By Rodney Haas 

605 Sports 

ABERDEEN —  Championships are born in the offseason when nobody is around and for West Central, all that offseason work paid off Saturday as the Trojans hoisted their second Class A softball championship in three years with a 11-1 win over Tri-Valley.  

“We knew it was going to be a fight. We told the girls to stay the course and keep working hard and we have been preparing all year for this,” West Central coach Heather Harden said. “Championships happen when nobody is around and working on scenarios in pressure situations so that we are ready.” 

The Trojans (21-3) watched as the Mustangs took an early 1-0 lead but responded with three runs in the bottom of the third inning and held a 6-1 lead going into the sixth inning — the inning that has proven to be the big inning for Tri-Valley all tournament. 

However, West Central was able to escape after the Mustangs (14-3) loaded the bases with one out and then proceeded to plate five runs in the bottom half of the inning to secure the mercy-rule win. 

“We knew the last couple of games Tri-Valley had come back so we didn’t get too comfortable,” said West Central senior Kadence Lupkes.

Briauna Hoff and Sophie Rolfson led the Trojans at the plate with doubles while Elisabeth Miller pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits. She walked five and struck out eight for the win. 

“We went in knowing it was going to be a tough battle and they were a good team, but we worked hard all season for this,” West Central senior Izzi Parsons said.  

The top seeded Trojans opened the tournament on Thursday with a 4-1 win over Vermillion and punched their ticket to the championship game with a 6-4 win over Dell Rapids on Friday. 

Meanwhile, Tri-Valley’s road to the title game included a 14-8 comeback win over Elk-Point Jefferson on Thursday in which the Mustangs scored 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Friday, Tri-Valley earned a spot in Saturday’s championship game with a 6-5 walk-off win over Dakota Valley in which the Mustangs scored all six runs in the final two innings. 

“My girls never gave up,” Tri-Valley coach Sami Van Asselt said. “This was the legacy we wanted to accomplish. We never gave up. We came here to compete.”