NORTH MANKATO — As expected, the Mankato East and Mankato West softball teams advanced through the opening two rounds of the Section 2AAA tournament Thursday at Caswell Park, setting up a showdown Saturday at noon in the winner’s bracket final.
East, the No.1 seed and top-ranked Class AAA team, pummeled Worthington 18-0 in four innings before downing Marshall (14-7) 3-0 in the semifinals.
West, the No. 2-seed and defending state champion, got past Jordan 4-1 in the quarterfinals and then held off New Prague (14-7) 9-5 in Game 2.
East (20-2) banged out 16 hits in cruising past Worthington with sophomore pitcher Kylinn Stangl and freshman second baseman Carlie Wenginger leading the way with three hits apiece.
Senior center fielder Sydney Jacobs and sophomore Jayda Swalve chipped in two hits each, while Jacobs and Stangl each scored three times. Stangl smacked a home run, and senior shortstop Peyton Stevermer cracked a two-run, inside-the-park homer.
Stangl didn’t allow a runner over three frames before Hailey Petzel gave up one hit in the final inning. Stangl struck out four while Petzel fanned one.
Freshman left fielder Emily Hacker also scored three runs for the winners.
Things were a bit tougher for the Cougars in Game 2 as Stangl and the Tigers’ Olivia Houseman dueled for much of the contest. Stangl ended up with eight strikeouts and one walk in winning a two-hitter. Houseman gave up three hits while fanning nine, walking one and hitting a batter.
East scored an unearned run in the bottom of the second before sophomore right fielder Madeline Beaty’s single set up Stangl’s two-run blast in the sixth.
“Marshall is a good team and that win really boosted our confidence going into further games,” Stangl said. “We’re going to be seeing tougher teams the further we get into postseason. I was really zoned in today knowing i had to keep my cool in the circle and at the plate to help my team because they’ve had my back all season.
“It felt great to hit that home run. I was able to get on top of the rise ball she was throwing the whole game and luckily I sent it out. Saturday is going to be another diamond battle with West, and we’ll have to go back and play even harder than we did the first two times.”
East defeated West 3-2 and 4-2 during the regular season
West (17-4) used a three-run, third-inning burst to knock off Jordan in its opener. Junior right-hander Brooklyn Geerdes allowed four hits while striking out seven and walking none.
The Scarlets scored a run in the first when sophomore Hannah Hagen walked and eventually scored on senior center fielder Madelyn Bode’s RBI single.
Bode laced and RBI double in the third-inning surge while senior right fielder Carlee Emery and freshman catcher Lydia Banse added run-scoring singles. Hagen also had a base hit and scored a run.
Bode finished with two of the Scarlets’ seven hits.
West scored four runs in the bottom of the first against New Prague and eventually expanded its lead to 9-2 heading into the final frame.
However, New Prague made things interesting by scoring three runs and loading the bases with two outs. Lacie Crawford then launched a deep drive to center field that Bode back-pedaled and grabbed near the fence.
“Hats off to New Prague, they’re a good team,” West coach Don Krusemark said. “We were waiting for them to start hitting the whole game, but I like the way our girls persevered and got outs. Brooklyn provided those moments where we could get those outs. We’ve got good team so the short game is something we like to do if we get the opportunity, and we also have the people who can hit it out. … We try to use them both to the best of our advantage.”
West’s short game sparked the first-inning rally before senior shortstop Breck Carlson’s two-run bullet over the left-center field fence gave the Scarlets a 6-1 lead after three innings. Hagen led an 11-hit attack with a trio of hits while Jillian Olsen, Bode and Basne chipped in two each.
Catherine Ambroz led the Trojans with three hits while Jordyn Marsh and Mekenna Fischer tallied two each.