PARIS, Texas — Pleasant Grove (17-10-2) tangles with Aubrey (20-7) in the Region II-4A semifinals in a single-elimination softball game at 6 p.m. today at Paris Chisum High School.

"They are in the fourth round with us, so they have a good team," Lady Hawks head coach Becca Collom said. "They have a pitcher that throws decent, and they can play. If we come out and take care of what we can control, then we'll have a shot to beat them.

"We're fired up. It was big for us to finish the third round in the fashion that we did. We had to turn around and play a second game and that should give us some confidence. We have done everything now. We had our backs against the wall in a 1-game playoff, and we had our backs against the wall in a (3-game) series. We are going to stay hungry and aggressive. The girls are fired up and ready to play. We have gotten hot at the right time. If we keep our intensity up, we'll have a good shot."

Lexie Snyder, who threw 13 innings last week en route to a series win over Gilmer, starts in the circle for the Lady Hawks.

Probable starters are Adi Koller at shortstop, Natalie Nickolson at third, Presley Humphrey at first, MJ Williams at second and Zoe Smith catching. The outfield is likely to be comprised of Timia Cooks in center, Hailey Allen in right and Ann Elise Lindsay at left.

Rounding out the Hawk roster are Izzy Hackleman, Harleigh O'Neal, Haylie Teague, Kaylee Gann, and Dakaria Moreland.

Pleasant Grove dropped Game 2 against Gilmer, 3-1 but won the series with a 3-2 victory in Game 3. It was a grueling ordeal that left the Hawks exhausted but winners.

"In Game 3, they were exhausted mentally and physically," Collom said. "They had to dig within themselves super deep. It was hot and humid. The sun was beating down and the turf made it hotter. For me, they know that they can do it. Having that in our tool belt to draw from later is huge.

"We have done it while we were fresh, and we have done it when we were tired. They did a great job of succeeding while being completely exhausted; that is huge for us to draw from."

The winner of the game will play either Van or Bullard in the Region II-4A finals next week.