The Caledonia softball team staged a legendary comeback through the elimination bracket, winning three games in four days to earn the right to battle the Randolph Rockets in the Sectional final on May 30.
Despite winning the first game, Caledonia fell short in the last game of the tournament, losing 6-0 to the Rockets in the second elimination game.
Against Zumbrota-Mazeppa
On Saturday, May 25, Braelyn Lange started for the Warriors, and went 2 and 1/3rd innings, giving up five runs and striking out one. Avery Augedahl would come in relief in the 3rd inning and only allowed one run while striking out three.
Scoring kept swapping between teams, with the Warriors leading 2-1 after the 1st inning while Z-M struck back in the 3rd to go up 5-3. The Warriors hit back to tie up the score 5-5 in the bottom of the 3rd and eventually taking the lead in the bottom of the 4th by a score of 7-5. Despite tacking on one more run in the 5th by Z-M, Caledonia would win in this tight game, 7-6.
Top hitters included Elsa Blum who went 3-4, Adrienne Lange going 2-4, and Augedahl at 1-4 with a big home run later in the game.
Against Winona Cotter
Tuesday, May 28 saw two games for the Warriors, starting with Winona Cotter. This battle was a pitching and defensive duel between the teams. Braelyn Lange started in the circle and would go all eight innings, only allowing three hits and striking out eight. Despite nine hits on the day for the Warriors, the score would stay 0-0 through 7 innings, and the walk off run batted in off a Kennedy Hansen single was Blum.
Top hitters for the Warriors included Hansen going 2-4, Annah Anderson and Aubrie Klug going 2-3, and finally Adrienne Lange and Blum adding a hit each as well.
Against St. Charles
The second game of May 28 was against the St. Charles Saints — a rematch from their first Sectional loss early in the tournament. This game turned out very differently as Augedahl started for the Warriors, going all seven innings and only allowing two runs while striking out five.
The game started out with neither team putting a run on the board until the Saints did at the top of the 3rd inning. Caledonia would score in each of the next three innings to go up 7-1, and the Saints could only tag on one more run for a final score of 7-2.
Top hitters for this rematch included Braelyn Lange and Anderson both going 2-4 and batting in two runs each. Augedahl, Adrienne Lange, Hansen, Paizley Lange and Klug would all add a hit each.
Against Randolph
Sectionals is a double elimination tournament, so the climb back meant that the Warriors needed to beat the Randolph Rockets twice to win the tournament on Thursday, May 30.
The first game had Braelyn Lange start once again on the mound. She would go nine innings, allowing two runs and also strike out seven. Both Caledonia and Randolph would score in the first inning, and Randolph would take the lead in the 3rd. The game stalemated until the 7th, when Caledonia’s Brairy Proulx pinch hitting, tied up the game with a home run to center field.
The Warriors held on in the bottom of the inning and the game went into extra innings. Caledonia scored three go ahead runs in the top of the ninth, and would hold on to win 5-2 in the first game.
Augedahl took the circle in the second game. Giving up six runs total, but only two early in the game, she also struck out six. The second game saw the Warriors’ bats go quiet, without any runs batted in. Randolph held a two-run lead until the sixth inning where they went up by six runs. With the lead insurmountable, the Warriors fell to the Rockets 6-0, and took the runner-up spot in the 2024 Sectional Tournament.
The Warriors softball team had an incredible season, going 24-4 and earning the No. 2 seed in the section, while also winning a conference championship.
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