There’s something about Todd Park that brings out the best in the Hayfield softball team. After going through some early struggles this season, the Vikings are playing their best softball at the right time as they won their fourth straight Section 1A title with a 14-0 win over Wabasha-Kellogg in five innings Thursday.

The Vikings (15-7 overall) racked up 12 hits in Thursday’s win as they tallied seven runs in the second inning and seven runs in the fourth. Maggie Streightiff knocked in three runs for Hayfield and Kelly Johnson put the exclamation point on the win when she blasted a three-run homer to center field that made it a 14-0 game.

Kate Kruger had Hayfield’s first big hit of the game when she launched a double to start the seven-run second inning.

“We all can hit and we know that going in. Once one person starts, the rest are going to follow,” Kruger said. “We all get along well and it works when we all mesh as one.”

Hayfield has outscored its postseason opponents by a total score of 53-4 in four games and it has now won six straight games. The Vikings dropped six of their first eight games to start the season — including an 11-10 loss to Goodhue, a team Hayfield beat 16-1 on Tuesday.

“I think our mindset definitely changes,” said Olivia Matti, who was two-for-three with two RBIs. “I don’t know what it was in the beginning of the season, but we were not on the same page. We were just missing things that we shouldn’t have. I don’t think it was lack of talent, we just didn’t have our mind set in the right place.”

The Vikings are now headed to their fourth straight Minnesota Class A State Tournament and they’re hoping to make a lot of noise. Hayfield took fourth place in last year’s state tournament. The Vikings will open tournament play in Caswell Park at  1 p.m. Thursday.

“Now that we’ve been there before, we want to take home some hardware,” Matti said. “We might as well win it.”

Hayfield has leaned on a big senior class that helped start the trend of making it to state on an annual basis four years ago, but the Vikings also have relied on two freshman. Pitcher Caitlyn Hendrickson pitched a three-hit shutout against WK and catcher Jenna Jacobsen was two-for-four with an RBI.

“Caitlyn’s pitching great and Jenna’s a wall back there. Teams are scared of her and having them is huge for us,” Kruger said. “This year, since it was our senior season, we didn’t want to lose. We want to go as far as we possibly can and play as long as we possibly can.”

WK 0 0 0  0 0  —    0   2  1

Hayfield 0 7 0  7 X  —  14 12  2

Hayfield pitching: Caitlyn Hendrickson (W) 5 H, 3 BB, 0 R, 5 K

Hayfield hitting: Carrie Rutledge, 1-for-3, R, HBP; Jenna Jacobsen, 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R; Kyal Heydt, 1-for-2, 2 RBIs, 2 R, BB; Kate Kruger, 1-for-1, double, 2 R, 2 BBs; Jaelynn Therring, 2-for-2, RBI, 2 R, BB; Olivia Matt, 2-for-3, 2 RBIs, R; Maggie Streightiff, 2-for-3, 3 RBIs, , 2 R; Kelly Johnson, 1-for-2, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 R, HBP; Lexi Dudycha, 0-for-2; Jacie Gustine, 0-for-1