—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla North Linn’s Evalyn Robinson slides underneath the tag of Wapello’s Emma Reid in a Class 2A quarterfinal game on Monday at Rogers Park. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

North Linn didn’t play like a team making its state tournament debut on Monday.

The Lynx played like the team ranked No. 1 and seeded first in Class 2A as they pushed past Wapello, 6-0, on Krueger Seeds Field.

The Lynx, now 40-4, had never played at the state tournament, and with just one senior on their roster, they played like tournament veterans.

The Lynx earned a spot in the semifinals Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Mount Ayr.

“They are just a great bunch of kids,” said coach Marv Porter, who picked up career win 222. “We have a great bunch of juniors and they help keep everyone loose.”

Junior pitcher Abby Flanagan tossed a three-hitter for the Lynx, who backed her with runs in each of the first three innings. She finished with 10 strikeouts and didn’t walk any.

“When we were warming up, we got a little nervous,” said Flanagan. “But when we took the field, it just felt like another game and we went out and played.”

Before the game, the Lynx players all dumped jars of dirt on the field then scooped up some of the infield dirt.

Flanagan said the dirt they brought was from their field at home and then the players wanted to take some dirt from state back home.

“We all dumped dirt from the different positions we play,” Flanagan said. “I brought some dirt from our bullpen and home plate. It just made us feel like we were playing a home game.”

The Lynx settled in early, scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Kaitlyn Sommerfelt got things started with an RBI-triple down the first-base line and then she scored on a ground out by Flanagan.

“Scoring early just kind of allowed us to relax,” Flanagan said. “I knew I could get the outs and I knew my defense could handle anything.”

North Linn also took advantage of four Wapello errors, while recording four hits.

“It kind of surprised me that we only had four hits,” Porter said. “But we hit the ball hard and put the pressure on them.”

An error by Wapello (17-13) led to a run in the second for North Linn and three errors in the third inning helped the Lynx add three runs. Natalie Gallery also had an RBI-double in the third.

Flanagan, now 27-2, allowed just one runner to reach second base. She gave up singles in the first, fourth and seventh. Sammy Ewart had two of the hits for Wapello.

The Arrows will play a consolation game today at 1 p.m. against Beckman Catholic on the Dodger Field.

NORTH LINN 6, WAPELLO 0

Wapello 000 000 0 — 0 3 4

North Linn 213 000 x — 6 4 0

LOB–Wapello 3, North Linn 4. 2B–Natalie Gallery, Sydney Smock. 3B–Kaitlyn Sommerfelt. SB–Jenna Lemley, Ellie Flanagan.