Softball Playoffs: No state trip for KMS

COTTONWOOD - Tianna Top and Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian took a pair from Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg to win the Section 3A softball championship and deny the Saints a fourth straight trip to North Mankato and the State tournament.
Top pitched all seven innings in each victory, a 4-0 shutout followed by the 7-3 decider in which the No. 1 seeds amassed 24 hits.
KMS came in 20-0, after beating Edgerton/SMW 9-2 last Saturday in the winner’s bracket final. Top gave up 10 hits and eight earned runs.
Edgerton beat Murray County Central 6-5 on Tuesday to get a second shot at the Saints. Back at Cottonwood again, Top 4-hit the Saints in the first game. Allison Krieger threw the first four innings leaving with the score 1-0, a homer by Jenny Nelson in the first. The South’s No. 1 seed padded the lead in the top of the seventh scoring three times off Samantha Gjerde.
In Game two, KMS trailed just 4-3 through three but all of the rest of the scoring was by Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian, piling up 14 hits facing Krieger and Gjerde.
Gjerde had three of the Saints’ 10 hits.
Game One
Edgerton/SWMC 4,
KMS 0
Edgerton 100 000 3 -4 9 0
KMS 000 000 0 -0 4 1
HITTING – E: Hope Veldkamp 1-for-4, 2 rbi; Bre Nelson 2-for-3, Courtney Jouwstra 1-for-3, rbi; Jenny Nelson 1-for-3, solo HR… K: Sam Gjerde 1-for-3, Saie Sulier 1-for-2, 2b; Allison Krieger 1-for-3, Andrea Olson 1-for-3
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - E: Tianna Top (W) 7-4-0-0-2-3 … K:Alison Krieger (L) 4-6-1-1-0-3, Samantha Gjerde 3-3-3-2-1-1
Game Two
Edgerton/SWMC 7,
KMS 3
Edgerton 211 011 3 -7 14 2
KMS (20-2) 210 000 0 -3 10 3
HITTING – E: Veldkamp 3-for-5, 3b, rbi; Savanah Tinklenberg 2-for-5, 2b, rbi; Jouwstra 2-for-4, 2 rbi; Kameron Kroh 2-for-4, 3b; Jenny Nelson 2-for-2, rbi, 2b … K: Gjerde 3-for-4, Sulier 2-for-4, 2b; Kalli Forsell 1-for-4, Shelly Syverson 2-for-4, 2b, rbi; Andrea Olson 1-for-2, rbi; Mikaylie Hagen 1-for-2
PITCHING (ip-h-r-er-bb-so) - E: Top (W) 7-10-3-3-0-1 … K: Krieger (L) 3-8-4-3-1-1; Gjerde 4-6-3-3-2-3