MANKATO — There’s no betting odds on DraftKings for this one.
There’s no playing for a pennant. No one will claim a section title.
But bragging rights throughout Mankato have a different feeling of satisfaction. Those will be put front and center Tuesday as Mankato East and Mankato West collide in both baseball and softball.
The softball game between the Scarlets and Cougars is 5 p.m. at North Mankato’s Caswell Softball Complex. The baseball showdown is 6:30 p.m. at ISG Field, home of Bethany Lutheran College and the Mankato MoonDogs as well as the Scarlets in 2026.
So, what should fans look for in the games? Here are a few things I’d keep an eye on:
Softball
Both squads have deep lineups, and within those, the 1-6 batters are an even greater nightmare.
When you look at the Cougars (3-1), you have shortstop Emily Hacker and her .467 batting average and five RBIs, bested only by the six driven in by London Hart. She doesn’t just come up with hits. She comes up with hits in big moments.
Those big moments also come when you have catcher Harper Stangl and third baseman Ella Fugazzi protecting Hacker in the lineup. When I say East’s lineup is deep, it’s deep.
Then there’s West (4-2), where it’s hard not to mention fifth-year starting catcher Lydia Banse. During the Scarlets current three-game winning streak, she’s gone 6 for 11 with three doubles, two home runs and four RBIs.
To go with Banse there’s the surging Riley Fitzloff with her .524 batting average, two home runs and seven RBIs while going a perfect 5 for 5 on stolen base attempts. Maleah Grunst also has a .524 batting average with an OPS of 1.236.
Oh, and proceed with caution when facing Lyla Baker. She has two home runs and six RBIs with a batting average at .444.
The real fun with this game lies in the circle, which just so happens to be littered with intrigue.
For East you have seventh grader Chloe Grams. Yes, you read that right, a seventh grader. She’s had the ball in her hand for all 26 innings thus far, striking out 24 and walking three with a 2.96 ERA and a WHIP of 1.15.
For West you have sophomore Norah Davis. Only Northfield has done considerable damage to her in five starts this season with teams being bottled to four earned runs or fewer in her other four starts. Watch out for her changeup.
Baseball
Tuesday will be the first time I watch either baseball team this season and, quite frankly, ever after starting here in August. This was somewhat by design.
See, I can tell off the jump that No. 3 East (3-2) senior Carson Hart is an absolute speed demon and a nightmare to deal with in the batter’s box. I mean, this is the first kid I’ve seen in a decade go a combined 4 for 4 with a home run, four runs scored and four stolen bases on a Wednesday then go 0 for 1 with three walks, two stolen bases and two runs scored in a single game on Thursday.
Yes, that happened last week.
With No. 5 West (4-0) I can tell you they survived the trap game leading up to Tuesday’s collision in the form of a 5-4 win over Rochester John Marshall.
How do I know it was a trap game? A team that outscored its previous three opponents by a combined score 22-6 with no errors suddenly got outhit and committed six errors against John Marshall.
So yeah, this is the first time I’ll see East and West on a baseball field. There’s a really good chance this is more than just the first of two showdowns on the schedule so far.
What Tuesday brings is an opportunity to truly showcase what a rivalry baseball game looks like.