The Norwalk Warriors need one more win to qualify for their second consecutive State Softball Tournament, and it will be a familiar foe coming to town for tonight’s Class 4A, Region 6 final.

The 12th-ranked Burlington Grayhounds travel to Norwalk to face the 4th-ranked Warriors for the third time in 12 months. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. with pregame coverage on kniakrls.com (KNIA3) starting at 6:45.

Norwalk defeated Burlington 5-0 in a 4A state consolation game last July. The two teams met again at this year’s Cedar Rapids Xavier Classic on June 10. This time the Grayhounds prevailed 2-0 behind Saydee Plummer’s three-hit shutout and a first-inning two-run homer from eighth-grader Kylee Hill.

Norwalk enters the contest with a 30-9 overall record following Saturday’s 10-0 rout of Keokuk in the regional semifinals. Burlington held off a late comeback by Knoxville to win 3-2 on Saturday night, improving to 20-8. The Warriors are co-champions of the Little Hawkeye Conference while the Grayhounds claimed the Southeast Conference title.

Norwalk coach Beau Livingston tells KNIA-KRLS Sports that his squad will have to bring their ‘A’ game to the diamond, but he knows the girls are eager to avenge their earlier loss to Burlington. He believes the Warriors will learn a lot from last month’s matchup against Plummer, who is an effective drop ball pitcher.

“She did a fantastic job and she did shut us down,” Livingston said, “but now that we’ve seen her we’ll game plan for that.”

Livingston adds that the Grayhounds have experience winning big games on the road. Last year, they upset Clear Creek-Amana in the regional final round. On the same night, Norwalk scored five runs in their last at-bat to qualify for state with a thrilling 7-6 win over Benton.

“They’ll be confident, they’ll be ready to go; and we’re going to have to play really, really well, and I’m confident we will.”

Tonight’s winner advances to the State Softball Tournament in Fort Dodge and will play a first round game on Monday, July 17.