James Jackson/MDN Aggies sophomore Halie Fletschock locked in at bat.

Full bleachers, a bevy of fans in lawn chairs, and a crowded fence line were treated to a show Tuesday afternoon at Velva High School as the second place Velva Aggies hosted the first place Beulah Miners to decide the Class B-Region 4 regular season champion in a season finale thriller.

The Velva Aggies (7-3 overall, 6-1 Region 4) are winners of their last three games and have outscored their opponents by a cumulative score of 44-13 over that span. Additionally, two of these last three victories come in the form of road wins against Harvey/Wells and Central McLean.

On the other side of the diamond, the Beulah Miners (10-5 overall, 6-0 Region 4) sit undefeated atop the Region 4 standings. Mirroring Velva, they enter today’s contest winners of their last three games, two of the three taking place at home. During this stretch, the Miners have outscored their adversaries by a total of 45-5. Even more impressive, nine of their ten wins over the course of the season have come as a result of double-digit run output. In these wins, three have resulted in twenty or more runs put on the scoreboard and seven producing 15 or more runs.

With the season finale Tuesday serving as a “winner-take-all” game, the stage was set for a championship game that did not disappoint.

Stifling defense and stranded runners took center stage throughout the beginning of the contest, exemplified by two great defensive plays at third base by Miners junior Brecken Bieber in the bottom of the first inning that led to consecutive outs. After a double by Aggies junior pitcher Olivia Passa, Velva failed to capitalize and left a run stranded to end the inning.

Similar to the Aggies, the Miners stranded two runners in scoring position of their own in the top of the third inning after Passa closed the inning with a strikeout to hold the score knotted 0-0. Throughout the game, Passa was superb on the mound and set the tone for a steady performance by the Aggies defense as a whole.

Not to be outdone, Beulah responded by retiring the side courtesy of two strikeouts and an infield fly to end the third inning.

Ultimately, the fourth inning proved to be the difference maker as Velva’s bats finally came alive. Singles by Passa and junior Berkley Selzler began the rally for the Aggies, as sophomore Cienna Clemens followed with an RBI single for the first run of the game. Building momentum, sophomore Olivia Miller added an RBI single of her own, bringing the Aggies lead to 2-0. After a wild pitch allowed Clements to reach third, the Velva rally was halted by a strikeout to strand the two Aggies runners and bring the fourth inning to a close.

Leading off the fifth inning, Miners senior Kennedy Schock’s bloop single over the shortstop was followed by a bloop single of her own to center field by sophomore Elizabeth Duppong. Extending the hot spell, an RBI by junior Taylor Christensen would put Beulah on the board and bring them to within one run of Velva. However, Passa would regain her composure and pitch the Aggies out of the bind to hold off what would end up being the final scoring threat of the contest for the Miners.

Rounding out the rest of the contest, the pitching and defense of the Aggies solidified their lead and proved to be too much to overcome for the Miners over the final two innings, resulting in a final score of 2-1 and a regular season championship for Velva.

Looking ahead, both teams prepare for the 2022 NDHSAA Class B Girls Softball State Tournament.