All season long, Hillman softball coach Rich Price has watched his team go through the normal ebbs and flows of the regular season. Now as the postseason looms, Price is hoping his team can play its best softball when it matters most.

The Tigers will host a Division 4 district on Saturday and will play Rogers City at noon in one of two semifinals. Onaway will play Posen at 10 a.m. in other semifinal.

The Tigers were the latest team from Northeast Michigan to shine in the postseason advancing to the semifinals last season. This year, Hillman returned nine players from last year’s squad and the Tigers are eager to follow up last year’s district title with another one.

“The girls are confident and they know what they’re capable of. But we’re still taking it one out at a time, one game at a time,” Price said. “We’re playing our best ball right now.”

To defend their title, the Tigers will have to pass a tough test right away in Rogers City. The Hurons have won four straight district titles and have aspirations of winning in a fifth, especially with a team that’s seemed to grow stronger as the season has gone on.

The two teams have played twice this season with each team winning a game and the third matchup shouldn’t disappoint. Both teams have solid pitching, good defense and lineups that can prove tough for opposing pitchers to get through.

“Hillman’s a good team. They had a great run last year and they’re good again this year,” Rogers City coach Karl Grambau said.

In the past week, the Hurons have played two Division 1 schools-Alpena and Petoskey- to prepare for districts and the Hurons came away with sweeps in both matchups. Not only did those games help prepare the Hurons, they showed that Rogers City can play well under pressure.

“I think we’re playing good softball and we’ve improved as the year went on,” Grambau said. “Those doubleheaders felt like a tournament atmosphere.”

The other half of the bracket is no slouch either. Posen already showed its competitive spirit earlier this week in a predistrict win over Johannesburg-Lewiston and has shown the ability to play with each of the other three teams in the district. ith just a few seniors on its roster, Onaway has improved steadily during the season and was one of the top teams in the Ski Valley Conference.

For Alpena, it’s been a long wait for the postseason. The Wildcats were one inning from securing a fourth straight district title last season before Marquette rallied and edged the Wildcats 5-4.

Since that loss, Alpena has been keeping its focus on another postseason run and if all goes well, the Wildcats will get another shot at Marquette. The Wildcats play Traverse City West in the first district semifinal and the Redettes play Traverse City Central in the other semifinal today.

With an experienced and talented roster, the Wildcats are eager to make last year’s slip up a distant memory.

“Our kids are upbeat and looking forward to district play. We have a lot of kids that have been on varsity for several years and we’ve got a little bit of a bittersweet taste in our mouth,” Alpena coach Paul Marwede said. “Since last June, the kids and the coaching staff have been looking forward to getting (this season) started.

Alpena returned 10 players with varsity experience this season and it paid dividends immediately as Alpena could pick up where it left off from 2015

“Going back to the beginning of the season it was unique to where the majority of the kids knew the team philosophy,” Marwede said. “They knew the intangibles, which made it seem like we were picking up from where we left off last year.”

In Au Gres, Alcona will look to earn a second consecutive district title and will play Mio in a district semifinal. The winner will play either Au Gres or Whittemore-Prescott in the district title game.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.