2023 Class AA Softball State Championship: Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 3, St. Charles 1

In eight trips to the Minnesota State High School League’s Softball State Tournament, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton was not able to secure an extra special trophy to bring home with them to northwestern Minnesota.

Until now.

The Rebels, seeded No. 5 in the Class AA field, completed a three-game upset spree with a 3-1 victory over No. 2 St. Charles on Friday, June 9 at Caswell Park in North Mankato, and with it, a stowaway in the form of a championship trophy. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton scored three runs in the top of the first inning and that strong start set the tone for a season-ending title that brought a flood of tears and wide smiles of joy.

Senior right fielder Kaleigh Peterson was 2 for 3 freshman first baseman Danielle Boyd had an RBI single in the first that paved the way for the Rebels to finish their historic season on a 16-game winning streak. In forging its path to the Class AA championship game, the Rebels defeated No. 4 Pipestone Area 6-4 in the quarterfinals on Thursday morning. Later in the afternoon, in perhaps its signature victory of the season, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (26-2) posted a 2-1 victory over top-seeded LeSueur-Henderson in the semifinals.

Eighth-grader Autumn Leach and sophomore Natalee Linman combined to scatter seven hits and had five strikeouts.

St. Charles (25-3), the Class AA runner-up in 2021 to LeSueur-Henderson in its only other state tournament trip, was also looking to make program history. Senior catcher Grace Buringa was 3 for 3 and junior center fielder Makadyn Gust was 2 for 3.

Third place

LeSueur-Henderson, which began the tournament as the No. 1 seed, rebounded from a semifinal loss to Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton to record a 5-0 victory over St. Agnes in the third-place game. Junior first baseman Morgan Gregerson had three runs batted in and eighth-grade left fielder Teagan Graham had three hits to pace the Giants (22-6). Senior pitcher Chloe Brandt had 12 strikeouts in the final game of her prep career.

Consolation

Proctor bounced back from a quarterfinal loss with two victories in the consolation bracket, the final one of the season a 5-3 victory over Pipestone Area in the consolation final. Junior catcher Anika Burke and junior left fielder Emma Shelton were both 3 for 4 for the Rails.