By Rocky Hulne, AlbertLeaTribune.com

The Riverland softball team just missed a trip to the Regional Tournament as it lost to Fergus Falls 9-6 in a play-in game at the state junior college tournament Sunday in St. Cloud.

The Blue Devils (14-16 overall) scored six runs and allowed six runs in the first two innings, but Riverland had just two hitters reach base over the last five innings.

&8220;Their pitcher did a good job of pitching and we couldn&8217;t find any holes,&8221; Riverland head coach Dave Lillemon said. &8220;Maybe we ran out of gas, but we left it all on the field. Finishing fourth in the state is a great accomplishment for this team.&8221;

Nicki Svoboda started the game for Riverland, but after pitching 10 innings on Saturday, Svoboda lasted just under two innings and allowed seven hits and six earned runs. Kaylee Newman did a respectable job in relief, but Riverland&8217;s offense went cold.

Perhaps the Blue Devils best chance to advance to state came in the first round, when it lost to Rainy River 2-1 Saturday.

With the Blue Devils up 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Rainy River had two outs with nobody on and two strikes on their hitter when a base hit started a rally. After one run scored on a single, Rainy River scored the winning run on a stolen base attempt that saw Riverland catcher Carmen Smith&8217;s throw go into left field.

&8220;It was a classic state tournament game with both pitchers dominating,&8221; Lillemon said. &8220;But it was a heartbreaking loss for us.&8221;

Rainy River&8217;s Jen Falk allowed just one hit and struck out 15, and Svoboda allowed just five hits and struck out nine.

After the opening loss, the Blue Devils rebounded for a 14-6 win over Itasca and a 9-6 win over Northland on Saturday.

Kelly Schlein of LeSeur/Henderson, who had been ruled out as a pitcher for the weekend, made a return to the mound against Northland with doctor&8217;s permission. Schlein picked up the win as she went just under four innings.

The season was a good one for a Riverland team that had 10 freshman. The team doubled it&8217;s win total from last season and it returns most of its lineup.

&8220;Things are looking good for the future,&8221; Lillemon said.

Besides Fergus Falls, Central Lakes and Ridgewater &8212; the top two seeded teams &8212; advanced to the regional tournament, which begins in Wilmar May 10, based on their regular season records.