If it weren’t for a congratulatory e-mail from the district athletic director, Shorecrest softball coach Kristie Oglesby wouldn’t have known the Scots had pulled a three-peat.

She was too busy figuring out a way to make sure the Scots would survive the arduous final stretch of the regular season in one piece to notice they were closing in on a third straight Western Conference South Division title.

Following a one-run, nine-inning loss to Kamiak May 7, Shorecrest reeled off four wins in a row to finish out its schedule, boosting its league record to a staggering 36-5 the past three years.

Oglesby passed all of the credit to her players and their work ethic, attitude and spirit.

“It has a lot to do with how they come out and practice every day and their mind set going into each game,” she said. “We don’t ever take anyone lightly. No matter who it is, we’ve got to go in thinking it’s a state championship game.

“If they want to progress in the playoffs, they know they need to do it thinking that way.”

So far, it’s working.

With a pair of wins over Ferndale and Anacortes Tuesday to open the Northwest District 3A tournament, Shorecrest is one victory away from a third straight trip to state.

The Scots (16-2 league, 18-3 overall) will face Northwest 3A League champion Sedro-Woolley at 11 a.m. May 24 at Janicki Fields in Sedro-Woolley to determine the district’s top seed.

The loser plays later that day against the winner of the consolation bracket for the remaining state berth.

“We have the talent to go (to state),” senior outfielder Krystal Tonning said. “I think as long as we can keep our heads straight and go out with even more intensity than we had during the regular season, we’ll be fine.”

Shorecrest downed Ferndale 7-1 in the opening round of the playoffs and blanked Anacortes 3-0 to set up a showdown with high-powered Sedro-Woolley — which exploded for 25 runs in a pair of lopsided victories Tuesday.

Going into the playoffs with traces of information — at best — about potential Northwest 3A League opponents didn’t concern Oglesby.

“I kind of like not knowing anything about them because we just go in and play our game and do the best we can,” she said.

“We don’t know what to expect, so we’re on our toes the whole game,” added senior outfielder Ashley Knudsvig.

Another unknown the Scots have encountered is the status of Ashley Morrison. The sophomore pitcher missed two games midway through the season due to pain in her throwing arm and has yet to reach full strength.

Morrison took considerable time off in the two weeks leading up to the district tournament and tossed a no-hitter against third-seeded Anacortes on Tuesday.

“She’s hurt but she’s still hanging in,” Oglesby said. “I’m not sure how she’s going to handle multiple games in a day. I’ll try to get her out of there if we get the lead so we can save her.”

After losing perennial all-league pitcher Kristina Thorson to graduation, Oglesby felt that some teams were tempted to write off the Scots, which made this year’s Wesco South championship extra special.

“We weren’t favored at all to do anything this year,” Oglesby said. “I’m kind of happy we weren’t because we just proved it doesn’t take one person to win games — it takes a whole team.”

But like the past two seasons, the Scots don’t plan on stopping at a league title.

“Right now our focus is to try and make state for the third year in a row,” Tonning said. “We’re proud of the fact we’ve done well the past few years, but we’ve got to put that behind us and look forward to the rest of the season.”