NORTH MANKATO, Minn. -- Red Lake Falls finished a roller-coaster performance by placing sixth at the Minnesota Class A high school fastpitch softball tournament Friday.
The Eagles, making their first appearance at state, lost 7-1 to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the consolation championship game.
Red Lake Falls managed no runs and five hits in losing its state tournament opener, then had six runs and 11 hits in a consolation semifinal win Thursday. Against Kerkhoven-M-S, the Eagles had three hits -- singles by Olivia Knott, Kayla Schmitz and Britta Glass, who drove in RLF's lone run in the fifth inning.
"It went for us as the competition went," RLF coach Ben Hanson said. "We saw two pretty good teams (in the RLF losses). We saw good pitching. And we could have gotten a few more runs in those games. We just didn't get some timely hits."
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg had 13 hits in its win, including home runs by Ellen Johnson, Samantha Dunn and Courtney Olson.
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Red Lake Falls finished the season 23-6 and has only two seniors, Glass and Hailey Keller, on its roster. "Overall, it was a good experience for us," Hanson said. "If the girls work hard, we'll be in good shape again next spring."
