 Well, as a day to remember yesterday and brainered for the Pillager softball team, here's Clayton Castle for more on the Huskies punching their ticket to the state tournament. While they did it for the first time in school softball history, the Pillager Huskies are headed to the state tournament North Mankato after beating the Sabika Trojans eight to five here at Brainard High School. The Huskies got out to an early six-to-one lead after the first two endings, but ran into some trouble in the middle endings when Sabika came within one after the Huskies pitching staff was having trouble finding the strike zone. But the Huskies were able to settle down after that and tack on a few insurance runs in route to the victory. I talked to coach Greg Bennett after the game and asked him how it felt to be the first team in Pillager softball history to be headed to state. Very exciting. I think it's exciting for the whole community. I saw a lot of people here today and that's great. The girls, they deserve this. Like I said, they've worked hard. They've worked really hard. You know, from Miranda pitching, a great playoff run. Ella coming in today finished that off. Haley Brooks and Sam Thomas hitting so well and leaders like Vanessa and Vanessa Peterson and, you know, and Emma Licky. They're just huge leaders and they deserve this. Those girls really deserve this. Now the Huskies will begin their state tournament run next Thursday night in North Mankato. Reporting in Brainard, Clayton Castle, Lakeland News. So congrats again to the Pillager softball team. Here is their journey to get there. Four games, four wins. Of course those back-to-back wins against Sabika 12-9 and 8-5 to get that section crowd off. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.