NORTH MANKATO — At the start of the season few believed Mankato East softball would win its fourth-straight section 2AAA title.
Those few souls who believed in the Cougars out of the jump felt like the smartest people on the planet at Caswell Park Thursday. The rest were left to feast on crow.
All the Cougars needed was eight hits and a solid outing from seventh grade pitcher Chloe Grams to take a 5-2 section championship win over St. Peter.
“It feels great,” senior Carlie Wendinger said. “It’s super fun to be in a winning atmosphere and to do it with some teammates that have done it before. Just really fun and exciting.
“Nobody expected us to win sections.”
Now the Cougars advance to next week’s state tournament, where they aim to win their third state championship in four seasons. The quarterfinal and potential semifinal games will keep East close to home at Caswell Park.
But the memory of last season’s state semifinal loss remains a thought in East’s head. That 2-0 loss to Rocori spoiled East’s chance of three-straight state titles and cementing its dynasty.
That was last season. The chance to win three state titles in four seasons and cement the dynasty run is still at play.
“Last year was different,” senior Emily Hacker said. “We had so much weight on our shoulders. We were favored to win. This is how we like to do it. Go in, see what we can slide through and surprise some people.”
Thursday wasn’t the first time the Cougars and Saints met in the 2026 section tournament. The two collided in Saturday’s semifinals, a 7-3 Cougars win.
The Saints made their way back to the title game thanks to Tuesday’s heroics from Courtlynn Spessard’s two-run walk-off home run for a 3-1 win over Jordan in the elimination bracket’s championship game.
But with two outs and two runners in scoring position in a 2-2 tie in the top of the third inning St. Peter’s Devyn Welp came up to bat. A glorious opportunity for the Saints to pull away and do more damage to Grams.
But Grams, who won’t be eligible to vote in a presidential election until 2032 at the earliest, did not back down. Welp swung and missed at strike 1. She looked at strike 2.
Grams hurled the next pitch. Welp swung and missed for strike 3.
It was the second of Grams’ three punchouts on the day. It was also the punchout that swayed momentum fully back to East.
An RBI triple from Wendinger in the bottom of the inning gave East a 3-2 lead. An RBI triple from Ella Fugazzi and an RBI sacrifice fly from Wendinger in the bottom of the fifth gave the Cougars the insurance runs they needed to breathe comfortably.
And after that strikeout which ended the top half of the third Grams didn’t blink. The Saints could muster a two-out single from Spessard, who was thrown out trying to stretch her hit into a double to close the top half of the fifth, and a two-out walk from Welp in the sixth.
Grams final line in her first section title game was two earned runs off six hits and three walks with three strikeouts across seven innings.
“We knew how good of a pitcher she could be for us,” Hacker said. “What we needed her to do was keep her composure on the mound and just get mentally tough. That’s what happened, and that’s a product of team captains supporting her and coaches who believe in her.”
Freshman Kenley Staunton finished 2 for 4, scoring twice and swiping two bases. Fugazzi went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base. Hacker was 2 for 2 with two stolen bases. Harper Stangl swiped two bags.