STATE CENTER — The West Marshall baseball team won the outright NICL West Division title for the second time in the last three years by beating BCLUW 16-0 in a four-inning game here Wednesday.

The Trojans (18-4, 10-0) have won or shared the conference title each of the last five seasons.

Cameron Bannister pitched a three-hitter and Kinnick Christensen drove in five runs to help West Marshall prevail. The Trojans scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning and added six more in the second.

Christensen went 3-for-3 with an RBI single, two two-run doubles, five RBIs and three runs, while Kaden Davis was 3-for-3 with a two-run double and a two-run homer. Jake Tollefson hit a solo homer, and Brayden Evertsen had two hits.

Bannister struck out five and walked one in four innings.

BCLUW (1-14, 1-10) got a double from Jack Garber and singles from Noah Gallentine and Mason Yantis. Ray Callaway took the loss for the Comets.

BCLUW softball secures NICL West title

STATE CENTER — The BCLUW softball team closed out its outright NICL West Division championship on Wednesday night by beating West Marshall 6-3.

The Comets (20-9, 11-0) broke a 3-all tie with three runs in the top of the fourth inning, getting five hits to accompany one West Marshall error. Easton Swanson’s two-run single in the fourth was the difference-maker.

Parker Scurr finished 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for BCLUW, while Swanson and Olivia Hughes both had two hits as well. Madison Ubben added a double for the Comets.

Loran Nicholson was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored and Avery Randall went 2-for-3 and scored for the Trojans (12-11, 3-8). Nicholson allowed nine hits but walked none and struck out two in the loss.

Farrington bolsters East Marshall bats

DIKE — By the time Dike-New Hartford had decided to put Madison Farrington on, it was too late to matter. So the Wolverines pitched to her again, and the Central College signee did what she had done eight previous times this year.

Farrington finished 3-for-3 with two home runs and nine RBIs, including a grand slam to cap a 14-run third inning as the Class 2A No. 12 Mustangs mashed Dike-New Hartford 20-0 in three innings here Wednesday night. Farrington’s nine-RBI game is the second-best single-game performance in the state this summer.

Farrington hit a three-run homer in the first inning, a two-run single in the second and was intentionally walked in her first at-bat of the third. East Marshall (21-4) already led 16-0 by the time Farrington came back around with the bases loaded in the same inning, so surrendering her grand slam was of little consequence in this cross-NICL contest for the Wolverines (9-12).

The Mustangs scored all 14 runs in the third with two out.

Maria Rasmusson went 3-for-3 with a two-run home run and four RBIs, Melinda Puumala was 4-for-4 with a double, three runs and three RBIs, and Juliana Arifi finished 3-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBIs. Reagan McIlrath helped her own cause going 2-for-4 with a triple, while also tossing a two-hitter with five strikeouts.

Mustangs outlast Gladbrook-Reinbeck

GILMAN — Zach Jacobson pitched six strong innings and Carter Anderson closed out the final frame as the East Marshall baseball team beat Gladbrook-Reinbeck 5-3 in Wednesday’s NICL West Division contest.

Jacobson struck out eight, walked two and allowed seven hits, while Anderson didn’t allow a hit in pitching for the save.

Dane Thompson was 2-for-3 with a double and a run, while Hunter Vilez had a two-run single that sparked the Mustangs in a three-run fourth.

Jacobson helped his own cause with an RBI double, Austin Elliott had a run-scoring single and Wesley Hamor added a hit for the Mustangs (8-13, 5-6).

Gladbrook-Reinbeck (11-8, 7-4) got four hits in a row from Tyler Tscherter, Keagan Giesking, Jackson Kiburis and Cody Gebel to score its three runs in the sixth.