Entering the 2022 NDHSAA Class A Girls’ Softball State Tournament as the #2 seed out of the West Region, the Bismarck High Demons (19-8 overall, 10-6 West Region) came in clutch when it mattered to overcome a 5-2 deficit early in the state championship game to capture their first program title.

After a heartbreaking loss against Dickinson in last year’s Class A softball championship, the Demons entered the 2022 state softball tournament with renewed vigor, focused on completing the mission they were so close to completing just a year prior.

In the quarter-final round taking place at Lyle Trapper Field in Jamestown, the Demons began their revenge tour by handing the #3 seed from the East Region Grand Forks Red River a dominant 10-0 defeat highlighted by the elite performance on the mound of Logan Gronberg. The Demons starting pitcher was nearly perfect in the shutout, giving up only one hit in her outing to lead Bismarck High to their third-straight semi-finals appearance.

Advancing into the semi-finals, Bismarck High would find themselves in a much stiffer battle as they faced off against West Region adversary and #4 seed Bismarck Legacy. In a battle that saw limited offense and a heaping portion of defense, the two combined runs scored by the Demons in the first two innings were enough to propel them to a 2-0 victory and their second shutout of the tournament.

For a second game in two days, Gronberg was once again untouchable on the mound. In a nearly identical performance, Gronberg orchestrated a gem of an outing, allowing only one hit in seven innings to Bismarck Legacy.

Setting up a rematch of last year’s state championship game, the Demons would get the opportunity to avenge last season’s title game loss and terrorize fellow West Region member and #1 seed Dickinson to possibly earn Bismarck High’s first girls’ state softball title in history.

The Demons wasted no time in putting runs on the board, posting two in the top of the first inning. However, possibly due to her third start in as many days, Gronberg would give up her first runs of the state tournament as Dickinson exploded for five in the bottom of the second.

Even with the ghosts of last season’s loss making themselves known, the Demons refused to panic and consequently put together a four-run outburst in the top of the fourth inning to capture the lead and bring the score to 7-5.

Despite her roughest outing of the tournament, Gronberg found her groove and managed to extinguish any comeback hopes of Dickinson, allowing only one run after the second inning to cement the Demons 7-6 win and their first Class A state girls’ softball title in school history.

In a reversal of fortunes, the only two losses that Dickinson accrued throughout the course of the 2022 season were to Bismarck High, a haunting twist of fate similar to the one they delivered to the Demons in 2021.