The battle of blue and gold teams provided a thrilling finish to the first-ever Class B State Softball Tournament.

Castlewood scored a go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning to edge Alcester-Hudson 3-2 and claim the state championship Saturday evening at the Players Complex.

After Castlewood senior Maddie Horn opened the bottom of the sixth with a single, the Warriors were dealt two quick outs on fly balls, but Horn tagged up and moved to second base on one of them. That brought Lyndsey Archer to the plate. The senior came up big with a single to right field plating Horn, giving the Warriors the lead, and eventually, the win.

Castlewood head coach Craig Horn liked his team’s chances late in the game.

“We knew we had a pretty good chance Maddie could get on, and I knew Lyndsey, she had been just off, just missing just a little bit,” Horn said. “It wasn’t a hard-hit ball, but it was in the right spot.”

Horn said Archer switched to a lighter bat, which paid off in the long run.

“That was a big moment, and she’s a big player,” Horn said. “She’s done that for us this year. It’s not really a big surprise, honestly.”

The story of the game for the Warriors was big plays in big moments. Although they had to scratch and claw for much of the game, Castlewood came up with big plays when it needed them most.

Castlewood got on the board first on a double by Horn, driving home fellow senior Mackenzie Everson in the opening inning. Later, in the third, Everson drilled a triple to left field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Horn.

Everson, who had a pair of hits, said she was confident in herself and in her teammate Horn.

“I’m going up to bat, confident in myself, and knowing that if I get on base, I got Maddie behind me. I had a lot of confidence in her to drive me in,” Everson said.

Coach Horn was pleased with the play of both Everson and Horn.

“Those two are just all-tournament, really. They’ve been getting it done. Big part of the lineup, big part of the reason we’re here, and they’re just big-time players. They stay calm under pressure, and they’re always there,” Horn said. “But those were big plays. That’s what separates two teams is having those big plays made.”

The Cubs battled back and tied the score at 2-2, scoring one run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings. Alcester-Hudson’s Sarah Ebert doubled to plate Emma Solberg in the fourth inning, before Paxtyn Moller singled in the fifth, driving in Jenna Manning with the tying run.

Horn said his team stayed calm despite the comeback effort of the Cubs.

“I don’t think there was really any panic at all. I think we knew who they were,” Horn said. “They’re a great team. They hit the ball. They pitch well. We knew it was going to be a close game.”

Entering the bottom half of the sixth, Horn had one message for his team.

“We came in at the bottom of the sixth and I said look we’ve gotta score here. Let’s score right now. And they got it done,” Horn said.

After regaining the lead in the sixth, the Warriors were able to finish off the game defensively in the top of the seventh, cementing their place in South Dakota high school softball history as the first-ever Class B state champions.

“I’m just so grateful they made it a sanctioned sport. I mean, we wouldn’t have got this moment,” Everson said. “It’s something that’ll always be there for us. We’ll always be the first, and it’s just going to be so cool to look back on and it’ll be a fun memory to have.”

Ella Serck had three hits to lead Alcester-Hudson, while Elly Doering had two.

Everson said bringing back a state title to Castlewood has a special meaning.

“It’s just so amazing because we have just such a young team who works so hard and works so well together, and we truly did this as a team, so to bring it back our community is just so special,” Everson said. “To get to put a banner up in that gym, get to have this moment with these people in these jerseys is just really special.”

Horn echoed the feelings on being a state champion.

“It’s a pretty cool experience. Being the first time here and the first time they’ve had this in South Dakota, it’s neat what the state has done here,” Horn said. “We knew there would be bumps for that first year, but we knew we had put a competitive team together all year. They just kept working and working and found the right recipe and they got ‘er done.”

In the third-place game, Arlington used a three-run third inning to build a lead and eventually defeat Bon Homme 4-0.

Arlington (16-5) was led on the hill by Taya Clausen, who pitched seven innings, allowing no runs on just two hits, while striking out 15 batters. On offense, the Cardinals were led by Brenley Goebel with two hits.

Hanson held off Viborg-Hurley for an 11-9 win in the fifth place game. Jalyn Kampshoff led the Hanson offense with three hits and three RBI, while Olivia Kayser and Jozlynn Tegethoff each had two hits and drove in a pair. Cadence Jarding, Reese Marek and Jersey Kampshoff also had two hits.

Gia Miller had four hits for Viborg-Hurley, while Lexi Lindeman and Zoey Christensen each drove in three. Christensen and Lauren Petersen had three hits.

In the seventh-place game, Deuel built an early six-run lead and held off Gayville-Volin for a 6-3 win.

Deuel’s Katrina Hagberg pitched seven innings, allowing three runs and three hits, while striking out 19. Hagberg and Rylynn Streich each recorded two hits.

Andrea Miller had two hits for Gayville-Volin.

The Class B All-Tournament Team included Mackenzie Everson and Maddie Horn of Castlewood, Emma Moller and Jaeley Christensen of Alcester-Hudson; Taya Clausen and Brenley Goebel of Arlington, Jurni Vavruska and Kenadee Kozak of Bon Homme, Olivia Kayser of Hanson, Charley Nelson of Viborg-Hurley, Katrina Hagberg of Deuel, and Teresa Stockman of Gayville-Volin.

Championship

Alcester-Hudson 000 110 0 – 2 9 1

Castlewood 101 001 x – 3 7 0

Emma Moller, and Ella Serck; Claire Horn and Lilly Jacobsen; 2B – Alcester-Hudson, Serck, Sarah Ebert; Castlewood, Cydni Kudrna, Maddie Horn; 3B – Castlewood, Mackenzie Everson.

Third Place

Arlington 003 001 0 – 4 7 0

Bon Homme 000 000 0 – 0 2 0

Taya Clausen and Jolyssa Steffensen; Kenadee Kozak and Olivia Kaul. 3B – Arlington, Harley Johnson.

Fifth Place

Viborg-Hurley 020 510 1 – 9 14 1

Hanson 300 620 x – 11 15 0

Lexi Lindeman, Charley Nelson (4) and Lauren Petersen; Olivia Kayser and Jozlynn Tegethoff. 2B – Viborg-Hurley, Lexi Lindeman; Hanson, Jalyn Kampshoff (2), Jersey Kampshoff, Reese Marek, Karlie Goergen, Kayser, Cadence Jarding, Tegethoff.

Seventh Place

Deuel 402 000 0 – 6 10 0

Gayville-Volin 000 011 1 – 3 3 0

Katrina Hagberg and Hope Bjerke; Ayla Dimmer and Kayden Bye. 2B – Deuel, Hope Bjerke; Gayville-Volin, Andrea Miller. 3B – Deuel, Rylynn Streich, Harley Hennings.