HASTINGS, Neb. – A pitcher's duel turned into a 7th inning slugfest, and after the dust settled, Hastings St. Cecilia claimed their first Class C softball state title after a walk-off single by Maddi Bauer. 

Facing #6 Central City, the #1 seeded Hawkettes opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st inning with a 2-RBI triple by Bauer to take a 2-0 lead. 

After the first inning, both pitchers settled in, Audrey Rossow for St. Cecilia and Payton Burbach for Central City. Burbach once retired 11 straight Hawkette hitters from the end of the first to the 5th inning. 

Rossow took a no-hitter until two outs in the 5th inning, but Central City got within one run on an RBI single by Journi Schindler for the first Bison hit of the game.

Then the Bison stranded the bases loaded to make a 2-1 game after the top of the 5th. 

The Hawkettes got an important insurance run in the bottom of the 6th by an RBI double by the pitcher Rossow to extend the lead to 3-1. 

But trailing by two in the top of the 7th, Central City surged ahead with three runs on an error, and a go-ahead two-run home run by Juno Ryan, her 5th of the tournament, to take a 4-3 lead and their first lead of the day. 

The Hawkettes would not be denied in the bottom of the 7th inning getting a one-out double by Emerson Kissinger and two walks to load the bases. 

St. Cecilia tied the game on a line shot back to the pitcher by Sydney Head for a game-tying RBI single, and one batter later Maddi Bauer roped the game-winning single to left field to walk-off it off 5-4 and claim the Hawkettes first Class C state title after finishing as the 2022 runner-up. 

Central City staved off four straight elimination games to get to the state championship game, but ends their season as the Class C runner-up with a 28-9 record. 

St. Cecilia ends the season with a state title and a 29-6 record, plus a perfect 4-0 state tournament run.