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The Class 4A and 3A teams opened the day with four games going on at once. The two smaller classes took it from there.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
June 7, 2024 at 1:34AM
Class 4A: New Prague 3, Rosemount 1
6 p.m.
Rosemount had plenty of chances, but the big hit the Irish needed never materialized.
New Prague relied on the right arm of star senior pitcher Jordyn Marsh and opportunistic defense to upset No. 1 seed Rosemount 3-1 on Thursday in the Class 4A semifinals at Caswell Park in North Mankato, ending the Irish’s bid for their third state championship in four years.
Marsh gave up 11 hits but walked just one and struck out five. More important, she wiggled out of a pair of bases-loaded jams in the third and sixth innings.
In the third, Rosemount loaded the bases with nobody out but could not score. New Prague Sophomore Norah Blaschko made a run-saving stab of a liner up the middle to keep the game scoreless.
“On that play, I imagined myself catching it and it actually happened,” Blaschko said. “I got so hyped, and my teammates backed me up.”
“I think that really kept up us going,” Marsh said.
Marsh and Blaschko also provided hits that drove New Prague’s offense in its three-run fourth. Blaschko singled, stole second and scored on Marsh’s double.
Marsh kept Rosemount off balance for the remainder of the game. She allowed baserunners in each inning but, armed with a strong array of pitches with spin, she limited the Irish to that single run.
Marsh gave credit to Thursday’s strong winds blowing in on their field.
“I think the wind was helping me when I was pitching,” she said. “It gave us a lot of advantages when they hit the ball hard and it took it foul.”
The rest of the day, from early morning to day’s end:
Class 1A: New Ulm Cathedral 4, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 2
8:29 p.m.
Senior outfielder Jenna Hotovec and sophomore designated player Abbey Hillesheim had three base hits each for New Ulm Cathedral, which scored four runs in the middle innings to defeat Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 4-2.
Cathedral’s Jayde Altermatt pitched a complete game, allowing three hits and two unearned runs.
Class 1A: Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 8, West Lutheran 2
8:20 p.m.
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley blew open a tight game with seven runs over the fifth and sixth innings and defeated West Lutheran 8-2.
Hannah Gary had two hits, including a three-run homer, and five RBI for the unseeded Wolverines. Pitcher Jordan Wright earned the victory, pitching all seven innings and giving up five hits and two runs.
West Lutheran made four errors.
Class 2A: Randolph 1, St. Agnes 0
8:04 p.m.
What stood out about Randolph’s season was the number of routs the Rockets posted. What was not so obvious was the Rockets’ success in close games.
The No. 1-seeded, No. 1-ranked Rockets survived their second nailbiter of the tournament, holding off St. Agnes 1-0 to advance to Friday’s Class 2A championship game.
Junior pitcher Carter Raymond singled, stole second and third bases and scored the game’s only run. The reigning Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year also pitched a one-hitter and didn’t walk a batter, striking out 11. She took a no-hitter into the seventh.
“That proves the fight in this team,” Raymond said of the close victory. “We have the heart to win these one-run games.”
Raymond was at her best in the seventh inning. St. Agnes pitcher Angela Proper led off with a single, breaking up Raymond’s no-hitter.
The next St. Agnes hitter popped up a bunt, and then Raymond bore down and blew away the Aggies’ final two hitters on strikes.
“We’ve actually played a lot of games like this,” Randolph coach Dennis Trom said. “I don’t know how many 2-0 games we’ve have had. Carter is just a beast on the mound. She keeps teams down.”
Class 2A: Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 8, St. Cloud Cathedral 3
7:35 p.m.
According to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial coach Tony Parsons, this has been modus operandi all season. The Knights take an inning or two to figure out the pitcher, build a lead, then add to it as the game progresses.
That’s exactly what they did Thursday, scoring four runs in the fourth. They gave back three in the top of the sixth but put up four more in the bottom of the inning for an 8-3 semifinals victory.
“We usually go the first time through the order to get a feel for the pitcher,” he said. “We get a little bit of a lead and end up holding on.”
Starting pitcher Avery Voges gave up one hit and no runs in 6⅓ innings before giving way to Nettie Parsons.
Coach Parsons said he mentioned to his team after their lead dwindled in the sixth inning that they needed “one more run.”
He got four.
“Maybe I should start saying that more often,” Parsons said, laughing.
The scores are in
6:04 p.m.
Carter Raymond bears down in the seventh and strikes out the last two St. Agnes hitters to preserve a 1-0 Randolph victory and a berth in the Class 2A championship game. Randolph is ranked No. 1 and was seeded No. 1, and Raymond was the Star Tribune’s Metro Player of the Year.
In the other Class 2A semifinal, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial sunk St. Cloud Cathedral 8-3.
In Class 2A, New Ulm Cathedral topped Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 4-2 and Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley finished off West Lutheran 8-2.
5:50 p.m.
An update sweep here:
In Class 1A, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley leads West Lutheran 4-2 in the sixth; New Ulm Cathedral holds a 4-2 lead over Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the seventh.
In Class 2A, Randolph is still clinging to a 1-0 lead over St. Agnes in the sixth; St. Cloud Cathedral has cut into Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial’s lead, now 4-3.
Class 4A: Rogers 7, Forest Lake 5
5:46 p.m.
Rogers had made just one state tournament appearance before this year. Forest Lake was making its 23rd trip and had a 2022 Class 4A title to its credit.
But it was Rogers, not Forest Lake, that looked like the experienced tourney team Thursday.
Forest Lake’s defense was shaky in the first inning, enough to help Rogers score four times and build a 4-0 lead before the game was an inning old.
The Royals scored three more times, both times fending off Forest Lake rallies, and emerged with a 7-5 victory.
Senior shortstop Lauren Freeberg went 3-for-5, reaching base in all five of her plate appearances.
“Coming out and getting four runs like that, our cheering went through the roof,” Freeberg said. “We kept that up for the rest of the game.”
Eighth-grade pitcher AnnaBelle Waldoch went 4⅔ innings to pick up the victory. Forest Lake twice got to within a run.
“We knew they would rally,” Freeberg said. “But we said we just gotta keep it rolling and never slow down.”
Class 3A: Mankato East 5, Winona 0
5:35 p.m.
Mankato East pitcher Kylinn Stangl has pitched a lot of softball. She’s committed to the Gophers, so the fireballing junior has plenty more in her future.
But she admits she’s never pitched in anything like the gale-force winds that played havoc with the softball state tournament semifinals Thursday at Caswell Park in North Mankato.
“That was insane,” Stangl said after a 5-0 victory over Big Nine Conference rival Winona in the Class 3A semifinals. “I’m a down-ball pitcher so I had to try to keep everything on the ground and not let them hit anything with any loft on it.”
She did exactly as planned, rarely allowing Winona to hit the ball at all. She gave up just two hits and struck out 16.
Meanwhile, the defending 3A champion Cougars used the wind to their advantage. Freshman Kenley Staunton hit her first career home run leading off the fourth inning. Senior Hailey Petzel added a two-run clout later in the inning.
Staunton beamed when talking about her first home run, but she didn’t remember much.
“It all happened so fast,” she said. “I didn’t see it go over, but I heard it. I was just living it, having the time of my life.”
Class 3A: Cretin-Derham Hall 5, St. Francis 4
5:21 p.m.
This time, the Raiders battled back.
A year ago, in the Class 3A semifinals, Cretin-Derham Hall lost a heartbreaker to Mankato East, 7-6 in 10 innings in the 3A championship game.
The Raiders trailed late in the semifinals Thursday as well, after giving up four runs to St. Francis in the fourth inning to fall behind 4-3.
Then pitcher Brooke Nesdahl came to the rescue. She homered with one out in the top of the sixth to tie the score, then held down the Saints offense to give her team a chance at victory.
It came when Allie Castro homered in the top of the seventh, lifting Cretin-Derham Hall to a 5-4 victory.
Outside of a tough fourth inning, Nesdahl largely kept St. Francis in check despite a the strong wind blowing out.
“Our coach says, ‘You’ve got to control the controllables,’ ” Nesdahl said of pitching in the wind. “I just tried to throw it as hard as I could and do what I usually do.”
Nesdahl admitted she was thinking about a big fly to help her cause when she came to bat in the sixth. “A couple of pitches were thrown, and then I was like, ‘OK, I am gonna do this,’ ” she said.
Scoreless stretch doesn’t last
5:15 p.m.
The scoreless moment is over. Randolph goes up on St. Agnes on a run-scoring base hit in the 2A semifinals.
4:40 p.m.
After a wild and wooly first set of semifinals in Classes 4A and 3A, the small-school semis have been a bit more sedate. So far. All four games are 0-0.
The big-class semis, run by run
3:50 p.m.
A quick rundown of the other final scores: In Class 4A, Rogers defeated Forest Lake 7-5, and New Prague beat Rosemount 3-1. In 3A, Cretin-Derham Hall finished off St. Francis 5-4.
3:36 p.m.
Mankato East just finished a 5-0 victory over Winona.
3:30 p.m.
With the wind blowing in, runs are much harder to come by in the Rosemount/New Prague game. This will make a Rosemount comeback difficult in the seventh .
3:26 p.m.
Rosemount left the bases loaded in the sixth. New Prague leads 3-1.
3:25 p.m.
Cretin-Derham Hall takes a 5-4 lead over St. Francis on a home run by Allie Castro.
3:24 p.m.
Three consecutive hits give Rosemount its first run. New Prague lead is cut to 3-1 in the top of the sixth.
3:22 p.m.
A Brooke Nesdahl homer in the top of the sixth for Cretin-Derham Hall ties it 4-4.
3:17 p.m.
Karianne Drury of Forest Lake gets a line drive in the wind and it carries out of the park for her first homer of the season, a two-run shot to pull the Rangers to within one.
3:01 p.m.
A four-run rally by St. Francis, capped by a three-run homer by Sydney Borchert, gives the Saints a 4-3 lead over Cretin-Derham Hall in Class 3A.
Balls are flying out of Caswell Park in this wind.
2:59
Rogers has bumped its lead back to two, 6-3, with a pair in the top of the third.
2:56 p.m.
New Prague pitcher Jordyn Marsh doubles down the left field line to drive in two to give New Prague a 2-0 lead. An infield hit by Katie Boulanger makes it 3-0 New Prague
2:48 p.m.
Mankato East bumps its lead over Winona to 4-0 on a two-run shot by Hailey Petzel in the bottom of the fourth.
2:40 p.m.
In Class 3A, Mankato East takes a 1-0 lead over Big Nine conference rival Winona on seventh-grader Kenly Staunton’s home run over the left-field fence.
2:34 p.m.
Rosemount loads the bases with nobody out in the top of the third but comes away empty-handed. Irish pitcher Jorey Fry hit a two-out line drive that New Prague shortstop Norah Blaschko snared to end the threat.
2:22 p.m.
In Class 3A, Cretin-Derham Hall pushes one across in top of the first, leads St. Francis 1-0 heading to the second.
2:18 p.m.
Forest Lake rallies on a three-run homer by Ava Stenglein to cut the Rogers lead to 4-3.
2:12 p.m.
Rogers gets off to a fast start, scoring four runs off Forest Lake first-team All-Metro pitcher Hannah Tong. Royals have a 4-0 lead after a half-inning.
Defending champ’s coach unfazed by quarterfinal test
1:15 p.m.
Rosemount coach Tiffany Rose wore a wide grin as she monitored her team’s preparation before its Class 4A semifinal. The defending champion Irish relinquished a six-run lead in the quarterfinals before rallying for an 8-7 victory over Stillwater in the quarterfinals the day before.
Rose was not at all concerned that the Irish had let a big lead slip away. She preferred a different perspective.
”It’s the state tournament. Teams are here to win,” Rose said.
She admitted her players may have gotten complacent after leading 7-1 in the second inning — “We were a little undisciplined at the plate,” she conceded — but her focus was on how her team responded.
”A lot of people don’t realize we have nine players back from last year,” Rose said. “Cece Hanson has only lost nine times in her high school career. They know what it takes to win.”
Wind visits North Mankato
12:45 p.m.
North Mankato is stealing Chicago’s reputation. It’s the Windy City on Thursday, with winds steady at around 25 miles per hour and gusting to 40 around Caswell Park, where the softball state tournament is being played.
No eye-watering clouds of dust have been raised off the fields by the bluster. Yet. The Caswell Park facilities manager said the staff has been diligent in watering the fields to minimize blowing dust. Bless their hearts.
And, yes, we know Chicago’s nickname was coined by a 19th century New York newspaper wag who reported that the city’s politicians were “full of hot air.”
So far, one small facilities change of note: The Rogers/Forest Lake Class 4A semifinal has been moved from Field 2 in the central portion of Caswell Park to Field 6, which is on the western edge of the facility. The move was made to avoid delaying the start time, scheduled for 2 p.m. Consolation games on Field 2 are running significantly behind.
Semifinals
THURSDAY
Tap on the game for a postgame summary
Class 4A, 2 p.m.
Class 3A, 2 p.m.
Championship games
FRIDAY
Class 4A: Rogers (21-3) vs. New Prague (21-3), 10 a.m.
Class 3A: Cretin-Derham Hall (20-6) vs. Mankato East (19-6), noon
Class 2A: Randolph (26-1) vs. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (24-2), 2 p.m.
Class 1A: New Ulm Cathedral (25-2) vs. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (17-4), 4 p.m.
Class 4A quarterfinals
Tap on the game for a postgame summary
WEDNESDAY
Class 3A quarterfinals
WEDNESDAY
Class 2A quarterfinals
WEDNESDAY
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Tournament brackets
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Tickets
Cost ranges from $8 to $13. Tickets must be purchased online at mshsl.org/tickets.
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Streaming
The Neighborhood Sports Network will stream state tournament games. A subscription is required. Link to the streams here.
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More coverage
The Star Tribune will publish stories and other content related to these state championships and more this week. Keep up by checking startribune.com/preps each day. Thank you for reading and subscribing.
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Tournament information
Star Tribune prep writers David La Vaque and Jim Paulsen offer their predictions for the high school football championship games this weekend.
