LEROY, Ill. (WCIA) – LeRoy softball is state bound after beating Serena 9-5 in Bloomington on Monday.

The Panthers are now 34-5 on the season, including five postseason wins. In the postseason, they’re defeating opponents by an average of 8.2 runs per game.

“We’re just a close knit group,” LeRoy sophomore Jacey Hageman said. “We always talk about if you need some energy lean on the person next to you so we always feed off each other. I’m so excited we’ve just had so much fun as a team this weekend so I can’t wait to see where this weekend takes us.”

It was a comeback win on Monday that sent Panther softball to the 1A state semifinals in Peoria.

“It’s one game at a time, we got to look for the next game, and these next couple practices we’ll focus on beating the team just seeing what happens, play our game and give it all we got,” LeRoy senior Natalie Loy said. “We put in so much work in the postseason and offseason, and we’re just really excited and couldn’t be happier.”

LeRoy plays Dakota on Friday at Louisville Slugger Park in Peoria with the winner advancing to the state championship. Friday’s game is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday’s title match will be played at 11:30 a.m. after the third place game at 9 a.m.