Minot North’s Aven Kelly went 7-for-12 with a triple, double, four RBIs and three runs scored in three games at the Midseason Madness Tournament over the weekend at the North Softball Complex in Fargo. The Sentinels won their final two games to place fifth in the Flickertail bracket. Mike Kraft/MDN

The North Softball Complex in Fargo played host to the biggest high school softball tournament in the state and one of the biggest in the country over the weekend, welcoming 48 programs from across North Dakota.

This year’s Midseason Madness Tournament featured 15 Class A schools, 33 Class B schools, 46 varsity programs, two JV squads and 17 ranked teams spread across six brackets, all playing three games.

Six champions were crowned on Saturday, May 9, with several local teams earning at least one win over the weekend. Among the local teams in the field were Minot HIgh, Minot North, Bishop Ryan, Velva-Drake-Anamoose, Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark, Nedrose, Glenburn, Renville County and Bottineau.

BADLANDS BRACKET

Bishop Ryan played alongside seven other Class B schools in the Badlands bracket. The Lions won their opener, topping Midway-Minto, 15-2, in six innings. Bishop Ryan scored runs in each of the first five innings, including six in the fourth.

Kirstin Brunner homered as part of a 3-for-4 game. Anna Hall, Cambree Zwak and Viosa Cumani all doubled. Shilow Christianson, Zwak, Cumani and Miyah Harvey all finished with three hits. Anna Hall led the offense with a 4-for-4 performance, driving in four runs and scoring three times. The Lions (7-9) recorded 21 hits.

Brunner got the win in the circle, pitching five innings. She allowed two runs – both coming in the first inning – on five hits, striking out four and walking one.

Bishop Ryan dropped its semifinal game to Northern Cass, 16-7, and came up just short in a slugfest against Harvey-Wells County, 15-14, in the third-place game. The lead switched sides in each of the final three half-innings.

Trailing 11-10 in the bottom of the sixth, the Hornets plated three runs to take a 13-11 lead. Keanna Volk delivered an RBI double to score Olivia Weisz. They took the lead on an RBI ground out by Volk to plate Brinlee Hase.

The Lions responded with three runs in the top of the seventh on four hits. Hayden Deeter put Bishop Ryan in front with a two-run triple to left to bring in Ava Passa and Kate Vibeto. Harvey-Wells County walked it off in the bottom of the seventh.

Ray won the bracket, topping Northern Cass, 15-5, in the title game. Ray also defeated Langdon Area-Munich, 11-3, and Harvey-Wells County, 15-5.

FLICKERTAIL BRACKET

Minot North took fifth in the Flickertail bracket, playing three one-run games in the process. After dropping their opening game to Fargo Davies, 6-5, in eight innings, the Sentinels advanced to the fifth-place match with a 12-11 victory over Velva-Drake-Anamoose. Minot North defeated Kindred, 4-3, in the fifth-place game.

In their opening against the Eagles, the Sentinels scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 5-3 lead. Tiecyn Hertz and Aven Kelly both delivered two-run singles in the inning.

Kelly and Kambry Burckhard each had two hits for Minot North.

The Eagles scored the final three runs, including the game-winning run in the top of the eighth inning. Elle Mann hit a solo home run on the first pitch of the eighth inning to put Davies in front. The Sentinels went down in order in the bottom half.

The Sentinels fell behind 9-2 against the Aggies (14-4) in their second game of the day before rallying with nine runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 11-9 lead. Minot North’s nine-run inning came directly after V-D-A plated seven runs in the top half of the inning. The Sentinels recorded nine hits in the inning. Kate Coleman, Kelly, Mya Bagwell, Eliese McCann, Cole Kotaska, Mylee Ackerman, Kinzy Welstad and Hertz all registered RBIs in the inning.

Minot North (12-9) compiled 18 hits for the game. Hertz finished 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored. Kelly tripled and finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. McCann also collected three hits, and Welstad, Coleman, Bagwell and Ackerman also had two hits.

Quincy Bruner and Tessa Clemens both homered for the Aggies. Bruner led V-D-A with three RBIs. Grace Balas finished 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Leah Volochenko had three hits and scored twice.

Against Kindred, the Sentinels scored the first four runs over the first three innings and held on down the stretch. Minot North jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning on an RBI single from Kelly and a run-scoring double off the bat of Bagwell. Bagwell added another RBI in the third on a single to left field to score Kelly.

Kinzy Welstad went six innings in the circle, allowing three runs on six hits, striking out two and walking one.

The Aggies finished on a high note, winning the seventh-place game against Renville County, 10-7. Dickinson won the bracket with an 8-1 win over West Fargo in the title game. Dickinson outscored its opponents 22-2 in its three games.

MEADOWLARK BRACKET

The Meadowlark bracket provided some of the highest scoring contests of the tournament. The winning team in each of the 12 games scored no less than 11 runs. Larimore compiled 66 runs in three games en route to a fifth-place finish, including 32 in a 32-23 win over LaMoure-Litchville-Marion-Edgeley.

Nedrose put up 19 runs in its opener against Lisbon to advance to the semifinals. Glenbrun won a 24-14 slugfest against Larimore in their opener. Both dropped their semifinal contest to set up a third-place game against one another. The Panthers came out on top with a 16-4 victory.

Glenburn scored seven runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, putting up 20 hits for the game. Mila Jones went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored. Sophie Cunningham tripled as part of a 5-for-5 game, recording two RBIs and three runs scored. Emma Jones, Ava Stevens and Finnley Andel all recorded three hits. Eight Panthers recorded a hit and scored a run.

Stevens earned the win in the circle, pitching all six innings. She allowed four runs on six hits, striking out six and walking three.

The Panthers have won seven of their nine games by scoring more than 10 runs.

In their 24-run outburst against Larimore, the Panthers hit four home runs and registered 19 hits. Mila Jones hit two homers and Aubrie Quick and Emma Jones also launched hits over the fence.

Nelson County/Midkota defeated Washburn-Center Stanton, 19-9, in the championship game.

PEACE GARDEN BRACKET

Des Lacs-Burlington/Lewis & Clark held its own against a pair of Class A teams and won its lone game against a Class B school to finish sixth in the Peace Garden bracket. The Lakers (12-3) rallied with three runs in the sixth inning in their first game against West Fargo Horace, but the Hawks plated a run in the bottom half for a 4-3 victory.

Elyssa Lindahl drove in all three runs for the Lakers with a bases-clearing single to right field with two outs to pull the Lakers even. DL-B/L&C recorded two of its three hits in the inning. Aleia Fluhrer had the other two hits for the Lakers.

Leah Holten drove in what would be the game-winning run on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded.

Piper Feller struck out 11 in six innings for the Lakers.

Feller was back in the circle for a 5-2 victory over Thompson. She threw 110 pitches, striking out 13 over seven innings, allowing two runs – both unearned – on four hits.

Logen Ystaas doubled and drove in two runs as part of a 2-for-4 day at the plate.

The Lakers’ comeback attempt in the fifth-place game came up just short in a 4-2 loss to Fargo North. The Lakers scored both its runs in the sixth inning on a two-run single by Ella Smith, bringing in Feller and Fluhrer.

The Lakers limited North’s offense to just three hits, but two of those produced runs. Jada Purdy hit a solo home run in the first and Charlotte Duff singled home Emma Ness in the fifth. The Spartans’ other two runs came from a hit by pitch with the bases loaded and one of two errors by DL-B/L&C.

Defending state champion Williston won the bracket with a 16-2 victory over Mandan in the title game. The Coyotes opened with an 11-1 win over Central Cass and snuck past Beulah, 11-10, in the semifinals on a walkoff RBI single from Jayden Woodward.

ROOSEVELT BRACKET

Minot High entered the final inning of all three of its games either with the lead or tied, but settled for a seventh-place finish after dropping two of those three contests. May-Port-CG scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 15-14 walkoff victory over the Majettes in the first game and Valley City broke a 5-5 tie with two runs in the top of the seventh for a 7-5 win in Game 2. The Majettes ended on a positive note with an 11-4 victory over Carrington.

Minot High scored 13 of its 14 runs against the Patriots over the final three innings, plating four in the fifth, five in the sixth and four in the seventh to come back from a 7-1 deficit. Daysi Alm went 3-for-4 with a game-high six RBIs. McKenna Nygaard, Grace Burdick, Darby Mowbray, Bella Conklin and Daya Wahlin all finished with two hits. Mowbray, Alm, Burdick and Nygaard all doubled.

The Majettes (10-13) took a 14-9 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh following a bases-clearing double from Alm and an RBI double by Mowbray. But May-Port-CG rallied for the win, bringing eight batters to the plate in the final half-inning. The Patriots loaded the bases and drew a walk for their first run of the frame. They scored three runs during Oaklea Thomas’ at-bat without her having to swing the bat. She would go on to draw a walk and Audrey Ringler ended the game with a two-run triple to left.

The Majettes again came from behind in their second game against Valley City. They trailed through the first five innings, but stayed within two runs the whole game. Minot High tied the game 5-5 with a run in the sixth. Burdick scored on a pop up to first off the bat of Fisher Anderson that resulted in a double play.

The Hi-Liners reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs in the seventh. Noelle Quattry scored the deciding run on the second of three Minot High errors in the inning. A third Minot High error allowed Finlee Hoffland to score an insurance run.

Alm and Daya Wahlstrom each recorded three hits to lead the Majettes.

Minot High secured a seventh-place finish by scoring 10 of the final 11 runs against Carrington. The Majettes took a 5-3 lead after a four-run second inning. An RBI triple by Mowbray pushed the lead to 6-3 after four innings

Layla Dosch and Emalyn Van Winkle registered RBI singles in the fifth. Eight Majettes recorded a hit. Burdick, Alm and Conklin all had two hits.

Calleigh Hewitt finished 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Cardinals.

Alm pitched four innings to earn the win. She allowed three runs – one earned – on five hits, striking out five and walking four. Nygaard tossed an inning and Anderson pitched the final two frames.

Fargo Shanley won the bracket with a 6-5 win against West Fargo Sheyenne.

ROUGHRIDER BRACKET

Bottineau eclipsed 10 runs for the eighth time this season to place third in the Roughrider bracket with a 17-8 victory over West Fargo JV. The Stars won their first game of the tournament against Grafton, 10-3, before falling to Wilton-Wing, 9-2, in the semifinals.

The Stars (10-6) plated runs in all six innings against the Packers, including six in the second inning and five in the fourth.

Norah Gorder tripled twice, drove in three runs and scored three times as part of a 2-for-3 showing at the plate. Maven Tweed doubled and recorded a team-high four RBIs. All nine Stars recorded a hit, eight scored a run and seven recorded RBIs. Kinlee Tweed tripled for one of her two hits. Harmony Bliss and Sienna Nelson also registered extra-base hits.

Peyton Robertson struck out 10 for the complete-game win. She threw 165 pitches.

Bottineau fell behind 2-0 in its opener against Grafton before scoring twice in the second inning to tie the game and added a run in the fourth and four in the fifth to provide some cushion with a 7-2 advantage.

Darbe Abrahamson went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, four RBIs and two runs scored. Maven Tweed, Nelson and Kaidyn Oakland had two hits each. Bliss and Nelson both tripled.

Robertson picked up her first win of the tournament, pitching a complete-game one-hitter. She struck out 12 on 133 pitches.

Heart River defeated Wilton-Wing, 7-2, to win the bracket.