WELLS — Persistence paid off for the Bay College Norse here Tuesday as they needed 10 innings to squeeze past Dakota County (Minn) Technical College 6-5 in their sub-regional softball opener.

The victory enabled the Norse (29-15) to punch their ticket to the Region 13 tournament in Montana and host the winner of today’s opener between Gogebic Community College and Dakota County (14-12), which starts at 11 a.m.

Bay faces the winner today at 1, with another game to determine the higher seed, if needed, taking place at 3 at the Wells Sports Complex.

The Blue Knights defeated Gogebic 11-1 in Tuesday’s opener.

Bay secured the decision on Avery Sorochan’s single to rightfield, sending Rapid River graduate Cecilia Pilon across the plate with the game-winner.

“I finally got one through,” said Sorochan, who finished 1-for-6. “Once the ball left the bat, I definitely knew it’d go through. They’re a real good team. It’s definitely a relief to get through this one.”

The international tie-breaking rule went into effect in the final frame with Pilon inserted on second base.

Rachael Winkel was intentionally walked, giving the Norse runners on first and second, setting the stage for Sorochan’s walk-off single.

“Hats off to Tom (coach Cross) and his staff,” said Norse coach Ross Rahoi. “They had a great game plan. We hit the ball hard right at them, and they made plays. I would have been proud of these kids, no matter what happened.”

The Blue Knights took a 5-3 lead on Spenser Mohr’s two-out solo home run in the fifth.

Bay trimmed its deficit to 5-4 on Natalie Belanger’s double to center in its half of the inning, and Lexi Kacalo’s single to center tied the score in the seventh.

“It was a real competitive game,” said Cross. “That was exciting. That was a tough loss, but it doesn’t eliminate us. A win gets us to Montana. They had some big hits. Good games are the ones that are fun.”

Natalie Nusbaum scored on Mohr’s ground out to shortstop and Olivia Weinberg gave the Blue Knights a two-run cushion on an error in the opening frame.

The Norse tied the score on McKenna Bullen’s two-run single to center in the second.

Dakota County regained the lead on Nusbahm’s leadoff homer to center in the third before Bay again tied the contest on Karlie Patron’s single to left in its half of the third.

“Playoff games and regular-season games are very different,” said Rahoi. “After the first inning, we told the kids to take a deep breath and make plays. This is the next step in the process. The teams out west are tough, but we feel we’re one of the best teams in the region. I don’t think our group will ever say die.”

The Norse collected 14 hits. Miller led the way with three. Winkel, Belanger, Kacalo and Bullen added two each.

Mohr had four of Dakota County’s 13 hits. Weinberg finished with three, and Nusbahm and Kuehl had two apiece.

Patron pitched the first five innings and Winkel worked the next four. Patron returned to the mound in the 10th and took the win. She struck out two, walked three and allowed four runs on five hits in six frames. Winkel fanned two, walked three and gave up a run on eight hits.

Kuehl went the distance and absorbed the loss. She whiffed nine and walked two.