That’s when East Ridge replaced starting pitcher Abbey Cook with Grace Bennett.

"(Eastview’s) lineup was coming up for the third time, so we thought we would just mix things up a little bit," Raptors coach Afton Murray said.

The move backfired when the Lightning’s Alexa Christenson was hit by a pitch, Aimee Christenson singled, and Jenna Kuhn launched a three-run homer to straight-away center.

"I think it took the pressure off," Eastview coach Sydney Dwyer said. "The kids were in their third at-bats and were feeling better about their at-bats. Stringing a few hits together put some fire under them and got them believing a little bit. And we needed that."

But Murray said that she and the rest of the Raptors didn't panic when they fell behind.

"We've had other games where we had to come back this season," she said. "But our kids just stay mentally tough. They love to compete, and they believe in themselves. It says something about their character, that they push and fight so hard for one another."

Zavoral added: "It was painful when they did that, but we knew we would come back and score runs. And we did."

East Ridge’s Morgan Anderson led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and stole second, and she scored the tying run on a single by Avery Wukawitz, who had four hits in the contest. Molly Seif sacrificed Wukawitz to second, and Zavoral's double in the right-center gap gave her team the lead for good. One out later, Josie Dorf singled home Zavoral, and Bennett doubled to the wall in right to plate Dorf and give the Raptors a 7-4 advantage.

"It all started when Morgan got that single and stole second to lead off," Zavoral said. "From there, the hitting was contagious and the rally just kept going. And when Josie hit me in, that gave us a two-run lead, and I thought that was big."

That rally seemed to deflate the Lightning (11-10) and pump up the Raptors, who added three more runs in the sixth to pull away.

"They're great hitters," Dwyer said of East Ridge. "We knew we would have to put up runs because they were going to score, but they just scored too many. We couldn't stop the bleeding in those last innings."

Friday's defeat was the end of the line for a Cinderella run by Eastview (11-10), which saw the Lightning rebound from a 17-4 blowout loss to Eagan in their first tournament game to win four straight and advance to the title game.

"This run goes to show what this team has been through this season," Dwyer said. "There has been a lot of ups and downs, but to make it to the championship game after the way the first game went says a lot about these girls.”

Meanwhile, the Raptors pushed their winning streak to 11 in a row, allowing them to join fellow Suburban East Conference members Forest Lake and Stillwater at state in Mankato.

"I'm so proud of these kids," Murray said. "We have a great senior class, and this is a great way for them to go out."