, Royal Valley would get a run right back with an RBI single from Sydney Moss.

It looked like it would be a high-scoring affair in Seneca, but both pitching units would take over and not allow another run the rest of the game.

For Royal Valley, it was relief pitchers Madison Blackwood and Sydney Moss who combined for four innings, one walk, four hits and no runs with three strikeouts.

As for the Bluejays, Detweiler had a stretch where she retired ten consecutive batters, and after that, she retired the final four batters she faced.

Kiera Keim went 2-for-4 with a run and a steal, and Hayden also had a multi-hit day going 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run and a steal.

Marysville 1, Sabetha 0

In the championship game, it was pitching that once again stole the show. The Bulldogs got the lone run of the ballgame in the top of the first inning with Sara Nemec getting an RBI double.

Sabetha’s defense also kept them in the game as well as they had three double plays in the middle innings.

Hayden got the start on the hill, and she pitched well. She went five innings and gave up just one run, five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. Detweiler came in for the final two innings and matched her strikeout total from the previous game with four, and she gave up no runs, no hits and one walk.

Marysville’s starting pitcher was Lindsay Dressman, and you couldn’t have asked for a better performance from her in a regional final with a spot in the state tournament on the line. She pitched a complete-game shutout with three hits and no walks allowed while striking out six batters.

Sabetha’s season comes to a close with a final record of 20-7. They finished with a Big 7 record of 10-4, which gave them a second-place finish in the league’s final season.

As for Marysville, they will play in the Class 3A state softball tournament starting next Thursday in Topeka at the Envista Softball Complex.