Area Softball Teams On Cruise Control As They Head Towards State Tournament

(KNSI) – Two central Minnesota teams took big steps towards making the Minnesota State High School League softball tournament on Tuesday.

St. Cloud Cathedral is considered one of the best teams in the state, and they have played like it through the Section 6AA bracket. Cathedral has won every postseason game by at least eight runs so far, but it was supposed to get tougher when they got #2 Kimball Tuesday at Rivers Edge Park. Instead, it was the same old song as the Crusaders closed it out in just five innings with an 11-1 victory.

It is a double-elimination tournament, so Cathedral would need to lose consecutive games in the championship round to miss out on a trip to Mankato next week for the Class AA tournament. They’ll play Kimball yet again in the section final as the Cubs dropped down to the consolation bracket and took care of Pierz easily.

ROCORI is the top seed in Section 8AAA and has also had a cakewalk so far through their bracket. The Spartans clipped the wings of Alexandria on Tuesday, 13-0. Alexandria and Willmar play at Tech High School on Thursday to determine who will escape to the championship round from the elimination bracket at 4:00 p.m. ROCORI gets the winner at 6:00, and, if needed, those two teams would meet again on Friday at 4:00 p.m.

Cathedral is widely regarded as having a good chance at a state title this season. ROCORI, which finished in third at states a year ago thanks to a bruising 8-6 win in the consolation bracket final, has a more cloudy future. They’re currently ranked 10th overall in Class AAA and would have to upset a top seed to lift the trophy. They fell to St. Peter 6-2 a season ago in the quarterfinal round.

In Section 8AAAA, Sartell clipped the St. Cloud Crush 1-0 in the elimination bracket. The Sabres will have to win three in a row to move on to states. First up is a must-have game at Brainerd High School Thursday versus St. Michael-Albertville. The winner would then need to double dip against the Warriors with games scheduled for Thursday and possibly Friday.

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