CARTERVILLE (WSIL) -- Like SIU softball, John A. Logan is in a championship state of the Mind.
The Vols leave this weekend for Yuma, Arizona. They'll be the 13 seed in a 16 team tournament. Double Elimination. They play Tuesday at noon central time.
There are ten young ladies on this team from our viewing area. They have a chance to do something special. Lets go Beyond the Highlights with the Vols.
"It's good for us, it's putting our name on the map, it's getting John A known and for wanting to move on from here, it is really going to help us that we went to the national tournament," John A. Logan freshman and Goreville native Kelsey Ray said.
"We are super united and we play together and play with urgency together," John A. Logan freshman and Carbondale Community High School alum Kate Crombar said.
"We are very locked in, we come in every day, focused, have a game plan and try to get better each and every day so we can compete down in Arizona," John A. Logan sophomore and Carterville High School graduate Montana Taylor said.
"I think they realize we are in the top sixteen and everybody there is good and that means us too," John A. Logan Softball Head Coach Taylor Siefert said.
"We got to go there and compete and play it like it's just another game."
"Very big opportunity," Taylor said. "We haven't gone since 2010 and we worked our butts off each and every year to get where we are and we have a heck of a team and I'm just glad and able to participate."
"Through mid-season we figured out our hitting and that's what was lacking at the time but all components of defense, pitching and hitting, we all have it now," John A. Logan Sophomore and former Pinckneyville Panther Taylor Witges said.
"I think they just have to stay focused and within themselves," Siefert said. "When you go and play against some of the really good teams, I think there's 13 of the 16 teams were in the rankings the last week before they stopped doing the rankings so I think we just have to stay calm and play our game and they just have to make sure that they don't make the game bigger than it really is."
"This group is super special because we all grew up playing ball together, we all grew up knowing each other and so now that we have the opportunity to play together and go compete for a national title that just makes this group that more special," Crombar said.
"Very locked in," Ray said. "Right from the get-go we knew it was going to be a very tough season, and that we were going to have to work really hard and in the last few weeks we really put in the time and work to get us to nationals and we are ready to go."
"We are going to face some of the best ball playing we've ever seen in our lives and we have to come focused and ready to go every day because it's not just a vacation, it is a time to go work and time to take home a national," Crombar said.
