The Blooming Prairie bench greets Bria Baldwin (15) after she hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning of BP’s 8-5 win over Hayfield in the Section 1A West semifinals in Hayfield Wednesday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

HAYFIELD —The defending Class A state champs aren’t going anywhere just yet.

The No. 4 seeded Awesome Blossoms erased a three-run deficit in the seventh inning to take down top-seeded Hayfield 8-5 in the Section 1A West semifinals Wednesday.

Hayfield’s Kyal Heydt connects on one of her two homers for the Vikings in Hayfield Wednesday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

BP trailed 5-2 with just three outs left, but freshman Bria Baldwin provided her team with a spark when she drilled a two-run homer over the left field fence to put the pressure on the Vikings with nobody out in the seventh.

“Coach gave us a good talk earlier and it worked out,” said Baldwin, who went 3-for-5 with three RBIs. “I was trying to do what I thought I could do and apparently it worked out very well.”

Megan O’Connor and Delaney Nelson singled for BP (10-8 overall) and Madison Worke drew a walk and then Mariah Holland grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out of the seventh inning. Tessa Ivers took a 3-2 pitch to draw a walk for the game-trying run for BP and Lizz Willert drew another walk to make it 6-5 BP. Sydney Heiber gave the Blossoms some insurance when she smacked a two-run double to left field.

“It’s a good time to finally come together. It’s a good feeling,” said Heiber, who went 3-for-4. “[Baldwin’s homer] was a good boost in our motivation and it built our confidence. It was definitely needed and it was a nice hit.”

The Blossoms have had a roller coaster season that has seen them look dangerous at times and beatable at other times. On Wednesday, freshman pitcher Elly Strunk came up big as she didn’t allow the Vikings to get any big innings.

Blooming Priaire’s Bria Baldwin is tagged out by Hayfield catcher Grace Mindrup at the plate in the Section 1A West semifinals in Hayfield Wednesday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

“Elly’s starting to pitch better and she’s getting healthier. [BP assistant coach] Chad [Gimbel] had a nice talk with her yesterday and we had a game plan for them,” Mach said. “We’ve been playing up and done all season long and the coaches know what this group is capable of. We did lose a lot of big players from last year’s team and this group just took a long time to find themselves. I think we’re just getting to the point we’re were kind of gelling and peaking.”

Hayfield led 5-0 after four innings as eighth grader Kyal Heydt hit a solo homer and a two-run homer and senior Dani Wagner added a solo homer, but the Vikings (15-4 overall) had only seven total hits in the loss.

Hayfield will now have to play its way out of the elimination round as it will play No. 2 Randolph (15-4 overall) Friday at 5 p.m. in Todd Park. First, they’ll have to get over Wednesday’s letdown.

“It’s harsh. It’s hard to give up that many runs,” Hayfield catcher Grace Mindrup said. “We’ll just have to work harder at it every day. It’s do or die now and we’re just going to keep doing it.”

The Blossoms, who have played in the last four Class A state tournaments, will play No. 3 seeded Kenyon-Wanamingo in the Section 1A West title game Friday at 5 p.m. in Todd Park.

“They’re excited for the postseason,” Mach said of her squad. “It’s a different mentality and they don’t want to be done. Today was a nice surprise for us. After that home run [by Baldwin] they looked a little bit down and we kind of took advantage of it.”

Hayfield’s Alyssa Monahan pitches against Blooming Priarie in the Section 1A West semfinals in Hayfield Wednesday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

BP 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 — 8 9 1

Hayfield 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 — 5 7 1

BP pitching: Elly Strunk (W) 7 IP, 7 H, 4 BB, 5 ER, 1 K, 2 HBP

BP hitting: Tessa Ivers, 1-for-2, RBI, R, 3 BBs; Lizz Willert, 0-for-2, RBI, 2 BBs, R; Sydney Heiber, 3-for-4, double, 2 RBIs, 2 R, BB; Bria Baldwin, 3-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs, R; Megan O’Connor, 1-for-4, RBI; Strunk, 1-for-4; Delaney Nelson, 1-for-3, BB; Madison Worke, 1-for-2, R, 2 BBs; Mariah Holland, 0-for-4, R; Abby Wayne, R

Hayfield pitching: Alyssa Monahan (L) 7 IP, 9 H, 9 BB, 8 ER, 2 K

Hayfield hitting: Dani Wagner, 1-for-1, HR, RBI, R2 BBs, SB, HBP; Jessie Foster, 1-for-4, RBI; Grace Mindrup, 1-for-4; Grace Walker, 0-for-4; Rachel Masching, 1-for-3, SB, HBP; Bhrett Zahnle, 0-for-3, R, BB; Kyal Heydt, 2-for-2, 2 HR, 3 RBIs, R, BB; Lezlie Sorensen, 1-for-3; Carrie Rutledge, 0-for-3