A pair of three-run first innings helped pave the way to the Class AA State Championship game during semifinal action at the State Softball Tournament Friday afternoon at Koehler Hall of Fame Field.

Sioux Falls Lincoln made three early runs stand up in a 4-2 victory over Sioux Falls Jefferson, while Brookings used three runs to wipe out an early deficit en route to a 5-3 win over Brandon Valley.

After surrendering two runs in the top of the first, Brookings responded in a big way in the bottom half of the inning. Morgan Linstad drove in one run with a single, before Gracie Adamson clocked a towering drive deep over the left field fence to give the Bobcats a lead they never lost.

“I was like, OK, that felt good,” Adamson said of her home run.

From there, the pitcher helped to ensure the lead would hold up, allowing just one run the rest of the contest.

“I like to just calm myself down,” Adamson said. “Once I get warm in that first inning, then we roll.”

Things did get a bit interesting in the seventh inning, however.

The Lynx scored one run and had a runner on base when DJ Schoby came to the plate as the tying run. Schoby belted two homers on Thursday evening, but Adamson was up to the challenge, inducing a groundout to first base to end the game.

“Actually, those are my favorite hitters to face,” Adamson said. “I like the challenge.”

It was an interesting day for the Bobcats who played their opening round game at 8 a.m. because they were unable to play on Thursday night. They edged O’Gorman 6-5. Adamson had three hits in that contest, including a two-run home run in the seventh inning to give her team a 6-2 lead before OG scored three times in the last of the seventh.

Adamson said the squad was to ready to play after not getting a chance to compete on opening day.

“It was frustrating, because we were geared up and then we were chilling out, and then we had to gear up again and then chilling out, so we just went to practice,” Adamson said. “We had a good time and got mentally prepared for today.”

The Bobcats were not impacted by the early morning first pitch.

“I’m actually a morning person, so I was up and ready,” Adamson said. “We were hyped. We had to jam out to some music and we were good to go.”

While the senior standout had a big day, she pointed out that it’s not all about her.

“I just trust my team,” Adamson said. “It’s not just me out here, it’s them.”

Brookings will face Lincoln in this evening’s championship game at 5:30.

“Our team motto: all gas, no brakes,” Adamson said. “We’re just going to go at them right away.”

Lincoln was involved in another tight contest against cross-town foe Jefferson.

“They’re a good team,” said Lincoln coach Trent Dlugosh. “This is the third close game we’ve had with them.”

The tone was set early when leadoff hitter Dilynn Severson rocked a double off the top of the left centerfield wall to start the contest. Madison Evans doubled two batters later and eventually came in on a sacrifice fly by Payton Seefeldt to stake the Patriots to a 3-0 lead.

Evans did her best to make the margin stand up, adding another RBI hit as well as throwing a complete game.

“I say she keeps us in games when maybe we don’t deserve to be in games,” Dlugosh said.

A key sequence occured in the top of the sixth inning. Jefferson had scored one run to close the gap and had runners on first and second when Taylor Evenson hit a ball over the head of the centerfielder. However, instead of the hit producing a run to inch closer, a bizarre double play ended the Cavaliers’ threat.

The runner that was on first base was thrown out trying to advance to third, and the runner that was on second, slipped between third and home, got caught in a run down and eventually was tagged out.

“It wasn’t exactly how we drew it up,” Dlugosh said, “but just like I tell them, when they hit a blooper and it falls in, it looks like a line drive in the scorebook. So a double play is a double play. We’ll take it.”

To Lincoln’s credit, they hustled the ball in and made a spot-on throw to third base to start the twin killing.

“We don’t practice that play obviously,” Dlugosh said, “but we do practice hitting cutoffs a lot and we do practice rundowns a lot, so hopefully they see that paying off now.”

While the Patriots are the top-seeded team in the tournament, Dlugosh doesn’t put too much emphasis on that.

“That seed is just a number next to your name. We talked about it. All eight teams are good enough to win this thing,” Dlugosh said. “Pressure is a privilege. You earn that, but the only pressure is the pressure you put on yourselves. We’re a pretty loose group.”

In consolation round action, Sioux Falls Washington defeated Yankton 7-4. Emma Hensley threw a complete-game four-hitter, and had two hits, including a two-run single in the seventh for some insurance runs. Tierney Schramm also had a pair of hits.

Harrisburg outlasted O’Gorman 10-5 in the other consolation contest. After building a 6-1 advantage, Harrisburg watched its lead get trimmed to 6-5 before Makayla Hudson and Paxton Dekkers each had two-run doubles in the sixth for the final margin.

Maddie Viel had three hits for Harrisburg, while Karsten Schlimgen had three hits for the Knights.

Today’s action has Yankton facing O’Gorman for seventh at 10 a.m., Washington playing Harrisburg for fifth at 12:30 p.m., and Jefferson meeting Brandon Valley for third at 3 p.m.

Then comes the battle for the first-ever sanctioned Class AA state title between Lincoln and Brookings.

“It’s just going to take another effort like we’ve been putting out there. We have to play seven innings,” Dlugosh said. “I said earlier … there’s no games off in this tournament, and I wouldn’t imagine the championship game is going to be any different.”

Brookings 000 211 2 – 6 8 2

O’Gorman 200 000 3 – 5 6 1

Gracie Adamson and Morgan Linstad; Kira Mentele and Ryann Winterboer. 2B – Brookings, Madison Pantzke; O’Gorman, Winterboer, Olivia Tobin, Allie Hermsen. 3B – Brookings, Adamson. HR – Brookings, Adamson, Kymber Buys.

Sioux Falls Washington 400 001 2 – 7 9 2

Yankton 001 030 0 – 4 4 6

Emma Hensley and Isabel Carda; Grace Behrns and Elle Feser. 2B – Sioux Falls Washington, B. Sporrer, Tierney Schramm, Hensley; Yankton,Behrns, Feser.

O’Gorman 100 004 0 – 5 6 1

Harrisburg 012 124 x – 10 13 1

Mary Koch, Kira Mentele (3) and Allie Hermsen, Ryann Winterboer (3); Madelyn Ducheneaux and M. Knutson. 2B – O’Gorman, Karsten Schlimgen; Harrisburg, Makayla Hudson, Paxton Dekkers. 3B – Harrisburg, Ava Gross. HR – Harrisburg, Hailey Boer.

Sioux Falls Jefferson 000 011 0 – 2 5 0

Sioux Falls Lincoln 300 010 x – 4 6 3

Whitney Portner and Emma Buie; Madison Evans and Avery Dorman. 2B – Sioux Falls Jefferson, Sydney Tagtow; Sioux Falls Lincoln, Evans 2, Dilynn Severson.

Brandon Valley 200 000 1 – 3 7 0

Brookings 302 000 x – 5 8 1

Jorden Gabert, Macy Lembcke (4) and DJ Schoby; Gracie Adamson and Morgan Linstad. 2B – Brookings, Kymber Buys 2, Adamson, M. Pantzke, M. Norgaard, Linstad. 3B – Brandon Valley, Tenley Rude. HR – Brookings, Adamson.