JAMESTOWN — A dropped third strike and a base hit, that’s all Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark sophomore starting pitcher Erica Hermanson gave up in seven innings of work against Northern Cass in the first round of the Class B State Softball Tournament.

Hermanson’s 15-strikeout, one-hitter helped the West Region No. 1-seeded Lakers take down the East No. 4-seeded Jaguars Thursday, 2-0, and reach the state semifinals for a second straight season.

For the outsiders seeing Hermanson pitch for the first time, it was an incredible performance. But, for Hermanson, it was just business as usual.

“(My arm) feels pretty good. I mean, I didn’t really pitch a lot,” Hermanson said. “I was a little surprised because it’s the state tournament, but yeah, this does happen.”

She was basically untouchable. With the dropped third strike, Hermanson had seven strikeouts over the first two innings. Every player in the Northern Cass starting line-up struck out at least once.

The only hit Hermanson gave up on her 86 pitches was a single to Raeann Murray in the top of the fourth.

That was also the only ball that reached the outfield.

“(Hermanson) did a phenomenal job of keeping the ball in the strike zone,” DLBLC coach Melvin Erickson said. “She had an 18 strikeout game against Minot Ryan (earlier in the season), so I expect like 14-15 strikeouts from her every game.”

And, as if throwing a gem wasn’t enough, Hermanson went 3-for-3 at the plate as well.

The Lakers got their first run in the first inning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Alyea Casavant reached with an infield RBI single.

DLBLC doubled its lead in the sixth with another ball put down in the infield dirt. Makinly Grosche reached first base safely and a throwing error by Murray allowed Casavant to score from second base.

“This was a very good game to watch,” Erickson said. “But, I was as nervous as a cat on a tin roof.”

Up next, the Lakers get East Region No. 2-seeded Thompson in the state semifinals. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Lyle “Trapper” Lawrence Field in Jamestown.