With the regular season quickly winding down, ADM softball head coach Rick Dillinger recently told Raccoon Valley Radio fatigue was starting to set in for some of his players. Some might then ask, ‘Why play so many games?’

The No. 4 Tigers (20-3) have participated in four-game tournaments in three of four weekends since the start of the season, which can take a physical toll. ADM has yet another tournament this Friday and Saturday in Solon.

The answer is simple: the more games against high-quality teams, the better-prepared ADM will be for the postseason.

“Well a lot of it is right now is we’re trying to face great opponents because the better opponent we face, the higher level we have to get to,” Dillinger said. “And we’re playing great teams this weekend, and they’ll be ranked, two of the teams, and it’ll be great competition.”

ADM has gone 11-1 in tournament play, with wins over ranked Mount Vernon and AGWSR teams this past weekend. Overall, the Tigers are 4-3 against ranked teams across different classes.

Dillinger said this particular trip is also good for team bonding, as the Tigers will stay overnight Friday in nearby Iowa City.

“But it also makes us a lot better because we’re playing 5A teams or ranked teams, so that’s the whole goal is can we play enough of those teams to get ourselves to a high level that we can play well [in the postseason],” he said.

ADM on Friday will play Class 5A teams Des Moines-Lincoln (10-15) at 1 p.m. and Iowa City High (2-18) at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the Tigers will play Solon (24-2), the No. 2 ranked team in Class 3A, at 9:30 a.m. and Class 5A Ottumwa (10-11) at 1:30 p.m.