Sioux Falls Lincoln confirmed on Saturday evening what everybody else knew all season long: the Patriots had no equal on the softball diamond this spring.

Lincoln won its second straight Class AA state championship, capping off a 22-0 season with a 7-1 victory over Harrisburg in the title contest at Koehler Hall of Fame Field.

“They’re just focused. You can’t put the desire, and the want-to, and the competitiveness into them,” said Lincoln coach Trent Dlugosh. “You can’t teach that, you can’t coach that, you can’t put it into somebody. You just have it or your don’t, and they all have it.”

From standout pitcher Madison Evans to a roster full of potent players, the Patriots handled every challenge thrown their way this season.

Some have said this might be the best Lincoln softball team ever, and Evans agreed.

“I think this is the most talented team I’ve ever been a part of,” Evans said. “The way we get along, our culture makes it 10 times better. I think we were unstoppable this year.”

Not that there weren’t expectations or the pressures that come along with being the unbeaten defending state champs.

“Pressure was definitely in every game,” said Lincoln senior Norah Christiansen, “but I always stressed to my teammates, pass the bat every play; an error in the field, OK, we get the out the next play. Or pop out, and then the next teammate would pass the bat and we’d get another play. So yes, there was pressure, but we always stressed to our teammates to pick us up.”

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have the most dominant pitcher in the circle every time you take the field.

“Oh yeah, that helped a little bit, too,” Christiansen said.

The Patriots were able to produce seven early runs against Harrisburg to take control.

Christiansen, who is headed to Augustana to play next season, drove in the first run, Paxton Dekkers brought in two more on a double, and Sara Mathison capped the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single.

Kierrra Lubovich delivered a two-run double in a three-run second inning.

Those early runs helped to relieve some of the stress for Evans against a formidable Harrisburg lineup.

“When you’re team puts seven runs on the board in the first two innings, it calms your nerves a lot for sure,” Evans said.

The University of South Dakota recruit was locked in against the Tigers and credit her team’s defense for making her job easier.

“This team was good. This team can hit me. This team can hit the ball hard,” Evans said. “I know they’re talented, but it helps when I know that no matter where they hit it, my team’s going to make a play for me.”

Harrisburg, which managed just one hit, did break up the shutout, but was unable to make a serious charge against Evans, who finished with 15 strikeouts in the contest.

Dlugosh said facing Evans always makes the task a bit more daunting for opposing squads.

“We feel like if we can get ahead by two, it feels like they’re behind by four,” Dlugosh said, “and if we get ahead by seven, it feels like 20.”

Evans said that her performances in the circle do not come without hours and hours of hard work and preparation.

“I put in a lot of work on my own. I practice on my own a couple times a week outside of the practice that I do at Lincoln ball,” Evans said. “I feel a lot of it is just experience. I have a lot of experience in pressure situations and just throwing to batters in general.”

Sioux Falls Jefferson exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh inning to cap off an 8-3 win over Sioux Falls Washington for third place. Taylor Duncan and Ashlen Johnson had back-to-back two-run doubles in the pivotal frame.

Duncan, who finished with three hits and three RBI, had an run-producing single in the sixth to the game. Washington’s Tierney Schramm had a pair of doubles in the contest.

Rapid City Stevens edged Brandon Valley 4-3 in the fifth-place contest. Bailey Kokesh had solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings, and Jaela Scott drove in a run with a double in the fifth. Brandon Valley closed the gap to one run in the bottom of the seventh, but left the bases loaded to end the contest. Sayde Hunt had three hits, while Lainey Van Zee struck out 11 to lead Stevens. Danielle Schoby finished with two hits and two RBI for the Lynx.

Watertown used an 11-run fourth-inning outburst to fuel a 12-5 win over O’Gorman in the seventh-place game.

Emmy Berglund had a two-run triple, and Lauryn Hirsch added a two-run home run to key the big inning. Hirsch, Jade Lund, Aleia Johnston, and Kynslee Johnson each had two hits for the Arrows. Olivia Tobin’s three hits topped O’Gorman.

Here is the Class AA All-Tournament Team: Madison Evans and Keirra Lubovich of Sioux Falls Lincoln; Cora Payne and Madelyn Ducheneaux of Harrisburg; Brooklyn Herrera and Ashleyn Johnson of Sioux Falls Jefferson; Emma Hensley and Ava Brink of Sioux Falls Washington; Bailey Kokesh of Rapid City Stevens; DJ Schoby of Brandon Valley; Jade Lund of Watertown; and Mary Koch of O’Gorman.

Championship

Harrisburg 000 100 0 – 1 1 2

Sioux Falls Lincoln 430 000 x – 7 10 1

Cora Payne and Maleia Knutson; Madison Evans and Avery Dorman. 2B – Harrisburg, Macy Bryant; Sioux Falls Lincoln, Kierra Lubovich, Evans, Paxton Dekkers.

Third Place

Sioux Falls Jefferson 200 001 5 – 8 10 3

Sioux Falls Washington 001 020 0 – 3 4 2

Tya Devericks and Brooklyn Herrera; Emma Hensley and Isabel Carda. 2B – Sioux Falls Jefferson, Ashlen Johnson, Taylor Duncan; Sioux Falls Washington, Tierney Schramm (2). 3B – Sioux Falls Jefferson, Herrera.

Fifth Place

Rapid City Stevens 001 111 0 – 4 8 2

Brandon Valley 002 000 1 – 3 5 0

Lainey Van Zee and Addie Hock; Macy Lembcke and Danielle Schoby. 2B – Rapid City Stevens, Sayde Hunt 2, Joslyn Johnson, Jaelah Scott; Brandon Valley, Peyton Amdahl. 3B – Brandon Valley, Tenley Rude. HR – Rapid City Stevens, Bailey Kokesh 2.

Seventh Place

Watertown 000 (11)01 0 – 12 13 4

O’Gorman 113 000 0 – 5 10 6

Alexa Brown and Emmy Berglund; Mary Koch, Laila Noonan and Lucy Kappel. 2B – Watertown, Aleia Johnston (2), Jade Lund; O’Gorman, Olivia Tobin, Hailey Jones. 3B – Watertown, Lund; O’Gorman, Tobin. HR – Watertown, Lauryn Hirsch.