Fairmont American Legion Post 36 softball earns state bid
DANUBE — The Fairmont American Legion Post 36 Cardinal Power 16/18U softball lineup earned a spot in the first-ever Minnesota American Legion girls fastpitch softball state tournament.
Fairmont opens action in the eight-team, two-day bracket against Parkers Prairie at 1 p.m. Saturday on Field 1 at Jaycee Park in Mankato.
Win or lose, Fairmont will play again at 5 p.m. Saturday at the same venue against either Hayfield or Wadena.
The state tournament concludes on Sunday, with the seventh-place game set for 10 a.m. on Field 2, followed by the fifth-place contest at noon. The third-place tilt hits Field 1 at 11 a.m., followed by the championship clash at 1 p.m.
Post 36 advanced to the state tourney by rallying for a 6-5 first-round victory over Howard Lake in Sunday’s sub-state event, edged West Central Storm by a 6-4 second-round decision and coasted by Howard Lake in a rematch in the championship game, 10-4.
Tied at 5-all in the sub-state opener, Cassidy Schultz produced the game-winning RBI via a groundout that scored Emma Gudahl with Cardinal Power’s sixth and decisive run.
Gudahl generated two doubles, scored two runs and garnered one RBI, while teammate Mandy Pytleski went 3-for-3 with two runs scored in Game 1 on Sunday.
Ilana Moeller went 2-for-3 with a double and one RBI for Post 36, while Allison Janssen doubled in two official at-bats, walked twice and collected one RBI.
Abi Sundeen and Reese Olson each contributed a hit for Cardinal Power, with Sundeen scoring once. Jaya Johnson chipped in one RBI.
Janssen allowed five runs on only four hits, recorded a game-best 11 strikeouts and issued four walks in six innings pitched to earn the Game 1 victory for Fairmont.
Moeller went 2-for-3 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored to help Post 36 fend off the West Central Storm — a combination of Renville County West and BOLD high schools — by a 6-4 second-round decision in Danube.
Sundeen and Olson each went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, while Johnson went 1-for-2 and crossed the plate twice.
Emily Muller doubled and scored a run, Janssen doubled, Pytleski singled and scored once, while Schultz collected one RBI.
Pytleski gave up four runs — three earned — on five hits, struck out nine and walked three in seven innings of work to earn the complete-game victory.
Schultz erupted for game-bests of three hits and three RBIs to power Cardinal Power to a six-run triumph over Howard Lake in the sub-section finale. Schultz also scored two runs.
Johnson went 2-for-2 with a double, knocked home two more runs and crossed the plate twice, while Emily Muller went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Pytleski and Olson each generated two hits, with Pytleski collecting one RBI and scoring once, while Olson doubled.
Ilana Moeller and Sundeen each contributed a single and one RBI, with Moeller also scored a run. Gudahl chipped in a run scored for Post 36.