Section 2AAAA softball champions Eden Prairie Eagles: (back row, from left) Colette Camardello, Lily Liu, Lura Wojchik, Maya Miller, Rose Weber, Noelle Fitzgerald, Natalie Black, Leilly Kjorness, Genevieve Streed, Addison Neiss, Macie Lahti, Zoe Hendrickson; (front row, from left) Marin Herrig, Rose Neuman, Alex Hall, Ayana Lombardy, Carli Archuleta, Alyza Sutherlin, Josie Blakely, Taelyn Hall. Photo by Jen Bayer
The Eden Prairie High School softball team rolled to a 12-2 win over Minnetonka on Thursday, winning all four Section 2AAAA games and advancing to the state tournament for the first time in five years.
The Eagles ended the game in the sixth inning on a walk-off wild pitch, with eighth grader Josie Blakely at the plate and senior shortstop Alex Hall scoring the run-rule winner.
Senior Alex Hall scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch, giving the Eagles a 12-2 win over Minnetonka and a trip to the state tournament June 5-7 in Mankato. Video by Andrew Isaacson
The Eagles broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring eight runs thanks to hits by Hall, junior third baseman Maya Miller, freshman pitcher Addison Neiss, and Blakely. Junior first baseman Rose Weber added an RBI sacrifice fly.
Neiss relieved junior pitcher Lily Liu, who was hit in the hand by a ground ball in the fifth inning and had to leave the game tied 2-2. Liu held Minnetonka to two runs over 4 1/3 innings, and Neiss shut the Skippers down in the final 1 2/3 innings for the win.
Miller went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Weber drove in two runs going 2-for-3 on the day. Hall went 2-for-4 with two RBI.
The Eagles defeated Prior Lake, Waconia, and Minnetonka twice during the Section 2AAAA tournament.
The Eagles now head to Mankato for the state tournament June 5-7.