Section softball season is here

Holy Angels secures top-seed in Section 3AAA

The Bloomington Kennedy softball team heads into the Section 6AAAA tournament with the No. 4 seed after closing out the regular season with two wins in its last three games.

The team defeated Hopkins 5-4 on May 14 and Washburn 10-3 on May 15 before wrapping up the week and regular season with an 8-4 loss to Two Rivers May 16.

Against Hopkins, Kennedy led 4-3 after three innings before the Royals tied it up in the fifth inning. The Eagles junior Emily Spencer drove in Allie Sheehan for the receiving run with a hard-hit double to left field as the two had two hits including a double in the game. Pitcher Emma Skibbie also had a pair of hits while keeping the Royals off balance from the pitcher’s circle. She fanned five batters allowing four unearned runs on five hits. She walked three batters while earning the complete game win.

Kennedy eighth grader Elena Perez picked up the win against Washburn going five strong innings. She struck out five batters while scattering two hits and two walks with three unearned runs before Noelia Fierro also struck out five batters in two innings of one-hit relief work.

The success continued at the plate for both pitchers with Perez driving a pair of doubles and a walk. Fierro added a home run and drove in three runs. Spencer smacked a pair of home runs and drew two walks. She drove in two runs and scored twice.

Kennedy blasted its way to a 7-0 lead over Washburn by scoring seven times in the second inning to set the tone for the road game.

Perez opened the inning with a double to center field as the first of 12 batters to come to the plate. She would do it again this time with two outs later in the inning before being stranded at third. Kennedy earned three walks and Spencer deposited her first home run o of the day over the center field fence.

Kennedy opened the sixth inning with back-to-back home runs by Fierro and Spencer.

Two Rivers used a four-run fourth inning to top Kennedy 8-4 in the regular season finale. Kennedy clawed its way back with three runs in the sixth inning with RBI singles from Gigi Morabito and Sasha Nicholson before a bases-loaded fielder’s choice from Ava Taylor allowed Morabito to score from third base to make it an 8-4 game with one out.

Kennedy softball received the No. 4 seed as they moved to Section 6AAAA and opened the double-elimination tournament against No. 5 St. Louis Park on Monday afternoon after this edition went to press. All games in the section will be played at Pamela Park in Edina with the finals scheduled for May 30 at 4:30 p.m. and if needed 6:30 p.m. to determine who will represent the section at the Class AAAA state tournament.

Robbinsdale Armstrong received the No. 1 seed followed by No. 2 Edina, No. 3 Wayzata, No. 6 Hopkins; No. 7 Roosevelt/South; No. 8 Washburn and No. 9 Southwest.

Section 3AAA

Holy Angels (14-2) received the No. 1 seed in Section 3AAA and hosts the winner of No. 5 South St. Paul at No. 4 Apple Valley at Lincoln Field at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Richfield (9-4) received the No. 3 seed and hosted No. 6 Highland Park on Tuesday at Richfield Middle School. The winner advances to face No. 2 Simley on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in the double-elimination bracket.

M Health Fairview Sports Complex in Woodbury will host the final two rounds May 29-30 with the finals set for 3 p.m. on May 30 followed by a game at 5 p.m. if necessary.

The Stars won the final three games of the regular season by generating 34 runs including 14 runs each in wins over Mahtomedi and Robbinsdale Armstrong before finishing out the regular season with a 6-2 win over Totino-Grace on Thursday.

The Stars used two hits each from Anna Delsing, Anja Anderson, Zoe Rimstad, Eve Jastrow and Erin Kennedy to support junior pitcher Autumn Johnson who struck out seven Eagles in the complete game victory. She allowed two runs on 10 hits.

Against Armstrong, Holy Angels opened a 14-4 lead through four innings including scoring six runs in the second inning. Kennedy, Ryli Kendrick and Rimstad each had a double as Rimstad and Anderson each had three hits.

Holy Angels used big innings to get past Mahtomedi 14-7, scoring seven times in the second inning and five more times in the fifth inning.

Anderson went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Jastrow launched a home run to bring in three runs and Rimstad had a triple while going 2-for-5, driving in four runs.

Section 2AAAA

Jefferson (12-8) received the No. 4 seed in Section 2AAAA and opened play against No. 5 Minnetonka on Tuesday at Miller Park in Eden Prairie. All section games will be played at Miller Park. The second round is Thursday with elimination games, semifinals on May 28 with the championship round on May 30 at 4:30 p.m.

After winning four straight games, Jefferson enters sections with three consecutive losses scoring two runs over the final three games during a span of five games in five days last week. The Jaguars finished the regular season with a 5-0 loss to Blaine on Friday. Seniors Regan Friederich and Sophie Rouland came through with base hits for the Jaguars and Maddie Pieper had the lone walk.

Maria Torp and Elizabeth Jeschke combined to strike out five batters in six innings.

Thursday’s 1-0 Metro West Conference loss to New Prague featured quite the pitcher’s duel with Jefferson freshman Brooke Borwege going toe-to-toe with Trojans senior Jordyn Marsh.

The pair combined to strike out 21 batters, allowing just six hits without a walk.

Marsh got the upper hand in the matchup with a second-inning home run for what proved to be the difference.

Jefferson had four hits including two from Rudquist and one each from Alex Pauly and Grace Rolek.