Neil Johnson spent most of last weekend catching up on yard work at home underneath clear skies. It was a far cry from the rest of the spring, when a good chunk of his free time was spent rescheduling high school softball games called off because of rain, snow or both.

"It was just terrible," he said of this season.

ShakGrueling labor aside, Johnson is in a better mood now.

Johnson, the coach at Shakopee, wanted to get as much done last weekend as he could because this week he'll again be a little busy. But this has nothing to do with Mother Nature or landscaping.

For the first time in 31 years, the Sabers are off to state.

It wasn't easy, but Shakopee advanced through the Class 3A, Section 2 field last week at Caswell Park in North Mankato – the same site as this week's tournament.

"It's all the kids' doing," Johnson said. "They've all had banner years, putting it together at the same time. It's been great fielding and great hitting. And we're riding the arm of Ashley Walker, of course. We can't complain."

The familiarity didn't stop with the section tournament. Shakopee's first-round opponent Thursday is Hopkins, a team it defeated 6-1 on May 6 as part of the Sabers' 16-1 regular season.

"The score wasn't indicative of the game," Johnson said, noting his team's late rally against the Royals. "But we did beat them, and we'll hopefully use that."

The Sabres went 5-1 in the section tournament. The lone loss was a 1-0, 10-inning affair with Mankato West in the finals. That set up a true championship Game 2, and the fireworks were on.

Most are aware of Walker's résumé as one of the metro's best pitchers. Against the Scarlets, she showed off with her bat, too.

Walker didn't just pitch 17 innings that day. She hit a three-run homer in the second inning, and added a solo shot in the seventh that proved to be the game-winner in a 9-8 thriller.

"I compare it to a Kirby Puckett-type thing: we jumped on her back," Johnson said, noting Puckett's pregame pep-talk for Game 6 of the 1991 World Series.

Graduation already has occurred at Shakopee and so, too, have a good number of the parties. But the good vibes are far from over.

It's been quite the softball drought in the area, and this week's appearance in North Mankato will no doubt bring hordes of Sabers fans down Hwy. 169.

"I want the girls to have a fun time down there," Johnson said. "But at the same time, we think we can win it, just as anybody else can. I want them to be keyed up for that."