The Star Tribune's Jim Paulsen is at Caswell Park in North Mankato to take you through all four championship games Friday. Read Thursday's quarterfinals coverage here and Friday's semifinals coverage here.
. . .
Royals score again, and we see a pattern
11:19 a.m.
Rogers takes a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth on a single to left by Kami Messer.
Rogers is playing solid defense today. The Royals just deflated a New Prague threat with a 4-6-3 double play. Don't see many of those in softball with the shortish baselines.
Rogers pitcher AnnaBelle Waldoch walked the bases loaded and got out of it. Loading the bases and not brining runners home is what killed Rosemount against Rogers on Thursday.
Rosemount held off Forest Lake 3-2 to win the 4A third-place title.
Rogers scores the day's first run
10:18 a.m.
Rogers takes a 1-0 lead with a run-scoring double into the right-field gap by Olivia Ohme.
The Royals used a double play to get out of the bottom of the first. New Prague's Jordyn Marsh flew out to right, and Rogers right fielder Ella Schreiner threw out the New Prague baserunner, Lenna Britten, trying to tag up and go to third.
Marsh got three strikeouts in the first inning but gave up a two-out double to Kami Messer
Raising champions
10:06 a.m.
Angie (Recknor) Waldoch is the mother of Rogers starting pitcher AnnaBelle Waldoch. She is also a two-time Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year, from when she pitched at Hopkins in the late 1990s, and was an All-America selection as a pitcher at the University of Minnesota.
She's worked with many of the Rogers players in the high school softball offseason but said she steps away from the team during the season in deference to other coaches, high school and club, who have been with them.
While she has traded her role as ace for one as a mother, that doesn't mean she's not deeply involved with her two softball-playing daughters.
"My roles have flipped," Recknor-Waldoch said. "Now I'm catching them. It's not as much pitching."
She said she bought a new glove recently just for the task.
"I paid $200 for a Rawlings first baseman's glove because they don't make lefthanded catcher's mitts," she said. "They've already burned a hole on the pocket ad broken three strings on the webbing from all the catching I've been doing."
The games before the games
9:43 a.m.
Action is already under way at the softball state tournament at Caswell Park in North Mankato.
The first game to get started Friday was the Class 4A third-place game between Rosemount and Forest Lake. It's the matchup many thought would happen in the championship game. The final pits New Prague against Rogers at 10 am.
Other finals: Class 3A — Mankato East vs. Cretin-Derham Hall, noon; 2A — Randolph vs. Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial, 2 p.m.; 1A — New Ulm Cathedral vs. Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley, 4 p.m.
It's much less windy today, but that means the gnats are swarming.
Championship games
FRIDAY
Tap on the game for a live update or postgame summary
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.
Semifinals
THURSDAY
Tap on the game for a postgame summary
Class 4A, 2 p.m.
Class 3A, 2 p.m.
Cretin-Derham Hall 5, St. Francis 4
Class 2A, 4:30 p.m.
Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 8, St. Cloud Cathedral 3
Class 1A, 4:30 p.m.
New Ulm Cathedral 4, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 2
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 8, West Lutheran 2
Class 4A quarterfinals
Tap on the game for a postgame summary
WEDNESDAY
New Prague 5, St. Michael-Albertville 1
Class 3A quarterfinals
Tap on the game for a postgame summary
WEDNESDAY
Cretin-Derham Hall 8, Benilde-St. Margaret's 0
Mankato East 16, North Branch 2
Class 2A quarterfinals
Tap on the game for a postgame summary
WEDNESDAY
Randolph 3, Glencoe-Silver Lake 2
Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 7, Dassel-Cokato 1
St. Cloud Cathedral 2, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 1
Class 1A quarterfinals
Tap on the game for a postgame summary
WEDNESDAY
New Ulm Cathedral 8, Northome/Kelliher 1
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 10, Moose Lake/Willow River 0
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 9, Red Lake Falls 7
West Lutheran 14, Blooming Prairie 7
. . .
Tournament brackets
Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A | Class 1A
. . .
Tickets
Cost ranges from $8 to $13. Tickets must be purchased online at mshsl.org/tickets.
. . .
Streaming
The Neighborhood Sports Network will stream state tournament games. A subscription is required. Link to the streams here.
. . .
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.
. . .
Tournament information
Live from state softball: The wind let up. Anybody bring bug spray?
