Minot North’s Tiecyn Hertz hits a double during the second game of a doubleheader against Minot High on Thursday, May 7, at Scheels Sports Complex. Hertz finished 4-for-9 with two RBIs and three runs scored in the series. Mike Kraft/MDN

Two days after seeing the girls soccer program earn its first win in team history over its crosstown rival, the Minot North softball team followed suit, besting Minot High in the first game of a doubleheader for its first win over the Majettes in its existence.

The Sentinels accomplished the feat by scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning to break open a tie game for a 10-6 victory. In the process, the Sentinels also established a program record with their eighth conference win. Minot North’s previous mark was seven wins set last season.

“We should be proud of it,” Minot North’s Aven Kelly said. “We’ve kind of been at the bottom these past few years, but seeing the preseason poll and being higher than we’ve been, I think we need to see that we are better than people may think we are, but we just have to believe that in ourselves.”

However, the Majettes rained a bit on Minot North’s parade in the end, taking the nightcap, 13-11, to split the doubleheader on Thursday, May 7, at Scheels South Hill Complex. Minot High put up six runs in the opening frame and withstood a pair of comeback attempts by the Sentinels to avoid the sweep.

“There were a lot of good things that happened,” Minot High coach Gerard Cederstrom said. “Obviously we got a win, so that’s a good thing, and we competed. We didn’t roll over. They came back on us and we kept competing. To me, that’s a win right there. We competed in the first game and we were right there. We make a few plays and all the sudden who knows how that game goes. We just have to stop those big innings of walks and things like that that allow them to have big innings.”

Minot North (10-8 overall, 8-8 WDA) jumped out to a five-run lead in the opening inning before the Majettes fought their way back over the course of the game, eventually drawing even in the fifth. The two teams remained tied 5-5 entering the seventh inning before the Sentinels’ offense reawakened.

Cole Kotaska kickstarted the decisive inning with a one-out single to center. Alta Diedrichsen and Mylee Ackerman both drew walks to load the bases and Kate Welstad followed with an RBI single to first base, allowing Kotaska to score. Welstad beat Minot High first baseman Grace Burdick to the bag to keep the bases loaded. An RBI groundout to pitcher Fisher Anderson drove in another run and Kelly cleared the bases with a three-run triple to right to give the Sentinels a 10-5 cushion heading into the final half-inning.

Kelly led Minot North’s offense with five RBIs.

The Majettes (9-11, 5-11) scratched across a run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single off the bat of Taryn Dalton to score Anderson, but Minot North held on for the win after Daya Wahlstrom popped out to Kotaska at second.

All of Minot North’s 10 runs came over the course of two innings. The five runs the Sentinels scored in the seventh was matched by five runs in the opening frame. Minot North registered six of its 13 hits in the first inning and nine hits combined in the first and seventh. It’s offense was relatively quiet in between, recording four hits in those five middle innings.

“We played a great first inning and last inning, but still way too many errors even in that game, but found a way to scratch some runs across at the end. It’s good to get a win,” Minot North coach Roger Coleman said.

Kelly doubled home the first two runs of the game, plating Tiecyn Hertz and Kate Coleman. Eliese McCann delivered a two-out RBI single to left and Diedrichsen capped off the inning with a two-run double to left for an early 5-0 lead.

The Majettes slowly crawled their way back, scoring a run in the bottom half of the first inning, three more in the fourth and the tying run in the fifth. Darby Mowbray put Minot High on the board with a two-out double to left to bring in Daysi Alm. Doubles by Dalton and McKenna Nygaard in the fourth pulled the Majettes to within 5-4 and Mowbray’s second RBI of the contest squared the game in the fifth.

Alm, Dalton and Nygaard all registered doubles for the Majettes. Dalton drove in a team-high three RBIs. Mowbray, Anderson, Bella Conklin and Dalton all finished with two hits.

Coleman led the Sentinels with three hits and was one of four Minot North batters with a multi-hit game.

Welstad picked up the win in the circle for the Sentinels. She pitched all seven innings, allowing six runs on 12 hits, striking out three for her fourth win this season.

Ten runs wasn’t enough for the Sentinels in the finale, as the Majettes beat them at their own game, putting up 13 runs on 15 hits. After Minot North grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning, Minot High responded for six in the bottom half off six hits. The Majettes tied the game on a sacrifice bunt from Alm and took the lead with an RBI double off the bat of Mowbray. Anderson followed with an RBI single. Conklin drove in two later in the inning and Nygaard finished off the inning with a run-scoring single to the shortstop.

“We’re just proving to ourselves that we can play,” Cederstrom said. “They are a very good team. They hit the ball extremely well and their pitchers throw strikes. I guess I’m going to say we may have stole one today. We just come out and get better every day and during the games I can see us getting better. The group is young and they are learning the game.”

With the Sentinels being the third-highest scoring team in the WDA with 144 runs in conference play, the Majettes knew their opponent would make a run, which they did. Minot North came back to tie the game 6-6 with a four-run fourth inning. Macy Welstad and Kelly each tripled in a run and Hertz and Coleman provided RBIs as well.

The Majettes stayed composed and took control once more with a run in the bottom half of the inning and five more in the fifth to grow a 12-6 advantage. Dalton and Nygaard had RBI doubles and Grace Burdick singled in another. Minot High entered the doubleheader as one of the lowest-scoring teams in the conference with 90 runs.

“I like the higher scoring games,” Nygaard said. “I like the energy that it brings and the fight we give.”

Minot North cut Minot High’s lead to one at 12-11 in the sixth with Hertz and Macy Welstad again registering RBIs. That’s as close as the Sentinels would get, as Minot High tacked on an insurance run in the sixth.

“Offensively, we don’t have a problem staying composed,” Roger Coleman said. “We know we can score and hit, we just have to clean up some of our defense and maybe some of these games aren’t even close.”

Kate Coleman finished with a game-high four hits. Kelly and Macy Welstad both went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored. Kelly logged a triple and double in both contests.

“When it’s there it’s there I guess,” Kelly said. “If I can get a barrel on it, it’s great.”

Layla Dosch and Conklin each collected three hits for Minot High. Conklin drove in two runs and Dosch scored three times. Eight Majettes finished with at least one hit and seven recorded an RBI. Mowbray, Nygaard and Dalton all doubled.

“We definitely have improved a lot,” Nygaard said. “Our practices have been super efficient and we have been working extra hard at them and it’s starting to show off a lot. We’re just giving more effort overall.”

Anderson appeared in the circle for the second time in the doubleheader, this time in a relief role. She picked up the win, pitching 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit, striking out one.

Both teams head to Fargo for the two-day Midseason Madness Tournament at North Softball Complex beginning on Friday, May 8.