STEELE- A fast start in the winner-take-all game of the Region III Tournament propelled the Sheyenne-New Rockford Black Sox to their first state tournament since 2000 with a 9-2 win over LaMoure-LM on Wednesday afternoon.

Connor Knatterud and Thomas Allmaras singled and Keaton Cudworth walked to begin the first inning, and they all scored on an error for two runs and a Luke Yri sacrifice fly to center for a 3-0 lead.

In the third, SNR blew it open, scoring five runs on two hits with the aid of two Loboes errors for an 8-1 lead.  That was plenty for Skye Kramlich, who tossed a complete game, allowing six hits and two unearned runs while walking two and striking out two.

LaMoure forced the winner-take-all game with a 2-0 win earlier in the day.

The Black Sox will learn their opponent and gametime on Thursday for the 2024 Class B State Tournament at Jack Brown Stadium in Jamestown.  All SNR state games can be heard on KDAK FM 100.1/AM 1600 and on the KDAK The Cardinal app.