BROOKINGS — Platte-Geddes/Dakota Christian/White Lake got a monkey off its back on Monday.

No. 5 Platte-Geddes/Dakota Christian/White Lake surged ahead of No. 4 Vermillion in a 4-3 win, capturing a win in the Class B state quarterfinals at Ronken Field.

It’s the sixth consecutive trip to the state tournament for the Honkers but it had lost its five previous quarterfinal matchups.

“We got the monkey off our back,” PGDCWL head coach Jeff Kuiper said. “Five years in a row and we couldn’t get past that first round. But I’m super proud of the kids that stuck with it. I told them ‘It’s probably going to be one of the games where we only break through one or two innings’. It seemed to work today.”

The win was highlighted by a four-run sixth inning involving four hits and two walks to take a 4-2 advantage. Kenyon Kuiper kicked off the scoring with an RBI-single, followed by an Isaac Leader bases-loaded walk and a two RBI-single from Hayes DeVries to take the lead.

“Him and Jye (Bailey) have been clutch bats all year and when Kenny hits the ball, usually it’s pretty hard,” Jeff Kuiper said. “He gets us going that way and that was a big boost, it got everybody excited again.”

For a Honkers team that totaled just five hits against Vermillion’s Nolan Nygren in the win, it was a desperate inning when it mattered most.

“That second time through the lineup, he still got us out in order but we put everything in play and started getting more bats on the ball,” Jeff Kuiper said. “I told them we’re good, now you got him and you’re getting timing a little bit.

Defensively PGDCWL relied on Keaton Christensen on the mound, allowing just two runs on five hits and two walks, striking out five in six innings to limit the Tanagers.

“The goal is always to throw a no-hitter but that never happens,” Christensen said. “I just want to limit runs, limit hits and especially limit walks, that’s what creates runs.”

“That was awesome,” Jeff Kuiper said of Christensen’s outing. “We got a little scouting report and we thought we might as well go with him, he’s got a little more break in his stuff and saved Kenny for the save and for once when you write a script it actually worked itself out.”

With three outs to a victory, Kenyon Kuiper stepped on to close the door, allowing one run on two hits, striking out two.

“Me and Kenny are just a 1-2 punch, best friends,” Christensen said. “It was awesome.”

The Tanagers started the game plating runs in two of the first three frames with RBI-singles from Corbin Heckens and Ryan Vitt. The Tanagers were able to get the tying run on first in the final inning on another Vitt single before Kuiper recorded the final strikeout.

“It’s pretty epic,” Christensen said. “We’ve made it six years in a row but we weren’t satisfied with that this year. Really wanted to get a win and had a good opportunity today.”

DeVries totaled two RBIs on one hit for PGDCWL, Bailey added two hits, Isaac Leader tallied an RBI-walk while Kenyon Kuiper drove in a run on one hit.

Vermillion’s Nygren surrendered the loss allowing four runs on five hits and two walks in seven innings, striking out five.

Vitt had two hits and two RBIs, Heckens added two hits and an RBI while Trey Hansen totaled two hits in the loss.

The Honkers will face Clark Area in the state semifinals Tuesday at 10 a.m. at Ronken Field.

“Play solid defense,” Jeff Kuiper said. “I think we had three up there on the board, wasn’t happy with that part of it, we got to step that up a little bit. I think we just play our ball and stick with it.”