For the third consecutive season, the Minot North softball team will have to play itself into the WDA Tournament following a pair of losses to Bismarck High on Tuesday, May 12.

The Demons scored six runs in the bottom of the second inning in the opener en route to a 10-5 victory. Bismarck High completed the sweep in the finale, getting a pair of home runs from Cameron Braun in a 16-1 victory in five innings. As a result, the Demons will be the No. 3 seed in the WDA Tournament, while the Sentinels are locked into the seventh seed and will host a play-in game against Watford City.

The Sentinels are 1-1 in play-in games, defeating Turtle Mountain last season to advance to the WDA Tournament for the first time.

Minot North (12-13 overall, 8-12 WDA) grabbed an early lead in the opener, taking advantage of two Bismarck High errors in the first inning for a 3-0 advantage.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Demons came back in the second inning with six runs. Josie Schell gave the Demons a 5-3 lead with a two-run double to left, scoring Mya Jones and Maysa Jones. Braun followed with an RBI triple, but was thrown out at the plate trying to stretch it to an inside-the-park home run. Schell plated another run in the fourth with an RBI single to left.

An RBI ground out by Kinzy Welstad and a run-scoring single by Tiecyn Hertz brought the Sentinels to within 7-5 in the fifth, but that was as close as the road team would get. The Demons added two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth.

It was all Bismarck High in the nightcap, as the Demons (23-4, 17-3) scored twice in the first before plating eight in the second. Bismarck High scored four more in the third and tacked on two in the fourth, compiling 15 hits for the game.

Braun hit her first of two home runs in the game in the third – a solo shot to center. Her second came in the fourth, this time a two-run home run to center, scoring Schell. Braun finished 3-for-3 with two home runs, a triple, five RBIs and four runs scored. Schell and Maggie Ness also finished with three hits.

Kate Coleman led the Sentinels with two hits, doubling in Hertz in the fourth for Minot North’s lone run of the contest. Hertz also doubled.

Schell pitched a complete-game three-hitter, allowing one run and striking out two.