The Northland Is Well Represented At The State Tournament

June 8th, 2017

Tyler Peterson-NSO

The Northland is well represented at this years Minnesota State Softball tournament, with a representative from Section 7A, Section 7AA, and Section 7AAA.

The Carlton Bulldogs (23-4) will make their first State tournament appearance in school history after knocking off the seven time defending champion, Cherry Tigers, in the Section 7A championship. The Bulldogs had to beat the Tigers twice to advance to the state tournament, and they did just that, beating Cherry 5-4 and 9-7 to win the Section 7A Championship. The youthful Bulldogs will have a tough match-up in the State tournament, drawing the 2nd seeded New York Mills Eagles (22-2). They will play on June 8th at 1pm at Caswell Park in Mankato.

The Esko Eskomos (21-3) advanced to the State tournament for the second consecutive season after beating Virginia in the championship game. The Eskomos just needed one win to win Section 7AA tournament, but fell to Virginia in the first game, 6-4. The Eskomos would regather, however, and beat Virginia 9-1 in a winner-takes-all game, to advance to the State tournament. The Eskomos will face off with the 3rd seeded Pipestone Area Arrows (24-1) on June 8th at 9am in Mankato at Caswell Park.

Lastly, the Hermantown Hawks (19-5) won Section 7AAA for the second straight year and have advanced to the State tournament for the fifth consecutive season. The Hawks, who battled with Chisago Lakes, dropped the first game in 8 innings, 11-4. In the final game of the Section 7AAA tournament, the Hawks edged Chisago Lakes, 3-2, to advance to the State tournament once again. Hermantown, who drew the 4th seed, will play the 5th seeded Visitation Blazers (19-4) on June 8th at 11am at Caswell Park in Mankato.

Northland Sports Online would like to congratulate all of the teams for qualifying for the State Tournament and wish them luck throughout the tournament.

Tyler Peterson can be contacted at tpeterson@northlandsportsonline.com