The young Adel-Desoto-Minburn Tigers softball team will represent the Raccoon River Conference at the state tournament next week in Fort Dodge for the first time in a decade. The No. 2 Tigers were the only league school playing in a regional championship game Tuesday night, hosting the No. 14 Norwalk Warriors in the Class 4A Region 3 title game. A pair of long balls and another solid pitching performance propelled ADM to an 8-1 victory last night against the Warriors. After the game, ADM head softball coach Rick Dillinger said he treated yesterday’s game like it was a regular season contest. “We didn’t talk about the game; We didn’t go through an advanced scouting report,” Dillinger said, “I told them ‘we aren’t going to put a bunch of stuff in their head, we are going to go out and have fun and play. They came (to the field) pretty fired up.”

ADM broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning. Leading 3-1, sophomore Sierra Wyant smacked a grand slam over the left field fence. Senior Ashley Tennant followed the next at-bat with a solo home run, part of a six-run frame. Shortly after the game, the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union issued the Class 4A State Tournament bracket, and ADM finds themselves as the top seed with a record of 33-7 overall. The Tigers first round opponent at state is a familiar one in the Dallas Center-Grimes Fillies. ADM topped DCG, 11-5, in Adel on June 6. Dallas Center-Grimes upset Raccoon River Conference and Class 4A No.1 Carlisle, 7-6, Saturday in Carlisle. They completed their eighth trip to state with a 6-5 victory of the Pella Little Dutch last night in the Class 4A Region 4 championship game.