The 2026 Seneca Fighting Irish softball team believes it’s not only a better team than last year’s 34-2 ballclub, but better equipped to get past a defending Class 2A state champion Beecher team that beat last spring’s Irish 1-0 in a sectional championship heartbreaker.

Thanks to a 10-0, five-inning dismissal of fellow Tri-County Conference member and regional champion St. Bede in the Tuesday semifinal of the Class 2A Pontiac Sectional, this year’s Fighting Irish may get the opportunity to prove it.

“I really think we have a great chance this year,” said Seneca shortstop and No. 2 hitter Emma Mino, who led the Irish offense against St. Bede with three RBIs, including a two-run double in the second inning that opened the floodgates. “I think we’ve really stepped it up from last year.”

On Friday, Seneca (36-2) will play the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal between Beecher and the sectional host Indians. As successful as the Irish program has been in recent memory – capturing eight regional titles since 2011 and winning 19 or more games each of the past 16 seasons, 30 or more six times during that stretch – Seneca has never brought home a softball sectional title.

“This whole team’s been working for this all season,” said Hayden Pfeifer, who took a perfect game into the fourth inning Tuesday and finished with five innings pitched, no runs or walks allowed, one infield hit surrendered and a dozen strikeouts. “We’ve all been working hard to make it as far as we can.”

St. Bede (30-5), a come-from-behind winner Saturday to claim its fifth consecutive regional title, had no reply Tuesday to Seneca’s overwhelming pitching and hitting. Three of the Bruins’ five losses this season have come at the hands of the Fighting Irish.

“They’re not ranked No. 2 in the [ICA state rankings] for no reason,” St. Bede coach Rob Ruppert said. “We knew it was going to be a tough, uphill battle, and they were the better team today.

“What I just told the girls [was], ‘Don’t let this game define us as a team this year.’ We’re 30-5. There are a lot of teams in the state that would like to be 30-5.

“We just ran into a good team today.”

After a scoreless opening inning that saw St. Bede starting pitcher Macy Strauch work around a leadoff single by Graysen Provance and Pfeifer set down the Bruins 1-2-3, Seneca’s bottom of the order started a two-out rally. No. 7 hitter Ameliah Weber singled, No. 8 hitter Marlie Lisey drew a walk, and freshman No. 9 hitter Aurora Weber opened the scoring by driving in her older sister with a base hit up the middle.

It sparked an eventual six-run inning, Mino’s aforementioned two-run double and run-scoring hits from Pfeifer and Camryn Stecken the highlights after the bottom third of the order set things in motion.

“Our 7-8-9 there, I’m so proud of them,” Seneca coach Brian Holman said. “You saw they did that to get us going in the second inning, but a lot of people are going to forget they did it again [in the third, with Ameliah Weber following up a Tessa Krull double with one of her own, Lisey bunting the elder Weber over and Aurora Weber squeeze bunting her sister home to start off a four-run inning].

“I think they’ve taken a lot of pride in it, and I’m so proud of them. ... That’s one of our things this year – I think we are a little deeper. I think that makes us a little better, and hopefully Friday we can use that depth.”

The six-run second and four-run third were all Seneca managed against St. Bede starter Strauch (2 IP, 8 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 1 K) and reliever Hannah Heiberger (3 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K). It was all the Irish needed thanks to errorless defense and the dominant pitching of Pfeifer, who struck out eight of the first 10 batters she faced before Emma Slingsby’s one-out slap single in the fourth.

Pfeifer then stranded Slingsby at first, striking out four of the remaining five would-be hitters to enforce the 10-run rule.

“I felt nice and loose warming up,” Pfeifer said. “A little hot today, but I felt really nice, loose, everything was spinning.”

First pitch Friday in Pontiac is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.