BY DEVIN HANNEY
Sports Director
On Wednesday, the Lady Lions of Minneapolis had a chance to do something only one other team in school history has done: win a Regional softball championship.
Minneapolis (20-4) would host a familiar opponent and NCAA League foe, the Beloit Trojans (19-8).
Beloit scored one run in the top of the first inning but relinquished that lead to Minneapolis in the bottom of the 2nd as Minneapolis scored two runs.
Sierra Cossart led off the inning with a double to center field, then scored as Miley McClure hit her home run to tie the game. McClure then scored on a slow roller hit by Ashlyn Roth.
Beloit got one more run in the top of the third inning to tie the game at two, but in the bottom of the inning, Minneapolis displayed their version of "small ball". The Lions would score four runs as they batted through the lineup, but ultimately left the bases loaded to end the inning.
To start the fourth inning trailing 2-6, Beloit was unable to score. Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Miley McClure would strike again. With the bases full of Lions and one out, McClure would take a 1-1 pitch out of the park to dead center field for a grand slam.
That home run would give the Lions a 10-2 lead.
Beloit showed signs of a rally in the top of the fifth, scoring two runs but stranding two more as light rain set in.
That rain set the tone for the rest of the game as it would be a defensive battle to the finish, and Minneapolis hit the finish line with a 10-4 lead.
Braedee Weatherman got the win pitching for Minneapolis as they extended their record to 21-4 and ride a seven game winning streak into the 3A State Tournament. It is the first trip back to the State Tourney for Minneapolis since 2014 and just the second trip in school history.