The #2 seed Red Lake Falls Eagle Softball team scored five runs behind an Ava Seeger two-run single and a Kayla Schafer three-run home run in the sixth inning to break a scoreless tie to beat the #7 seed New York Mills Eagles 5-0 in the quarterfinals at Caswell Park in Mankato.
FIRST INNING
NYM started the game with an infield single on a pop fly that had two Red Lake Falls players miscommunicate, and it dropped in between them. The next three batters were retired.
Red Lake Falls was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with two strikeouts and a fly out to right field.
SECOND INNING
New York Mills’ Taya Koljonen singled and stole second base with one out. The next two batters struck out and popped out.
Red Lake Falls’ Grace Knutson singled, but was caught stealing for the first out. The next two batters were retired.
THIRD INNING
New York Mills was retired in 1-2-3 fashion with two strikeouts and a pop-out.
Red Lake Falls was also retired in 1-2-3 fashion with a pop out, strikeout, and ground out.
FOURTH INNING
New York Mills’ Bella Howe led off with a single, and Annika Dunrud walked. The next three batters were retired with a pop-out, a groundout, and a strikeout.
Red Lake Falls’ Shandi Nelson singled with one out, and Kylie Klipping reached on a fielder’s choice when Mills got Nelson out at second base. The next batter struck out and the game was scoreless through four innings.
FIFTH INNING
Red Lake Falls’ Kylie Klipping continued to mow down the opposing batters as she retired all three batters she faced in the fifth inning with two strikeouts and a groundout.
Red Lake Falls’ Kayla Schafer doubled with a line drive over the centerfielder’s head. Miley Cota walked with one out, but the next two batters grounded out and the game was still scoreless.
SIXTH INNING
Klipping continued her dominance as she retired New York Mills in 1-2-3 fashion with a strikeout and two fly outs.
Red Lake Falls finally unleashed the offense in the bottom of the inning as Kayla Schindler led off with a single and Nelson had a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Schindler to second base. The sacrifice bunt was the play that sparked a big inning as NYM decided to intentionally walk Klipping before Grace Knutson singled to load the bases with one out. Ava Seeger singled to centerfield to score two runs for a 2-0 lead. Kayla Schafer blasted a line drive over the left-center field fence for her first home run of the season, a three-run home run to give her team a commanding 5-0 lead.
SEVENTH INNING
Klipping and the Red Lake Falls defense behind her finished the game strong as they retired New York Mills in 1-2-3 fashion with a pop out, a ground out, and a strikeout to win the game 5-0.
Red Lake Falls improves to 25-4 on the year and will take on West Lutheran in the semi-finals at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. KROX will have the RiverView Health pre-game show at 4:00 p.m.
New York Mills drops to 23-10 on the year and will play Barnum in the Consolation semi-finals on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.
OTHER QUARTERFINAL SCORES-
#6 West Lutheran 3 vs #3 Barnum 2
#1 United South Central 10 vs Sebeka 0 (5 innings)
#5 BOLD 4 vs #4 Southland 11
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
| NYM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Red Lakes Falls | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | 7 | 0 |
Red Lake Falls–
Kayla Schafer – 2 for 3, 3 rbi, run, home run
Grace Knutson – 2 for 3, run
Shandi Nelson – 1 for 2
Layna Shindler – 1 for 3, run
Ava Seever – 1 for 3, 2 rbi, run
New York Mills-
Four players had one hit apiece
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB/HBP | SO |
| Kylie Klipping – RLF | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| R. Laudenbach-NYM | 5.1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| A. Berndt-NYM | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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