Adapted Softball, CI Division: Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville outlasts DU

At the beginning of the Adapted Softball season, Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville coach David Diehl wondered about the makeup of his team as they set to defend a state championship in the CI Division. Opening the season with two losses and then a 3-3 record that included setbacks to neighboring rival Dakota United shed few clues as to what may have been in store.

The epiphany he was seeking came on the last day of the season.

“This was our magic moment,” he said Saturday, June 3. “This is when we found out what we were all about.”

The Blazing Cats, the No. 2 seed in the top half of the bracket, went to great lengths to prove that to their coach, outlasting No. 1 Dakota United for a 7-5 victory in 11 innings in the CI Division championship game of the Adapted Softball State Tournament at Chanhassen High School. After tension-packed bonus softball produced no runs but plenty of frayed nerves, Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville scored two runs in the top of the 11^th inning to break the deadlock on the scoreboard.

Junior first baseman JT Koczur snapped the tie with a double to the gap that scored eighth-grade outfielder Drayden Fox, who had led off the inning with a single. Two batters later, junior outfielder Caden Roseth sent Koczur home with an RBI single to right.

Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville, which also won a crown in 2019, turned to its defense, which had been masterful throughout in shutting down the previously unbeaten Hawks, in ending the title game that lasted nearly two hours.

“The defense on both sides was great,” Diehl said. “Balls were hit in the right places and kids made plays. It made for an entertaining game. Our kids showed they had plenty of endurance to stay in it.”

Dakota United, which was trying to match a championship day that its PI Division counterparts had earlier, used a two-run single from senior left fielder Thomas Christopherson in the bottom of the sixth inning to forge a 5-all tie.

Third place: Senior first baseman Aaron Adamson had two hits and scored two runs to pace New Prague to an 8-4 victory over St. Cloud for the third-place trophy.

Consolation: Seventh-grade shortstop Dylan Noaman had four hits and scored four runs to help power Chaska/Chanhassen/Prior Lake/Shakopee to a 13-7 victory over Osseo in the consolation final.