STATE CENTER — The West Marshall softball team has embraced selflessness as a means to success this season.

Every now and then, though, it’s nice to get a little greedy.

Junior pitcher Aubree Greenwood struck out 12, including four of the last five batters she faced, to help the 14th-ranked Trojans turn back Belmond-Klemme 6-4 in Wednesday’s Class 2A Region 1 quarterfinal.

After jumping out to a 6-1 lead, West Marshall (22-10) had to endure the Broncos’ late-game determination. When the offense couldn’t do it and the defense bobbled a bit, the Trojans turned to their pitcher to put Belmond-Klemme away.

Greenwood struck out Nevi McMurray with a runner in scoring position to end the Broncos’ three-run at-bat in the sixth inning that got them to within 6-4, and the junior right-hander struck out three more in the top of the seventh to finish it off.

“I thought Aubree did a tremendous job tonight,” said West Marshall head coach Jake Randall. “The score’s probably a little bit closer than it should have been — we had a couple plays there that we could have made — but in the end the kids played great and we’re happy to move on.”

The Trojans will host Woodward-Granger (15-14) in Friday night’s regional semifinal at 7 p.m. in State Center, and the regional final is Monday night.

After losing 8-1 to West Marshall at the Don Bosco Tournament 10 days earlier, Belmond-Klemme (16-13) struck first in the rematch. Jayla Coonce cleared the fence in left field with a solo home run in the top of the third inning, but that only ignited the Trojans’ fire.

West Marshall answered with four runs in the home half, fueled by one B-K error and aggressive baserunning. Hattie McCollum led off with a single, and her pinch-runner Samantha Sorsen promptly stole second. Leadoff batter Jenna Randall belted an RBI double to right-center field, and Rachel Randall’s sacrifice bunt was misplayed.

After allowing Rachel to advance to second, Ashtyn Blood drove in both baserunners with a single to right.

Blood stole second before tagging up and taking third on a pop-up in foul ground caught by Broncos catcher Kennedy Morris. The risk was immediately rewarded with Riley Randall’s sacrifice fly, making it 4-1 Trojans.

West Marshall tacked on in the fifth, manufacturing a pair of runs after back-to-back singles by Rachel and Blood to lead off. Rachel scored on a wild pitch and Blood crossed the plate on Riley’s squeeze bunt for the 6-1 advantage.

“We’ve got a mantra that we’ve got to just learn to play together,” coach Randall said. “It’s an us-versus-them mentality. And in the end, it’s just about us scoring more runs than the other team. It doesn’t matter how it happens, no matter what it is, it’s just that piece and then you get to move on.”

The Trojans totaled three sacrifice bunts in the game as well as the sacrifice fly, giving themselves up for the advancement of a runner. Three of those plays led directly to runs for the team.

Belmond-Klemme rallied in the sixth starting with a leadoff single for Ava Tautges. One out later, Jordyn Muhlenbruch singled and Morris doubled in a run. With two outs, B-K pitcher Kaylen Morris lifted a fly ball to right field that was dropped, allowing both Broncos baserunners to score.

The Trojans’ two errors occured in the inning, opening the door for Belmond-Klemme’s uprising. Greenwood got McMurray looking to end the inning and composed herself for one big push in the seventh.

“I love having this defense behind me,” Greenwood said. “They’re always there to pick me up. Tonight I wasn’t feeling the best … and they told me to just keep going, that I was doing amazing, and I said the exact same thing right back. They’re great, I love being able to put all my trust into them.”

West Marshall ranks sixth in 2A with only 35 errors this season, so the slight stutter wasn’t insurmountable. Just in case, Greenwood struck out three of four batters in the seventh to lock down the win.

“What she does for us in the circle and her competitiveness, it’s great to see, and right now we throw her in every game because of that,” coach Randall said.

Greenwood walked only one and allowed two earned runs on six hits. B-K leadoff batter Kendra Huedepohl singled to start the game but was thrown out by Riley trying to steal second on the very next pitch.

Blood led the Trojans offensively with two of their six hits, two runs scored and two RBIs. Riley Randall had no hits but walked once and drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a squeeze bunt. Olivia Randall also had a single.