Rivalry.

A championship.

Future postseason success.

It'll all be on the line at 2 p.m. today when the Bishop Chatard and Cathedral high school softball teams meet in the City Tournament semifinals at Brookside Park in Indianapolis.

The winner will face Cardinal Ritter or Class 2A No. 1 Scecina in the championship at 4 p.m.

Eight of the past nine championship games have matched Bishop Chatard, with one title, or Cathedral, with two, against Scecina, a six-time winner. Heritage Christian broke the pattern by finishing as runner-up to Scecina in 2005.

"My girls enjoy playing Scecina and Bishop Chatard," said Cathedral coach T.J. Lambert. "They want to be challenged. We beat Bishop Chatard, 14-6, but they went to (the bottom of the seventh) against Scecina (before losing), and Scecina beat us 8-3. They'll be good games."

With Bishop Chatard and Cathedral already showing improvement over last season, success in the City Tournament could be a major factor in taking another step forward during the second half of the season.

The Trojans were 6-10 before playing Whiteland on Friday, but they were 1-5 in one-run games, with two more losses by two runs.

Going into Thursday's 12-2 win over Heritage Christian, Chatard was led offensively by freshman shortstop Casey Williamson (.441, 4 triples, 12 runs, 11 RBIs, 8 steals) and third baseman Kim Tyler (.349, 8 extra-base hits, 12 RBIs, 11 runs), with Amy Coutz (2-5, 4.05 ERA) and Molly Kilbane (2-3, 3.22 ERA) handling the pitching.

"We're losing close games, but we've played a good schedule," coach Pat Miles said. "We just haven't taken advantage of some opportunities (offensively). The players realize we're better than we were last year, even though the record doesn't indicate it. We're more competitive; we're just trying to get more consistent."

Cathedral is 9-6 with three of its losses to ranked teams: Scecina, 4A No. 2 McCutcheon and 4A No. 8 Franklin Central.

The Irish have been led by freshman pitcher Karley Olson, who did not pitch against Bishop Chatard or Scecina during the regular season due to an illness, and classmate Shelby Day, a shortstop who was brought up from the junior varsity team and drove in the winning runs in Tuesday's 6-5, come-from-behind victory against Pike.

"Karley has stepped up to every challenge," Lambert said when asked if she was concerned about having a freshman in such an important position in the City Tournament. "We've meshed really well. We're hitting well and Karley has done a great job pitching. The City Tournament is always a huge deal."