For the first time since 2013, the Grand Junction High School softball team will return to the state tournament.

The upstart Tigers finished second in their home regional last weekend to earn their first trip to the big dance in more than a decade.

It’s an unprecedented turnaround for Grand Junction program in its first year under new head coach Scott Else. Only four seasons ago, the Tigers finished 4-17 won only one Southwestern League game.

“Obviously, we haven’t made it to state in, what, almost 15 years? Especially going from getting run-ruled by all the teams in our league out freshman year to building up to this place, and with our new coaches, we’re changing the culture here, and that’s super amazing,” Tigers senior outfielder Gabriella Noble said. “I’m so excited to be a part of that legacy.”

Before they head out to Aurora for their first-round contest Friday, here’s a look at some of the Tigers’ key contributors and how they stack up against their opponents.

In the first round of the state tournament,Grand Junction is slated to face off with Fossil Ridge, the winner of Fruita Monument’s home regional. The Wildcats pushed the SaberCats to the brink in the regional, rallying for two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to tie the game before ultimately losing 10-8 in extra innings.

Fossil Ridge is the eighth seed despite sporting a record below .500 on the season. A six-game losing skid in a road tournament in Nebraska during the first week of September helped contribute to the team’s 10-14-1 record.

But recently, the SaberCats have played much better. Entering the state tournament, they have scored double-digit run seven straight contests, including 21 on Oct. 9 at Poudre and 19 the next day at Greeley West.

Grand Junction junior Kloe Donahue will more than likely be the one tasked with quieting those hot SaberCat bats on Friday. The left-handed pitcher moved to Grand Junction this summer after playing her first two seasons of high school ball in Utah, and so far her skill set has translated quite well.

In 96 1/3 innings pitched for the Tigers this season, Donahue sports a 2.54 ERA, good for seventh-best amongst pitchers in Class 5A. The junior’s 134 strikeouts are also seventh-most in 5A. Donahue is responsible for 13 of the Tigers’ 19 wins to this point in the season, the 24th-most wins of anyone in the state.

“I’m expecting for our pitchers to come out hot Friday,” Tigers catcher Ashley Gonzalez said of her staff. “We played three games in our regional to make it to state, so why go to state to only play one game, you know? We’ll come out hot our first game and then keep going, keep building from there.”

Offensively, the Tigers also make for a formidable opponent, thanks to a trio of senior mashers. Gonzalez, Alexis Walpole and Jaxon Clark have been key contributors at the plate for Grand Junction this year, sporting batting averages of .494, .486, and .439 respectively, which are good for the top three marks among all Tiger batters.

Walpole, a third baseman by trade, has compiled a team-high 39 hits in 79 at-bats, including six doubles, two triples, and three home runs. The team’s three-hole hitter leads the team in each of those final two categories and her 28 RBI are the best on the team as well.

“Us seniors have been working hard all four years here, and all the girls have been, but especially for us,” Walpole said. “We get to see the fruits of our labors. We’ve believed in ourselves and it’s good to see that come to fruition.”

Gonzalez, the team’s catcher, is tied for second on the team with Clark for hits as they each have 36 on the year. Aside from her defensive prowess, the Tigers’ backstop leads the team with seven doubles on the year, and her 20 RBI are good for third-most amongst GJ hitters.

“We’ve all had an ideal senior year, and that feels great,” Gonzalez said.

Clark, who leads off and plays shortstop for the Tigers, has walked 11 times this season, second-most on the team behind only Donahue, who has walked 24 times. Clark has also pitched 33 2/3 innings in the circle for the Tigers this season, second most on the team. Clark, the Tigers’ top right-handed pitcher, sports a 3-1 record and a 3.53 ERA in her senior campaign.

“I think it’s really cool that we’ve made it this far,” Clark said. “Especially in our senior year. A lot of people doubted us!”

As potent as the trio have been on offense, arguably their most impressive feat they’ve pulled off this season has been something they’ve avoided almost completely this season — strikeouts. Walpole and Clark have each struck out on only three occasions this season; Gonzalez, meanwhile, has only been called out on strikes one time in 74 at-bats on the year.

Grand Junction’s first game of the state tournament is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday. Should the Tigers advance to the quarterfinals, they will have a date with the winner of the first-round matchup between Arapahoe and top-seeded Broomfield.

The Warriors finished second in Fruita Monument’s regional last weekend to grab the 16th and final bid to the state tournament; Broomfield, meanwhile, sports a 22-2 record and has yet to lose to an opponent from Colorado on the season.

But who they could play in the quarterfinal is not on the minds of the Tigers. Instead, the opportunity to compete alongside their best friends one last time this season is what the players are focusing on.

“I guess it is going to be some of our last games, so it’s also going to be our last bus ride, our last time going out to dinner with everybody,” Noble said. “It’s going to be a very surreal experience, and I guess I’m just looking forward to being in that moment and soaking it in.

“Our last little hurrah.”