Hawks take CI championship in bottom of the 7th

Blazing Cats come up just short in drive for 4th consecutive softball title

Kyle Jacobson watched a teammate get thrown out at home plate in the seventh inning, and it brought up some unpleasant memories for the Dakota United senior.

A similar play was decisive when Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville defeated the Hawks in the 2023 state adapted softball CI (Cognitive Impairments) Division championship game. Now, a year later against the same opponent, Jacobson thought he was watching a rerun.

“I was like, are we really going to do this again?” Jacobson said.

The 2024 state final brought the Hawks a different outcome. The next hitter put the ball in play, sending Henry Eisele sprinting around third base. He made it home, scoring the deciding run in Dakota United’s 5-4 victory May 18 at Chanhassen High School.

“It’s the late innings. You’ve got to be aggressive,” said Jacobson, winner of this year’s Ed Prohofsky Award, given to the Most Valuable Player in CI Division team sports. “I know Mark (Manwarren) got nailed at the plate but Henry’s a fast runner. He just flew to home.

“I’m proud of the team and I’m proud of the effort.”

Dakota United finished second in the state CI softball tournament five times, including last year, but had never finished first until going 10-1 this season and dethroning three-time defending champion Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville in the title game.

The Dakota United co-op for CI Division sports includes Apple Valley, Eagan, Eastview and Rosemount high schools. This was the first time Dakota United teams in the CI and PI divisions won state softball championships in the same season. Before the CI Division finalists took the floor, the Dakota United PI team defeated Robbinsdale/Hopkins/Mound Westonka 5-4 to claim its fourth consecutive championship.

Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville has played in every CI Division state championship game in soccer, floor hockey and softball since the Minnesota State High School League resumed adapted sports tournaments in November 2021 following a 20-month pause caused by COVID-19. The Blazing Cats are 7-2 in state finals in that period. They were going for a fourth consecutive softball championship and a second straight three-peat across all three team sports.

Eight players on the Blazing Cats’ roster are seniors, and several of them – notably Riley Deutsch, Clark Ruhland, Caden Roseth and JT Koczur – are among the top players in program history. “They have a lot of character and natural ability,” Blazing Cats coach David Diehl said.

The first four Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville batters reached base as the Blazing Cats took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the inning, Dakota United’s Makai Smith hit a fly ball off the right-field fence that scored two runs – including Smith, who circled the bases. A single by Samuel Cluff and fielder’s choice by Delaina Van Doren drove in two runs in the second inning to give the Hawks a 4-3 lead. Burnsville/Farmington/Lakeville tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning, and it remained 4-4 until the bottom of the seventh.

Eisele, Myles Johnson and Jeffrey Rosga had two hits each for Dakota United in the championship game. Deutsch was 4-for-4 for the Blazing Cats, who finished 8-2 this season.

Dakota United was fifth, third and second in its previous three state tournament appearances. Head coach Scott Oxley and his assistants emphasized trying to hit the ball hard and keep it away from the other team’s shortstop, who usually is an opponent’s best player.

They also devised fielding drills, such as hitting two fly balls to an outfielder in quick succession, to sharpen concentration and build confidence. It showed in the state tournament, Oxley said.

“We were able to get some big outs. Our center fielder, Jeffrey Rosga, made two incredible plays in our game against New Prague,” Oxley said, referring to an 8-5 Dakota United victory in the state semifinals.

Dakota United graduates six seniors but returns some core players, including Eisele, Smith and shortstop Colin Price.

Winning the state championship “should build interest and enthusiasm, and we had almost 50 kids out this year,” Oxley said.

Jacobson, one of the graduating seniors, said he was grateful to close his high school adapted sports career with a victory. “I had a feeling coming into this tournament that we would do something special,” he said, “and I know everybody on this team deserves a state championship.”