Caledonia and Southland Advance in State Softball Consolation Bracket

NORTH MANKATO — The softball teams from Caledonia and Southland secured their spots in the next round of the state consolation bracket on Wednesday. The No. 3 Warriors triumphed over No. 7 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton with a score of 5-3 in the Class 2A consolation semifinal, while No. 4 Southland defeated No. 8 Sebeka, also by a score of 5-3, at Caswell Park.

With this victory, Caledonia (27-3) is set to face No. 4 Rockford for the Class 2A consolation championship at 11 a.m. Thursday. Meanwhile, Southland (21-3) will compete against No. 3 Barnum in the Class 1A consolation title game at 11:30 a.m. on the same day.

The Warriors initially took a 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run by Avery Augedahl. However, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton responded with a two-run homer from Justice Sanders in the third inning, putting them ahead. Caledonia quickly regained the lead with a two-run shot from Nora Staggemeyer, followed by an RBI double from Ashlyn Reinhart and a single from Vivian Kittleson that contributed to a two-run fifth inning. Augedahl's strong performance on the mound, yielding just three runs on five hits, was crucial to their success.

In the other semifinal, Southland fell behind 1-0 before rallying with five consecutive runs, including a three-run second inning and a two-run fifth. Key contributions came from Camryn Deters, Kiley Koenigs, and Shannon Kiefer, while the Rebels capitalized on four errors from Sebeka. Laney Weis delivered a stellar pitching performance with 11 strikeouts, allowing three runs on six hits.

Both teams will look to build on this momentum as they vie for consolation titles on Thursday.