The ticker

Softball

The Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Softball

State Tournament, played annually since 1977, began Thursday and runs through today at Caswell Park in North Mankato. Here is a snapshot look at the tournament:

Class A

Thursday, June 6

Quarterfinals

• South Ridge (18-5) vs. No. 1 New York Mills

(23-2), 1 p.m.

• No. 5 Badger/Greenbush-Middle River (21-4) vs. No. 4 Waterville-

Elysian-Morristown (22-0), 1 p.m.

• Isle (18-3) vs. No. 2 Randolph (22-2), 1 p.m.

• New Ulm Cathedral (22-2) vs. No. 3 Edgerton/SW MN Christian (17-5), 1 p.m.

Championship semifinals and consolation semifinals 7 p.m.

Friday, June 7

Consolation final 9 a.m.

Third place 11 a.m.

Championship 2:30 p.m.

New York Mills is the returning two-time defending champion. The Eagles are making their seventh consecutive state tournament appearance and are on a 10-game winning streak. South Ridge, the quarterfinal opponent for New York Mills, is making its state tournament debut. Senior pitcher Celia Olesiak bats a team-best .414 for South Ridge. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River placed sixth in 2018 and is making its ninth state tournament trip. Sophomore infielder Erika Howell bats .544 for the Gators. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown is making its state tournament debut. Junior pitcher Trista Herring is undefeated with 195 strikeouts. Isle is making its third state tournament appearance, but first since 2003. Isle senior catcher Grace Carlson was selected MVP of the Great River Conference. Randolph placed third in 2018 and returns as the No. 2 seed. Sophomore catcher Megan Erickson bats a team-best .536.

State softball

New Ulm Cathedral is a 17-time state participant, including a fourth-place finish in 2018. Edgerton/SW MN Christian was the runner-up to New York Mills in 2018. The Eagles are a two-time runner-up and one-time Class A champion.

Class AA

Thursday, June 6

Quarterfinals

• Esko (18-6) vs. No. 1 Norwood-Young America (23-2), 9 a.m.

• No. 5 LeSueur-Henderson (18-7) vs. No. 4 Thief River Falls/Goodridge (23-3), 9 a.m.

• Annandale (17-8) vs. No. 2 Rochester Lourdes (22-3), 11 a.m.

• Concordia Academy (21-4) vs. No. 3 Pipestone Area (24-2), 11 a.m.

Championship semifinals 5 p.m.

Consolation semifinals 7 p.m.

Friday, June 7

Consolation final 9 a.m.

Third place 11 a.m.

Championship 2 p.m.

A new champion will emerge from this classification. Esko is making its fourth consecutive state tournament appearance and 10th overall. The Eskomos placed sixth in 2018. Norwood-Young America is making its state tournament debut. To accomplish that, the Raiders had to defeat Maple Lake, the defending Class AA champion, twice in the Section 5AA final. LeSueur-Henderson is making its fourth state appearance since 2014. In 2014, the Giants were the Class AA runner-up. Thief River Falls/Goodridge is making its second state tournament appearance in the past three seasons. Junior pitcher Alexis Huot hits a team-best .494 for the Prowlers. Annandale, a fourth-place finisher in 2018, lost 5-4 to St. Cloud Cathedral in the section final, then came back to win 3-2 in the elimination game. Rochester Lourdes is making its first state tournament appearance. Senior infielder Katie Virgin leads the Eagles with a .493 batting average. Concordia Academyis making its third state tournament appearance and first since 2016. The Beacons’ Taylor Brunn, a senior infielder, is Minnesota’s all-time hits leader. She is batting .624. Pipestone Area was third in 2018. The Arrows are a two-time Class AA runner-up and one-time champ. Senior infielder Mandi Miller leads the Arrows with a .453 average.

Class AAA

Thursday, June 6

Quarterfinals

• Visitation (11-14) vs. No. 1 Mankato West (23-1), 11 a.m.

• No. 5 Benilde-St. Margaret’s (16-8) vs. No. 4

• Cloquet (19-4), 11 a.m.

Detroit Lakes (17-6) vs. No. 2 Northfield (18-3), 11 a.m.

• Mahtomedi (13-8-1) vs. No. 3 Becker (19-5), 11 a.m.

Championship and consolation semifinals 5 p.m.

Friday, June 7

Consolation final 9 a.m.

Third place 11 a.m.

Championship 1:30 p.m.

A new champion will emerge from this class as well. Visitation returns to the state tournament for the third time since 2015. Mankato West, the Class AAAA champion in 2016, is making its ninth state tournament appearance. Senior infielder Kenzie Grunst has 10 home runs this season for the Scarlets. Benilde-St. Margaret’s is making its third state tournament trip in the past four seasons. Cloquet is making its third state tournament trip and first since 2012. Detroit Lakes is making its state tournament debut. Junior outfielder Laura Prussia leads the Lakers with a .533 batting average and nine home runs. Northfield is also making is state tournament debut. Sophomore pitcher Brynn Hostettler has 14 victories and 229 strikeouts. Mahtomediwon the Section 4AAA championship for the second time since 2016. Freshman infielder Olivia Van Hout leads the Zephyrs with a .477 average. Becker is making its sixth state tournament trip. The Bulldogs have held opponents to a .158 batting average.

Class AAAA

Thursday, June 6

Quarterfinals

• St. Michael-Albertville (19-5) vs. No. 1 Forest Lake (22-2), 9 a.m.

• No. 5 Farmington (15-9) vs. No. 4 Stillwater Area (18-9), 9 a.m.

• Edina (16-7) vs. No. 2 Maple Grove (22-2), 9 a.m.

• Eden Prairie (19-6) vs. No. 3 East Ridge (22-2), 9 a.m.

Championship semifinals and consolation semifinals 3 p.m.

Friday, June 7

Consolation final 9 a.m.

Third place 11 a.m.

Championship 1 p.m.

Baseball playoffs

Section 7A

Thursday, May 30

Carlton-6

Nashwauk-Keewatin-1

Kristan Herman pitched six innings of shutout ball in leading the Bulldogs to the win. Herman fanned four and gave up six hits in the win. Ryan Gray was 2-for2 with a double and two RBIs and two runs scored, Austin Parker was 2-for-4 and Kaden Crane added a double and an RBI for Carlton.

Ely-8

Cherry-3

Ely-3

Nashwauk-Keewatin-0 (N-K eliminated)

Cook County-20

Littlefork-Bigfalls-3

South Ridge-11

Northwoods-6

Mason Lane handled the pitching duties for the Panthers giving up five earned runs on seven hits and seven strike outs. Offensively Logan Young doubled and had two hits and two runs scored as well as knocking in a run. Joey Janke had a big day with a homer and two RBIs and Conner Bushbaum also homered in the win with two runs scored and had an RBI. Jaxson Bennett connected for a double and three RBIs and Matt Clark had a pair of RBIs.

Tuesday, June 4

Ely-4

Cook County-0 (Cook County eliminated)

South Ridge-2

Carlton-0

Game was suspended in the bottom of the third and was scheduled to continued Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Wade Stadium.

Section 7AA

Thursday, May 30

Eveleth-Gilbert-5

Moose Lake-Willow River-1

Eveleth-Gilbert had a five run 5th inning to pull away to the win in Nashwauk on Thursday. Logan Privette took the loss on the mound scattering seven hits in six innings.

Cooper Bexell had two hits and the only RBI for ML-WR.

Duluth Marshall-11

Greenway-1

Eveleth-Gilbert-4

Greenway-2

(Greenway eliminated)

Esko-11

Virginia-5

Mason Vinje wrapped up the pitching win by not allowing a run in two innings of work. Josh Bolgrean, Peyton Koskela, Tyler Koskela and Vinje all recorded two hits for the Eskomos. Peyton Koskela also had two RBIs, Tyler Koskela scored two runs and Vinje had an RBI. Hunter Sunde recorded a double and had an RBI, Avery Lilijegren doubled and scored three runs and Dan Hoffman doubled, scored a run and had an RBI.

Aitkin-7

Mora-6

Esko-11

Mora-1 (5 innings)

(Mora eliminated)

Vinje pitched five innings in notching his second win of the day while Bolgrean went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, James LeGarde had three hits including a double and a triple and two RBIs. Peyton Koskela jumped into the hit parade by going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs and Tyler Koskela was also 2-for-3 with a run scored.

Tuesday, June 4

Esko-1 (8-innings)

Eveleth-Gilbert-0

(Eveleth-Gilbert eliminated)

James LeGarde was magnificent on the mound for the Eskomos who won the extra inning game when the Eveleth-Gilbert pitcher had a throwing error allowing Josh Bolgrean to score the lone run of the game. Bolgrean went 3-for-4 and LeGarde aided his own cause by going 2-for-4 at the plate.

Duluth Marshall-10

Aitkin-0

Esko-5

Aitkin-4 (Aitkin eliminated)

The Eskomos stayed alive in the double elimination tournament by scoring four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Noah Furcht went the entire seven innings on the mound and gave up only one earned run while striking out seven Gobblers in the process. Furcht also had an RBI and scored a run for Esko. Peyton Koskela doubled and had an RBI for Esko while Dawson Hoffman added an RBI for the winners.

Section 7AAA

Thursday, May 30

Cloquet-6

Hibbing-5 (See story)

Grand Rapids-8

Hermantown-3

Duluth Denfeld-2

Chisago Lakes-0

Saturday, June 1

Hermantown-2

North Branch-1

Chisago Lakes-4

Cloquet-2 (See story Page 18)

(Cloquet eliminated)

Duluth Denfeld-6

Grand Rapids-5

State track

The 2019 Track & Field State Meet is scheduled for June 7-8 at Hamline University in St. Paul. Here are some notes about the meet:

Schedule: Posted on the Minnesota State High School League website at http://www.mshsl.org

Webcast: Free livestream at http://www.prepspotlight.tv.

Tickets: $8 for students and $12 for adults per single session.

Gates open: 8 a.m. Results: Posted on the League’s website at http://www.mshsl.org

Social media: Follow the meet on the League’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @MSHSL and @MSHSLJohn.

Cloquet qualifiers

Cloquet High School athletes in the state meet today and Saturday:

Boys 4x800 meter relay team: Mario Genereau, Dennis Osvold, Blaine Bong and Logan Dushkin with alternates Cale Prosen and AJ Maijala

Boys 3200 meters:

Jordan Allen

Girls 100 hurdles:

Olivia Jameson

Girls high jump:

Olivia Jameson