LANGDON — One the thing the Nelson County/Midkota Chargers have is belief.
“That’s the mentality we have,” head coach Savannah Kueber said. “Just have each other’s backs and keep playing as a team.”
If pitcher Mya Luehring has traffic on the basepaths, Kueber is confident she can work through it. If Luehring gives up a hard-hit ball, she’s confident her fielders will make a play behind her.
If the Chargers’ offense hits a dry spell, the whole team knows they can get it going.
That’s because they have the resume to prove it.
“It’s nice because I think these girls have confidence in our offense now, too,” Kueber said. “We are averaging around 13 runs a game right now.”
All of the pieces fell into place Saturday in Langdon as NC/M began its playoff run. The Chargers (13-3) run-ruled Langdon Area/Munich (9-7), winning 13-1 in five innings to advance to the main Region 2 tournament field. NC/M had won 9-3 in their regular-season matchup.
“There’s a lot of effort, and we just like to win for each other,” Luehring said. “Play for each other, and just go out there, get baserunners on base, get each other home. That’s what we like to do.”
LA/M was seeded No. 2 in the North section of the region, while NC/M was seeded No. 3 in the South, so Langdon hosted the game.
The Chargers scored 13 runs on 13 hits, led by a five-run third inning. Kelsey Johnson went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs, while Luehring, Kenley Blasey, Ella Lundeby and Jenna Sundeen each tallied multiple hits.
In the circle, Luehring limited the Cardinals to one run while striking out six. She worked around three hits and four walks. She said that hitting her spots has contributed to her strong junior season as a pitcher.
“Mya is one of the most composed people you will ever meet,” Kueber said. “I mean, that kid, you can’t tell if she’s dealing or struggling. She’s always composed on the mound. The message is to just be herself. She is the best player in the region, in my opinion. And if she’s just herself, good things tend to happen.”
NC/M opened the scoring with a three-run first inning against Cardinals pitcher Nadia Lewis. Luehring and Johnson each brought in a run with an infield single, and Sundeen added a two-out RBI hit.
Sundeen, just an eighth-grader, was moved up to the seventh spot in the order. She went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and two runs scored, while also making a diving catch in left field.
“That kid is a straight-up stud,” Kueber said. “She is always a gamer. She loves the moment. She loves the spotlight on her. She loves to make that big play and come through for her team. … It’s unreal the amount of big things she’s done for this team, and she’s a big reason we are where we are.”
Lewis set NC/M down 1-2-3 in the second inning. But the Chargers rallied for five runs in the third — sparked by Luehring, who led off by reaching on an error. The first seven NC/M batters all reached safely in the inning, five via base hits.
“When we go down 1-2-3 like that, we don’t get down on ourselves,” Kueber said. “And we know we’ve just got to keep hacking.”
Johnson had an RBI double, and Lundeby drove in two with her own double. Jassy Lee singled to make it 8-0. The Chargers started driving the ball to the outfield consistently.
“We’ve been really just trying to focus on hitting the ball, getting up early and just trying to play our game,” Luehring said. “And just play hard the whole game.”
Luehring held LA/M off the board for the first two innings — but not without some effort. She navigated a leadoff double by Lily Zimmer and a walk in the first inning. In the second, she started the frame with back-to-back strikeouts, but then had to deal with a pair of two-out baserunners.
The Cardinals got on the board in the bottom of the third. Graci Witzel and Bridget Pankratz both reached to start the frame. After a wild pitch and a 1-0 count, Kueber went out to visit Luehring.
“She just tells me, ‘Go up there. Attack. You do you,’” Luehring said. “And it helps I like my team a lot, so just playing for them and trying to get the outs.”
Luehring settled in after Kueber’s visit, limiting the damage. LA/M scored its only run on a sacrifice fly by Colby Forest.
The inning ended on an instinctive diving play by the second baseman Blasey.
“I told her that was two runs right there she just saved,” Kueber said.
NC/M added three insurance runs in the fourth, getting RBI hits from Blasey and Sundeen, then a sacrifice fly from Carson Fossen. Already in run-rule territory, the Chargers scored two more in the fifth on RBI hits from Johnson and Lundeby.
Luehring worked around Zimmer’s second double of the game in the fourth inning. In her fifth and final frame, she walked the first batter, but the game ended — fittingly — on a slick defensive play. Shortstop Rylee Flaagan caught a line drive and doubled the runner off first.
“They’re great. They’re amazing. They’re such good players,” Luehring said of her defense. “And I love playing with them.”
The Chargers exploded into celebration mode. Their first playoff win of 2026 was officially under their belts.
Now they’ll contend with No. 1 seed Thompson on Monday at 1 p.m. in Thompson. The Tommies beat the Chargers 16-4 when they met in the regular season.
That doesn’t seem to faze this squad.
“We feel really good, honestly. There’s no other team I’d rather play right now than Thompson,” Luehring said. “I think everyone’s feeling the same way. We’re excited.”
While Saturday’s game was single-elimination, the rest of the tournament will be double-elimination. The region has four teams left, the top two of which will advance to the state tournament. NC/M also has a tough Carrington team to deal with in the tournament.
“The mindset is to just be ourselves,” Kueber said. “It really doesn’t matter who’s in front of us. If we are ourselves, we can compete with anyone in the state. I truly, truly believe that. And I think these girls believe that, too.
“We’re just gonna come, we’re gonna show up on Monday, we’re gonna just do our thing and see what happens.”
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