Thirty-six years of waiting is over! The Greene County softball team makes its State Tournament debut at 5 p.m. today vs. sixth rated Center Point-Urbana in the quarterfinal round of Class 3A play. Although 2014 marks just the third season of softball under the Greene County name, high school softball in Jefferson began in 1976, and this is the first time a Jefferson-based program has qualified for the State Softball Tournament.

The 27-7 Rams travel to Rogers Sports Complex north of Ft. Dodge to take on the 28-9 Stormin’ Pointers with the winner advancing to the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 24 vs. third ranked Clarke (Osceola) or unranked Spirit Lake. The losers of those two quarterfinals meet at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 22 in consolation action. Fifth place is the highest a quarterfinal losing team can place, while the quarterfinal winners still have state title aspirations. The rest of the 3A field has second ranked East Marshall (Le Grand) meeting unranked Mid-Prairie (Wellman) at 11 a.m. and number nine Bondurant-Farrar and number 13 West Burlington/Notre Dame facing each other at 1 p.m.

Coach Tom Kennedy’s Rams enter today’s game with three wins in three tries in the post season, all away from home, and all against teams ranked number 11 or higher. Greene County won those three games to advance to state by a combined score of 36-5, and the team has victories in 15 of its last 17 games. The 27 wins are a record for a Jefferson-based program, and Kennedy’s last four teams have averaged 25.5 wins a season with a chance to add to those totals this week.

The public is asked to participate in a Community Send-Off at 3 p.m. The team bus will travel west on Lincolnway from the City Diamond to Highway 4 on their way to Ft. Dodge. Fans are encouraged to line Lincolnway and cheer for the team as the bus passes by.