Two Area Teams Qualify For State Softball Tournament

(KNSI) – Two area teams have qualified for the state softball tournament.

Cathedral will represent the region in Class AA, and ROCORI has made it in Class AAA. The Crusaders fell to Kimball in the first game of the 6AA championship round, but they had beaten them earlier in the week, meaning they had a cushion due to the double-elimination format.

After falling 8-5, the Crusaders bounced back with a 10-4 victory over the Cubs. Cathedral’s offense was humming in Game 2, ginning up 14 hits to come out on top.

ROCORI also entered Thursday in the catbird’s seat. They had remained undefeated in the winner’s bracket in 8AAA, cruising to a 13-0 win against Alexandria in the semifinals. The Spartans got to watch Alex and Willmar battle it out to see who would advance against them in the title round. The elimination game was played at 4:00, with the winner having to turn around and play again immediately afterwards.

Alex triumphed to set up a rematch with ROCORI. The Spartans then blanked the Cardinals for the second time in three days, besting the birds, 8-0.

State tournament brackets won’t be out until the weekend, but the schedule has been set. All four quarterfinals for each class will be played concurrently at Caswell Park in Mankato. ROCORI will get started at 12:30 p.m., and Cathedral follows at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday. If both teams win, the AAA semifinals are Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. and the AA semis follow at 4:30 p.m.

The title games for all classes are played in Minneapolis at the home of the Gophers on Friday, June 6th.

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