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Kindred-Richland powers into Class B state softball title game

FNS Photo Kindred-Richland celebrates their defeat of Des Lacs-Burlington-Lewis & Clark with pitcher Abby McDonald, center, during their North Dakota Class B Softball Tournament semifinal game on Friday, in Fargo.

FARGO (FNS) — Kindred-Richland made sure there is going to be a familiar North Dakota Class B state softball champion.

Coralie Schwartzwalter had three hits and drove in three runs to help spark the Vikings to an 8-4 victory against Des Lacs-Burlington-Lewis & Clark in the state semifinals Friday at Tharaldson Park.

“It means a lot,” Schwartzwalter said. “I think we really worked hard and there was some ups and downs (this season), but this means a lot to us.”

Kindred-Richland (14-10) plays Central Cass at 4 p.m. Saturday in the state championship. The Vikings and Squirrels have combined to win the previous six state titles, each winning three. Central Cass is the defending state champion.

“It’s always fun. It’s always good games,” Kindred-Richland coach Sam Brandt said. “It’s always very, very competitive. Central Cass is a great team and they’ve been showing it all year.”

The Vikings took control late in the game, scoring three insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Trinity Holland started a two-out rally with an RBI single that gave Kindred-Richland a 6-4 lead. Senior third baseman Bren Koppang followed with a two-run triple that capped the scoring and gave the Vikings an 8-4 edge.

“They were crazy (the extra runs) because we knew if we had that little bit of a cushion, we could calm down and play our game at the bottom of the seventh,” Schwartzwalter said.

Vikings starting pitcher Abby McDonald pitched around a two-out walk for a scoreless bottom of the seventh to close out the victory. McDonald retired nine of the final 10 batters she faced.

“She’s pretty stone-faced a little bit,” Brandt said. “For her, she likes to bounce back. She’s pretty resilient. It’s good to have a kid like that.”

McDonald struck out eight batters and earned the complete-game victory. She scattered six hits and allowed four runs, three of which were unearned.

“Abby is great,” Schwartzwalter said. “All and all, I love everything about Abby. She really steps up to the plate, literally and figuratively.”

Kindred-Richland burst into the lead with four runs in the third inning. Schwartzwalter sparked the rally with a two-run single into center field. Amanda Roesler drove in a run after she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Matti Burchill capped the rally with a sacrifice fly that gave the Vikings a 4-0 lead.

Des Lacs-Burlington countered with three runs in the bottom of the third. The Lakers took advantage of two Kindred-Richland errors. MacKenzie Rist started the rally with an RBI single. Erica Hermanson followed with a two-run single that cut the Kindred-Richland lead to 4-3.

Kindred-Richland took a 5-3 lead after Schwartzwalter added an RBI single in the fourth inning. She finished 3-for-3, reached base four times and scored a run. The Lakers sliced the lead to 5-4 after an RBI groundout from Hermanson in the fifth inning.

While the Vikings enter the state title game with 10 losses, six of those were one-run defeats. Kindred-Richland is playing in the state title game for the third time in four seasons.

“We all came to the agreement we were going to work hard and peak at the right time,” Brandt said. “We had a lot of really close games this year.”

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