Cathedral, ROCORI high school softball teams advance to section semifinals after wins on Thursday

ST. CLOUD — Cathedral head softball coach Todd Dingmann gave a big fist pump after the last out of a Crusaders 4-2 win on Thursday. 

The No. 1 seed faced off against No. 5 seed Holdingford in the Section 6-2A quarterfinals.

Dingmann could sense some nerves and tried to relax the Cathedral players. They held on for the first five innings as Holdingford led 2-1. Dingmann gathered the players for a pep talk before the bottom of the sixth. It worked, with the Crusaders scoring three runs to advance in the winner's bracket. 

"You just need to keep the mindset that there's a lot of game left," Dingmann said. "The girls feed off of each other's energy and keep plugging away, which worked out today."

Katherine Bell put Cathedral on the board first with an RBI single in the third inning after Summer Zamora hit a double to start the inning. 

That lead remained for two innings until Holdingford took advantage of a couple hits and a walk to bring in two runners. 

"We knew that every game in this tournament was going to be tough," said Cathedral's Ella Voit. "We just continued to stay focused and understand what we needed to do. This team is a family and we're always there to cheer for each other."

The bottom of the sixth inning started with a walk from Kailee Falconer. She stole second base and Rachel Voit singled her home to tie the game at 2-2. 

McKenna Buckentine recorded a single after Voit's hit and Tayla Vought walked to load the bases with one out. Zamora stepped up to the plate with a mixture of nerves and confidence. 

"Those first two hits were definitely a confidence boost and it got me prepared for that at-bat," Zamora said. "I just found a good pitch and was able to pull it down the line."

The ball stayed fair along the third-base line and Zamora knocked in two runs to give Cathedral a 4-2 lead. After her hit, the Cathedral dugout went crazy. Zamora was substituted for a pinch runner and as she came back to the dugout, her teammates ran over to congratulate her. 

"Once I saw [Summer Zamora] step up to the plate with the bases loaded, I knew we were in good hands," Ella Voit said. "I trust her all the time whether she's at the plate or behind the plate."

Offensively, Cathedral put up the runs needed to win the game, but the defense and pitching kept the run total low for Holdingford. Ella Voit was the leader of that success as she's been the ace for the Crusaders all season. She pitched a complete game,  allowing four hits. The sophomore struck out nine batters in crucial situations that left runners on base for Holdingford. 

Cathedral's defense executed smart plays consistently to get players out and keep runners off the base path. 

"I trust my defense behind me and I know they will get the out," Voit said. "They've had my back all season long and they continue to be great during this tournament."

The next challenge for No. 1 Cathedral will be No. 3 Pequot Lakes. The Crusaders will play at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Miller Field in Rivers Edge Park in Waite Park. Pequot Lakes defeated No. 2 Pierz with a 3-1 score on Thursday night to advance to the semifinal.

Pequot Lakes comes into Tuesday's game with a 20-3 record and was one run away from heading to state in Section 8-2A last season. Cathedral improved to 22-1 with Thursday's win. 

The winner of Tuesday's game will have an advantage on next Thursday's championship game as the winner between Cathedral and Pequot Lakes will only need to win one of the two games to reach the state tournament. 

"This next game is one of the biggest games in the tournament," Zamora said. "We just need to keep that focus for Tuesday because it'll be another great opponent and game."

Section 8-4A, St. Cloud loss

No. 5 Moorhead 6, No. 8 St. Cloud 5

St. Cloud faced elimination on Thursday night as the Crush traveled to Moorhead in the Section 8-4A elimination bracket first round. Moorhead earned the 6-5 win. 

The teams exchanged runs over the first four innings as the score was tied 3-3. Moorhead scored two runs in the fifth inning and another in the sixth to make it a 6-3 game. 

St. Cloud came firing back in the top of the seventh, but the Crush could only score two runs and lost by a single run. 

Olivia Laudenbach went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs, while Mattie Vought went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Amber Orcutt also hit a home run to record a run and an RBI. 

St. Cloud ended the season with an 11-12 record. 

No. 7 Buffalo 8, No. 3 Sartell 3

After getting upset on Tuesday to No. 6 Elk River, the No. 3 seed Sartell Sabres faced elimination against No. 7 seed Buffalo on Thursday. 

Buffalo was able to pull off another upset and win 8-3 over Sartell to eliminate the Sabres from the Section 8-4A tournament. Sartell will end the 2022 season with a 16-6 record. 

Section 8-3A, ROCORI win

No. 1 ROCORI 9, No. 4 Willmar 1

ROCORI kicked off its first game of the Section 8-3A tournament on Thursday after receiving a bye Tuesday. The No. 1 seed Spartans took on No. 4 Willmar and ended up with a 9-1 win. 

The Spartans scored two runs in the first, one run in the third and five runs in the fourth to take an early lead and never look back. 

Shelby Prom had a big night offensively and in the circle. She went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Olivia Schroeder, Madison Terres and Sophia Hess each had an RBI. 

Prom also pitched a complete game giving up one hit, one earned run, two walks and striking out 13 batters. 

ROCORI will face No. 3 seed Alexandria at 4 p.m. Tuesday at ROCORI High School in the section semifinals. The Spartans come into Tuesday's game with a 12-8 record, while the Cardinals have an 8-14 record. 

ROCORI won both regular-season games with 5-3 and 12-8 final scores. The winner of  will only have to win one of the two games for the section championship next Thursday. 

No. 2 Little Falls 11, No. 5 Sauk Rapids-Rice 8

Sauk Rapids-Rice faced was eliminated Thursday as the No. 5 seed Storm faced off against No. 2 seed Little Falls. The Flyers ended up with the 11-8 win and eliminated the Storm from the Section 8-3A tournament. 

The Storm will end the 2022 season with a 2-19 record.

Section 6-2A, Pierz win

No. 2 Pierz 5, No. 4 Albany 3

Albany had a tough task on Thursday as the No. 4 seed Huskies played No. 2 seed Pierz in the elimination bracket. 

Pierz was able to end the game with the 5-3 victory to eliminate Albany from the Section 6-2A tournament. Albany ends the 2022 season with a 15-7 record. 

Brian Mozey is the high school sports reporter for the St. Cloud Times. Reach him at 320-255-8772 or bmozey@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianMozey.

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