Hawks keep cool heads when the action heats up

Dakota United wins fourth consecutive PI softball championship

A team doesn’t get where Dakota United is without understanding the game’s fundamentals and keeping their poise in chaotic moments.

There was plenty of tension in the seventh inning as the Hawks tried to hold on to a lead in the state adapted softball PI (Physical Impairments) Division championship game. They tagged out two Robbinsdale/Hopkins/Mound Westonka runners on the bases to preserve a 5-4 victory and win their fourth consecutive state title May 18 at Chanhassen High School.

Dakota United pitcher Cayden Needham tagged out the potential tying run at home plate in the seventh. Later in the inning, a play that could have been disastrous was converted into a critical out. A fly ball that struck a Dakota United outfielder’s foot and rolled back to the infield was scooped up by a Hawks player who tagged out a runner trying to reach third base.

“We practice a lot of situational-type plays and it obviously benefited,” said Needham a junior who has played on Dakota United’s last three PI Division softball championship teams.

It was another title game confrontation between programs that have dominated PI Division adapted athletics for the better part of two decades. Dakota United and the Robins have combined to win 16 of the last 17 state championships in softball. Last fall, Robbinsdale/Hopkins/Mound Westonka won the adapted soccer tournament with Dakota United finishing third. The Hawks won the state championship in floor hockey in March, defeating the Robins in the final.

The Dakota United PI Division sports co-op includes Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Eastview, Farmington, Lakeville North, Lakeville South and Rosemount high schools. The softball state championship is the program’s seventh since 2006. Four of those times the Hawks needed to beat the Robins in the final and three times they were runners-up to Robbinsdale/Hopkins/Mound Westonka.

Hawks coach Brett Kosidowski said his players know at some point in a state tournament they probably will have to face the Robins, and it will be a tactical battle.

“I love the strategy. I love the chess game, and it’s all part of it. We spend a lot of time on situational stuff in practice,” Kosidowski said. “My coach in high school, Bucky Mieras (Orono baseball), taught fundamentals and drilled them into us in practice. It’s about knowing your situations and knowing what to do, because there are multiple things you can do. Building up their IQ is the most important thing. We have guys that know what to do, and it’s an absolute treat to watch them.”

The Hawks fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first. Sam Holland countered with a run-scoring single in the second but Dakota United still trailed 3-1 the bottom of the fifth. The first two Hawks hitters reached on a single an error. A one-out RBI single by Needham made it 3-2. The next hitter, Reece Martin, hit a hard ground ball up the middle that reached the fence and scored two runs, giving Dakota United its first lead of the game at 4-3.

The Hawks’ fifth run – one they desperately needed, as it turned out – scored in the sixth on Thomas Klobe’s infield grounder.

Needham had four hits and Tommy Juberian three as Dakota United defeated Anoka-Hennepin in a state quarterfinal game May 17. The Hawks downed Minneapolis South 13-3 in the semifinals.

The three-game sweep in the state tournament completed a 10-0 season and means the Dakota United PI team now has gone six years without losing a softball game. There have been only four state championships in that span because COVID-19 forced the state tournament to be canceled in 2020 and 2021. Dakota United was undefeated when the 2020 state tournament was called off and won its league championship in 2021.

With Holland and outfielder Amisha Etter the only seniors on the roster, the Hawks will be favored to extend their winning streak next year. But it won’t be easy and they’ll need all hands on deck. Kosidowski said it made a big difference to have sophomore shortstop Jae Bahma in the lineup after he missed last week’s state tourney because of a broken foot suffered in physical education class just a few days before the tournament began.

“We made a rule this year – you can’t go to phy ed this week,” Kosidowski quipped.