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TROY, Ill. — Waterloo High softball coach Matt Mason saw his team sting the ball over the yard Tuesday afternoon.

But the bright yellow sphere found too many Marion gloves, and all Mason could do was let out an exasperated sigh as he watched his team fall 3-1 in a Class 3A Triad Sectional semifinal game at Triad High.

"We ground it out," Mason said. "We hit the ball, but they played good defense. The ball didn't play our way today."

Marion (26-7) advanced to play South Seven rival Centralia (25-3) at 4 p.m. Friday in the Class 3A Triad Sectional final.

The Wildcats are searching for their first sectional title since 2005.

Waterloo (22-5), which advanced to the 3A state tournament last season, took a 1-0 lead when junior Mallory Thompson scored on a fielding error in the first inning.

After that, the Wildcats' defense was rock solid.

"After that first run was done, we just put it behind us," Marion coach Joy Neal said. "We didn't look back. The defense locked in, and they were ready to go."

Despite the solid contact throughout the game, the Bulldogs' offense couldn't find a spot on the field that a Marion defender didn't occupy and was limited to just five hits over the seven innings.

That, and Marion junior pitcher Alana Bryant battled smartly against dangerous Waterloo hitters.

"She was doing a good job of keeping the ball away from us," Mason said. "We don't see that many left-handers during the year. It seems like we were a little bit off stride. I believe we might have swung at some balls out of the strike zone early that helped her out."

Waterloo's defense gave up the first Marion run with a fielding error in the third inning before Marion senior Maecee Coleman made sure neither defense was getting the ball she hit.

The senior cranked an 0-2 changeup nearly 300 feet over the left-field fence for a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning.

"She threw me a change-up earlier in the count, and I had two strikes on me, so I was sitting changeup again," Coleman said. "I told myself to wait back. As soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone."

During a 2-1, five-inning loss to Waterloo earlier in the season, Coleman and her Marion teammates learned a valuable lesson.

"Lay off the drop ball and hit your pitch," Coleman said. "You've got to get to your pitch. We've been working on that the last couple of games."

Marion banged out eight hits, with Coleman and Bryant collecting two hits apiece.

Waterloo's offense managed to find some traction in the fifth and seventh innings but couldn't scratch across another run.

"We were right there," Mason said. "(A 3-1) game here, and we had a chance at the end. That's all we could ask for."

Despite the loss, Mason sang the praises of his two seniors, Kate Lindhorst and Riley McDermott.

"We're proud of them," Mason said. "They set a good standard. Good students and they're both going to go off to college who will have successful careers outside of softball."

Mason pointed to Waterloo's seven returning starters as part of the silver lining to the end of the 2025 season.

"That's a good core to build around," Mason said. "The silver lining is that I've been very fortunate all the way through coaching. We've had great kids the whole time I've been here. This year and last year, this has been the best group of kids academically and on the field I've had and that's a testament to them and their parents with how hard they work. I'm very proud of this group."