Gothenburg may be going against the seventh seeded team in the Class C state tournament at Hastings Wednesday (today) at 10 a.m., but they’ll be facing one of the state’s toughest pitchers.

The Swedes enter the state tourney rated No. 1 in Class C by the Omaha World-Herald and the newspaper’s pick to win the championship.

Caitlin Ohnoutka of Raymond Central has other ideas for the Mustangs. She easily has the lead in the state for strikeouts. In fact, her roughly 260 strikeouts is about 100 ahead of second place in the state, Swede coach Roger Neujahr said.

“She throws a rise ball and a curve ball,” he said. “From the reports I’ve gotten from other coaches, the rise ball will get you behind in the count and the curve ball will strike you out.”

He compared her to Katlynn Behnk of St. Paul who fanned 14 Swedes in two contests this season.

“Coaches had said you need to be patient and not chase it,” Neujahr said. “Sometimes that’s really hard to do.”

Fairbury snatched the No. 1 seed from Gothenburg despite losing two games in its district tournament. The Jeffs finished 56 hundredths of a point ahead of Gothenburg.

The Class C tourney could be up for grabs as all teams have at least five losses.

While the Swedes open the tourney at 10 a.m., they will follow up with a game at 5:30 if they lose or at 10 a.m. the next day if they win.