Dakota Valley built a lead, fought off a late comeback, and captured its first Class A State Softball Championship in school history on Saturday afternoon at Players Softball Complex.

The Panthers ended the improbable run of eighth-seeded Elk Point-Jefferson with a 9-6 victory in the title contest.

Dakota Valley coach Jason Anderson was emotional following his team’s victory.

“I’m crying for the girls,” Anderson said. “At the beginning of the season, we were just teaching them how to deal with adversity. The main goal is to turn these young ladies into women. … the way they’ve come together throughout the season just brings a tear to my eye and I love them.”

Panthers pitcher Emma Barnett not only had a good game in the circle, she also got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI double to give her team a 1-0 edge.

“We knew our bats were hot,” Barnett said. “We just had to get going right away. Being the home team had a huge advantage. I think being able to get going early was a huge thing for us and has been all weekend.”

Barnett was named to the All-Tournament team following the conclusion of the tourney.

“It’s awesome,” Barnett said. “Being nominated for it is just awesome, but being named is even better. It’s just such a great feeling.”

The Panthers scored one run in each of the first three frames, as Audrey Sindt had an RBI single in the second, and an error led to another run in the third.

The Huskies got on the board in the fifth when Laney Trometer singled to center field to bring in Breann Johnson.

The Panthers extended their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning. After a Paige Moffatt sac fly, an error allowed two more runners to cross the plate.

Dakota Valley tacked on three more runs in the sixth, which proved to be crucial insurance runs.

Payten Konopasek had an RBI single, followed by a Brynn Ramos two-run RBI double.

“At first I thought it was foul,” Ramos said. “So, I knew I had to get to second to make up for that.”

​The clutch double was her third hit of the day. Ramos talked about her hitting strategy.

“I just made sure I was up in the box,” Ramos said. “And I made sure I attacked the ball.”

Things then got interesting in the top of the seventh.

With two outs, things looked bleak for the Huskies before they mounted a comeback with three consecutive hits, including a two-run triple from Molly Geary and an RBI double from Paige Jacobs, slicing the margin to 9-4.

Anderson talked about his decision to leave Barnett in the circle to close out the game.

“She pitched all three games every inning for us this weekend,” Anderson said. “I debated on whether to pull her for somebody else in that last inning for a change, but we had enough of a lead that I decided she brought us here, got us through everything, and I wanted to see her finish it.”

Bailey Johnson hit a two-run single to cut the deficit down to 9-6, but got caught in a rundown and was picked off trying to return to first to end the game.

Anderson was pleased with his team’s energy on the field and in the dugout.

“Before we came to the state tournament, I had a couple of things that they had to do. One, our dugout needed to be louder than their dugout and they did that,” Anderson said. “The energy in the dugout brings the energy to the players on the field, and the batting and then things get hot. They just left it all on the field.”

Barnett said the team’s chemistry and energy played a key role in winning the title.

“I love all my teammates,” Barnett said. “We’re such a great group of girls. We’ve gotten so close throughout the whole season, it’s helped us win all these games and a state championship.”

Elk Point-Jefferson 000 010 5 – 6 12 4

Dakota Valley 111 033 x – 9 9 1

Regan Rasmussen and Bailey Johnson; Emma Barnett and Mia Riibe. 2B – Elk Point Jefferson, Camryn Norris, Cera Schmitz, Paige Jacobs, Regan Rasmussen; Dakota Valley, Brynn Ramos, Emma Barnett. 3B – Elk Point-Jefferson, Molly Geary.