Catcher Cassidy Kelsheimer ripped a three-run homer to spark Cottonwood Falls-Chase County past Hillsboro 5-1 for the Class 2-1A State Softball Championship Friday at the Great Bend Sports Complex.
Chase County captured its third consecutive title and finished with a 25-0 record for the second year in a row. Hillsboro finished with a 22-3 record. Chase County has won 69 consecutive games over the past three seasons.
Kelsheimer drilled a home run off losing pitcher Allison Weber in the third inning. The Bulldogs scored an unearned run when Alissa Wells doubled home Molly Soyez, who reached on an error. Helsheimer tripled and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth inning. Chase County’s Tori Burkhart earned the victory.
Kelsheimer doubled, tripled and homered and threwe out a baserunner in the championship game. She finished 7-fot-7 at the plate Friday. Hillsboro’s Bradli Nowak doubled home Allison Weber after back-to-back walks in the first inning. Burkhart retired Emily Jost and Julie Sinclair to work out of trouble.
For third place, Ell_Saline’s Danielle Sprinkle drove in five runs to spark the Cardinals past Udall 13-7. Udall contributed five errors. Sprinkle’s two-run single gave the Cardinals a 6-5 lead. Ashlyn Bird delivered a two-run double for a 10-5 lead. Sprinke’s two-run homer made it 12-7. Morgan Heck’s saving catch prevented Sprinkle’s second homer.
In the semifinals, Chase County beat Udall 12-1 behind home runs by Kelsheimer, Burkhart, Alex Snovelle and  Megan Jirak. Kelsheimer had three RBIs and Burkhart, Snovelle and Jirak each drove in two runs.
Hillsboro downed Ell-Saline 3-0 with a combined shutout by Julie Sinclair and Weber. Madison Klein’s two-run double scored Kennedy Lucero and Weber after back-to-back singles. Right fielder Lucero threw out Danielle Sprinkle after a leadoff single in the fourth inning.
In the quarterfinals, Chase County beat Oswego 15-0 and Ell-Saline downed Spearville 10-0 to advance to Friday’s semifinals. Udall beat Yates Cenetr 4-0 and Hillboro downed McLouth 10-0. Sinclair struck out 12 batters. Klein hit a three-run homer.  

Class 2-1A State Baseball Championship

At Great Bend
Sports Complex

Semifinal
Hillsboro 3, Ell-Saline 0
Hillsboro           020   001 0 — 3 4 1
Ell-Saline           000   000 0 — 0 5 1
Julie Sinclair, Allison Weber (5) & Madison Klein. Danielle Sprinkle & Sesely Omli. 2B—H, Klein; ES, Darby Wikoff, Danielle Sprinkle.

Semifinal
Chase County 12, Udall 1
Udall           100   00  —  1   4 1
Chase County 062   13  — 12 15 1
Carlie Bratcher, Braydee Hoffman (2) & Braydee Holmes. Brianna Potter & Cassidy Kelsheimer. 2B—CC, Bailee Swift 2; Molly Soyez. HR—CC, Kelsheimer, Tori Burkhart, Alex Snovelle, Megan Jirak; Udall, Samantha Loos.
Championship
Chase County 5, Hillsboro 1
Hillsboro          100   000 0 — 1 6 1
Chase County 003   110 x — 5 6 0
Weber, Sinclair (4) & Klein. Burkhart & Kelsheimer. 2B—CC, Kelsheimer, Wells; H, Bradli Nowak, Danae Bina. 3B—CC, Kelsheimer. HR—CC, Kelsheimer

Third place
Ell-Saline 13, Udall 7
Udall           210   220 0 —  1  10 5
Ell-Saline       012   721 x — 13 16 4
Bratcher, Hoffman (3) & Holmes. Sprinkle, Madison Schumann (5) and Sesely Omli. 2B—ES, Ashlyn Bird. HR—ES, Sprinkle.