Paynesville Bulldogs Fastpitch knocks Minnewaska out of Section 6AA playoffs 3-1 in 13 innings!

The Lakers finish 20-3 in fastpitch while the Bulldogs improve to 17-5. After losing their season opener to Paynesville Area, Minnewaska reeled off 20 wins in a row, dispatching Sauk Centre 10-0 in the sub-section opener before falling to Rocori 13-3 in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

In tonight's game at Eden Valley, the score was 1-1 after 7 innings, a figure that held up until the 13th inning, when Paynesville plated 2 runs to pick up the win.

In baseball action in Section 6AA, the NL-S Wildcats knocked Minnewaska Area out of the playoffs in the single-elimination round, winning 12-11 in 7 innings. After the Lakers staked a 5-0 lead, NL-S sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth inning to take a 9-5 lead.

The Lakers fought back to trail 12-11 in the top of the 7th inning, sitting on one out when the Wildcats' 4th pitcher earned a strikeout and a ground out to end the game.

NL-S improves to 11-10 overall, while Minnewaska finishes an 8-13 season.

The Osakis Silverstreaks fell to Maple Lake in the Section 5A-West championship game today at Minnewaska Area High School. Final score was 10-4.

Osakis and Maple Lake will join Barnum and Ogilvie for the Section 5A Final Four round next Tuesday in St.Cloud. In the Sub-Section 5A-East championship today, Barnum dispatched Ogilvie 8-0 to win that title for the second straight year. My records show that Barnum has one loss on the year in 2009. Ogilvie is 8-14 after today's loss.

Here's a link to an interesting story that highlights some fastpitch upsets that took place in the east half of Section 5A: http://www.northlandsportsonline.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1242829560&archive=&start_from=&ucat=5,271&

A preview of the story reads = "It's been upset city in the Section 5A girls softball tournament this season. In the East Subsection the only top seed to survive has been Barnum. The number two, three and four seeds all lost in the first round with only #1 seed Barnum coming away with a victory." - Courtesy of Kerry Rodd, writer for Northland Sports Online.

Section 6AA baseball playoff scores:
Paynesville 6, Benson 1
Melrose 4, Sauk Centre 3
Albany 7, Foley 5
Little Falls 8, Pierz 5

Section 5AA result in baseball playoffs:
Dassel-Cokato 10, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 3 (D-C was the 5th seed, HL-W-W hosted the game as the 4-seed)