Minot North shortstop Tiecyn Hertz throws the ball to first after fielding a ground ball against Watford City in a WDA play-in game on Tuesday, May 19, at Scheels South Hill Complex. Mike Kraft/MDN

Defensive miscues have been a source of frustration for the Minot North softball team throughout the course of the season.

Although the Sentinels possessed an offense capable of landing them close to the top of the standings, 72 errors over the course of the season led to extended innings in the field and 73 unearned runs. As a result, Minot North found itself playing in the WDA Tournament play-in round for the third consecutive season.

Facing a must-win situation to extend their season and the careers of four of its seniors, Minot North played its cleanest game of the year, making all of its plays and finishing with zero errors in a 13-3 victory over Watford City in six innings on Tuesday, May 19, at Scheels South Hill Complex. With the win, the Sentinels advance to the WDA Tournament for the second consecutive season, where they will play defending state champion Williston in the quarterfinal round on Thursday, May 21, at Leininger Field at Williston State College.

“It’s a whole different game when you don’t make any errors and that’s what we’ve been stressing for as long as we have,” Minot North coach Roger Coleman said. “We played close to a perfect game, so that’s what it’s going to take to win at the WDA Tournament.”

It was a complete team effort, as the offense and pitching mimicked the solid performance from the defense. Seven Minot North batters collected a hit, six registered RBIs and six scored runs. Aven Kelly went 2-for-2 with a triple, double, an RBI and three runs scored. She was one of four Sentinels to collect multiple hits. In three career play-in games, Kelly is 6-for-7 with a home run, a triple, three doubles, five RBIs and six runs scored.

Kinzy Welstad delivered a gem in the circle, allowing three runs on seven hits over six innings, striking out two. Most importantly, she didn’t give any free bases, not yielding a walk to the Wolves.

“We had zero errors,” Welstad said. “Just a really clean game and everyone did their part. It’s great being able to trust your teammates. Letting them put the ball in play and trusting that my teammates are going to make plays behind me.”

Minot North’s offense made life easier for Welstad in the circle, giving her nine runs of support over the first two innings. Welstad helped herself, leading off the game with a double and scoring on a wild pitch for the first run of the contest. Kelly doubled home Kate Coleman later in the inning and scored on steal of home. Elise McCann delivered the final run of the inning on an RBI ground out, allowing Mya Bagwell to score from third to give the Sentinels a 4-0 lead.

The Sentinels (14-14) tacked on five more in the second inning with a barrage of hits. Minot North recorded seven of its 11 hits in the frame to build a 9-0 advantage. Welstad, Coleman and Bagwell all recorded RBI singles, while Tiecyn Hertz drove in Welstad with a double and Kelly tripled to score Coleman.

The Wolves (2-21) got on the board in the third on an RBI single off the bat of Clara Wisness to plate Lohgan Hanna. Salil Shoemaker drove in a pair of runs later in the inning with a two-out single to left.

Welstad was dialed in the rest of the way, retiring nine of the final 10 batters she faced. The defense made the plays behind her, as eight of the final nine outs were a combination of ground outs, pop outs and fly outs.

“She’s just so composed,” Coleman said of Welstad. “She’s such a competitor. She’s super smart and never gets rattled no matter how things are going. Nothing really affects her. She’s just a great leader and a super composed player and has been that way since I’ve gotten to coach her in elementary school in different sports.”

The Sentinels ended the game via mercy rule with three runs in the sixth. Kate Coleman kickstarted the offense with a double to left and came around to score on a single to center from Bagwell. McCann officially punched Minot North’s ticket to the WDA Tournament with a hit to center that allowed both Kelly and Bagwell to touch home.

“We were all just super excited just to have a chance to get into the WDA Tournament at the beginning, but playing as a team and being together was really fun,” Kate Coleman said. “There was definitely some nerves going into it, but we ended up playing really well and got the win.”

Minot North’s four seniors – Welstad, Hertz, Coleman and Kelly – combined to go 7-for-12 with five RBIs and 10 runs, with Welstad getting the win in the circle.

“Especially with having four seniors on the team, it helps a lot because none of us want to be done,” Welstad said. “We want to make it to WDA to give ourselves a chance to compete to Saturday.”

The win guarantees the Sentinels a minimum of two more games, beginning with the Coyotes. Williston took both games of a doubleheader against the Sentinels on May 11, posting wins of 21-8 and 8-3. Minot North is hoping the momentum gained from winning the play-in game continues into the tournament.

“I hope it translates in that it mirrors the game that we just played and we give ourselves a chance,” Roger Coleman said. “If we don’t hurt ourselves, we can beat anybody and anybody can be beaten. We definitely have a chance, but we have to mirror the way we played today for sure.”