—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Abby Flanagan of North Linn pitches against Ridge View during a Class 2A quarterfinal on Tuesday at Rogers Park. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

Defending state champion North Linn showed no signs of slowing down here Tuesday afternoon, starting its tournament run with a convincing 10-0 victory in five innings over Ridge View at Rogers Sports Complex.

The Lynx (24-0 overall) have won 30 consecutive games dating back to last season and will now face Central Springs on Wednesday at 5 p.m. on Veterans Diamond in the semifinals.

Abby Flanagan threw a no-hitter, striking out nine of the 16 batters she faced. The only Raptor to reach base was Emma Vohs, who was hit by a pitch to start the fifth.

Along with her excellence inside the circle, Flanagan also connected on her first home run of the year to help her own cause offensively, ripping a ball over the fence in center to lead off the fourth inning.

“I decided I was going to swing as hard as I could,” Flanagan said. “They were calling a higher strike zone so I was ready for one there.”

Kaitlyn Sommerfelt was 2-for-3 with three RBI, Rae VanMilligan and Hannah Bridgewater each drove in two, and both Jenna Lemley and Skylar Benesh plated a run.

North Linn scored in all five innings, plating a run in the first, three in the second and four more in the third to put serious space between them and Ridge View (11-9) before adding solo runs in the fourth and fifth.

Bridgewater had three hits and stole three bases, with Grace Flanagan — Abby’s twin senior sister and her catcher — adding two. Jill Smith also had two hits while Bridgewater and Olivia Rauch scored twice each.

For Flanagan, the no-hitter was the 57th in state tournament history. Had she not hit Vohs, the multi-sport standout would have had a shot at the 14th perfect game at state and first since 2014.

North Linn is now two wins away from adding a state softball title to the basketball crown they won in the winter. Both Flanagan sisters and Bridgewater were starters on that team.

NORTH LINN 10, RIDGE VIEW 0 (5 inn.)

Ridge View 000 00 — 0 0 2

North Linn 134 11 — 10 13 0

WP–Abby Flanagan (16-0, 5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 9 K, 0 BB); LP–Addison Schmidt (10-8, 4ª IP, 13 H, 10 ER, 1 K, 1 BB). HR–NL: Abby Flanagan. 2B–NL: Rae VanMilligan, Jenna Lemley, Kaitlyn Sommerfelt, Grace Flanagan. RBI–NL: Hannah Bridgewater (2), Kaitlyn Sommerfelt (3), Abby Flanagan, Rae VanMilligan (2), Jenna Lemley, Skylar Benesh. SB–NL: Skylar Benesh, Hannah Bridgewater (3), Olivia Rauch. LOB–RV: 1; NL: 5.