Dell Rapids entered the State A tournament hungry, and a 6-2 opening-round victory over Sioux Valley Thursday afternoon at Players South Complex didn’t do much to satiate the Quarriers.

After finishing third in the first two South Dakota sanctioned softball tournaments, Dakota Rapids senior Katie Kvigne said her squad is as hungry as ever.

“We’re hungry,” said Quarrier senior pitcher Katie Kvigne. “I feel like I’ve been working hard, everyone’s been working hard this whole season. We’re here to win, so we just came into the game with a good mindset.”

Dell Rapids jumped out to an early lead, scoring all six of its runs in the first four innings of the game. Kvigne helped her own case on the mound with a 1-out, 2-run double in the bottom of the third inning.

Meanwhile, Kvigne held the Cossacks of Sioux Valley at bay, racking up a dozen strikeouts while walking just one batter, that coming in the final half-inning of work.

“Before the game, I just work on spins,” Kvigne said of her approach to the game. “You can throw as hard as you want, but if you’re not throwing spin, people will catch on to you. So I work on spins and make sure my ball is spinning. Then later on in the game, if I’m getting tired, I just work on attacking the next pitch, one pitch at a time. … Be where your feet are and just attack the next pitch.”

Sioux Valley broke up Kvigne’s shutout bid with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning, but that rally was a classic case of too little, too late.

“It’s the seventh inning,” Kvigne said. “They’ve seen me three times. They’re going to get on the ball, but our defense was there. We played pretty well.”

Dell Rapids will face top-seeded West Central in the championship semifinals today at 2 p.m. The two teams have met twice before with West Central taking both contests. Most recently, the Trojans defeated Dell Rapids 5-3 back on May 28.

“We’ve got to come ready,” Kvigne said. “We can win. We just have to come ready with a good mindset, good attitude, ready to go.”

Sioux Valley 000 000 2 – 2 2 3

Dell Rapids 103 200 x – 6 7 1

McKinley Schwab and Amelia Jacobson; Katie Kvigne and Rylee Halverson. 2B – Sioux Valley, Audrey Murano; Dell Rapids, Kvigne, Lexi Scherff. 3B – Dell Rapids, Kayleigh Gillette, Paige Trewin.

West Central 4, Vermillion 1

West Central scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to secure a 4-1 opening-round victory over Vermillion in the first game of the tournament.

The top-seeded Trojans broke a scoreless draw with a run in the fifth inning, but watched the Tanagers tie it on a Madigan Wallin single that scored Dylyn Wagner, who reached on an error to lead off the inning.

Ayla Kramer took care of that error with a 2-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, while Maddy Kunzweiler added another insurance run with a 2-out RBI single that made it 4-1.

Elisabeth Miller then retired the Tanagers in order in the top of the seventh to close out the victory. Miller struck out 13 batters in her complete-game effort, allowing just one hit and two walks.

Briauna Hoff had three hits (two doubles) and Kunzweiler had two hits (including a triple) to lead the way at the plate for the Trojans.

Vermillion 000 001 0 – 1 1 0

West Central 000 013 x – 4 7 1

Mya Halverson and Madigan Wallin; Elisabeth Miller and Maddy Kunzweiler. 2B – West Central, Briauna Hoff 2. 3B – West Central, Kunzweiler. HR – West Central, Ayla Kramer.

Tri-Valley 14, Elk Point-Jefferson 8

Seventh-seeded Elk Point-Jefferson held an 8-3 lead and needed just six more outs to steal an upset victory over Tri-Valley in the opening round of the tournament.

But the second-seeded Mustangs racked up 11 runs in the bottom of the sixth and closed out a 14-8 win over the Huskies.

Tri-Valley used three home runs in the late rally, including a grand slam from Kadence Davey, a 1-out inside-the-park homer from Emery Pearson and a 2-out, 2-run shot from Ava Christensen. Davey rounded out the inning with a single, and an error plated the Mustangs’ final two runs of the game.

Christiansen and Davey each had three hits apiece to lead the way at the plate and accounted for nine of the team’s 13 RBI and four of the team’s 14 runs. As a team, the Mustangs had 16 hits and three walks.

EPJ finished with 14 hits, including four from Cera Schmitz, who had two doubles, two home runs, two runs scored and seven driven in. Molly Geary had three hits, scoring all three times.

Elk-Point Jefferson 220 211 0 – 8 14 2

Tri-Valley 030 00(11) x – 14 16 2

Regan Rasmussen and Bailey Johnson; Tri-Valley, Emry Jones, Izzy Davey (5) and Kadence Davey. 2B – Elk-Point Jefferson, Cera Schmitz 2, Samantha Marx; Tri-Valley, Ava Christensen, Isabella Wetmore-Ocampo. HR – Elk-Point Jefferson, Schmitz 2; Tri-Valley, Christensen 2, Emery Pearson, K. Davey.

Dakota Valley 8, Madison 1

Madison jumped out to an early lead, but Dakota Valley rallied with a 7-run fifth to secure an 8-1 victory over the Bulldogs in the opening round.

Addie Dickson tripled and Annie Bourne singled, both with no one out, to push the Panthers to a 4-1 lead to begin the rally. The Panthers then loaded the bases with one out, followed by a single and a pair of doubles before the Bulldogs could escape the inning.

Emma Barnett then retired the Bulldogs in order in the sixth and worked around a leadoff single in the seventh to preserve the Panther victory.

Barnett went the distance on the mound, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out five. She also led Dakota Valley with three hits and two runs driven in. As a team, the Panthers had 13 hits and six walks.

Madison’s three hits came from Mara Klingbile, Addison Voss and Kelcie Dudley. Klingbile led off the game with a triple, then stole home for Madison’s lone run of the game.

Madison 100 000 0 – 1 3 3

Dakota Valley 001 070 x – 8 13 3

Kelcie Dudley, Mara Klingbile (5) and Evie Lurz; Emma Barnett and Mallory Ribe. 2B – Dakota Valley, Barnett 2, Paige Moffatt 2. 3B – Dakota Valley, Addie Dickson.