Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: The St. Edmond softball team celebrates its 6-3 win over Humboldt on Wednesday night at Rogers Park. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

The St. Edmond softball team countered Humboldt’s late rally with a comeback of its own on Wednesday night at Rogers Park.

The reward was an outright North Central Conference championship for the first time in eight years.

The ninth-ranked (Class 1A) Gaels earned a pivotal 6-3 win over the Wildcats, who came into the evening’s contest nipping at the heels of head coach Bill Shirbroun’s squad in the NCC driver’s seat down the home stretch of the regular season.

Sophomore Payton Bradley’s bases-loaded RBI single with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning was the difference-maker, as Bradley’s hit through a drawn-in infield ultimately plated all three runners — Sophia Schlienz, Faith Shirbroun and Myra Lemon — to snap a 3-3 tie and give St. Edmond the gold.

“What a night,” SEHS head coach Bill Shirbroun exhaled afterward. “We had a lot of runners on base, seemingly every inning, so it was great to finally see that breakthrough hit come (in the sixth).

“We kept the pressure on. Even when they came back to tie it, no one panicked. We executed our gameplan. And Payton’s really become a reliable hitter for us. She’s done a terrific job all season long of putting the ball in play and swinging the bat with confidence.”

The Gaels (20-11 overall, 11-2 in the NCC) had led 3-1 until the top of the sixth, when freshman Mia Schluter delivered a two-run double to bring the Wildcats (16-10, 9-3) back to even.

Gael junior Kaili Henning (11-4) settled down after that, working her way out of the frame without surrendering any further damage and completing the three-hitter. Henning struck out nine.

St. Edmond had taken the lead in the bottom of the third, when Ansley Oswald delivered an RBI single, and Anna Kolacia’s bunt plated Lauren Gibb.

Humboldt had won six consecutive games before Thursday’s showdown.

“Reagan (Lee) pitched well and hit the ball hard,” Shirbroun said. “They’ve had an excellent program of sustained success. It’s a big deal to finish ahead of (larger) schools like Humboldt and Webster City.

“Look, we’ve played an absolute gauntlet of a schedule. Was it too much? I know some think so. But we wanted to figure out the best way for the girls to get better and learn from the best, even if it meant having a (lesser record). You have to take something away from every game; I’d rather lose and improve than win and get away with things we won’t be able to in the postseason.”

The Gaels are now off until their Class 1A regional opener on Wednesday at Rogers Park.

ST. EDMOND 6, HUMBOLDT 3

Humboldt 100 002 0 — 3 3 2

St. Edmond 102 003 x — 6 8 2

WP–Kaili Henning (11-4; 7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K); LP–Reagan Lee (16-8; 6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K). 2B–SE: Hadley Oswald. H: Mia Schluter. SB–SE: Faith Shirbroun, Anna Kolacia.