Aggies up first
JCC to open state tourney vs. Saint Agnes
NOTE: Weather has delayed the start of the state tournament.
As of 9:30 a.m., JCC’s quarterfinal game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
Jackson County Central begins its first state Class 2A tournament appearance in 20 years Tuesday with a 3 p.m. quarterfinal game vs. Saint Agnes at Caswell Park in North Mankato.
The seventh-seeded Huskies won the Section 3AA title and have a record of 22-4, while the second-seeded Aggies are the champions of Section 4AA and are 22-2.
The top seven seeds in the 2A field have a combined 13 losses.
JCC is in the state tournament for the fifth time. The Huskies won back-to-back state titles in 2004 and 2005.
Prior to that, Jackson County Central had qualified in 2000 and 2002. Jackson High School played in the state tourney in 1983, 1984 and 1993.
I still have a T-shirt from the Bluejays trip to state in 1993:
Saint Agnes is in the state tourney for the third straight year and the seventh overall.
The Aggies played in the first state softball tournament in 1977 and were the Class A runner-up in 1983. One of St. Agnes’ two losses this season was a 4-0 loss to Spectrum on April 22.
JCC will then play either third-seeded Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (23-2) or sixth-seeded Hawley (25-2) on Wednesday. The winners play at 4:30 p.m. while the losers play at 11:30 a.m.
Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial was the runner-up to Randolph a season ago. The Knights defeated JCC 3-2 in in Lake Crystal on April 26.
LCWM is 14-1 in its last 15 games.
Randolph is the defending Class 2A champion.
The Rockets opened the season with an 18-game winning streak that halted on May 12 by a 1-0 margin to Class 1A top-seeded United South Central.
Four days later, Randolph defeated Class 3A No. 1 seeded Mankato East in its regular-season finale before a four-game run through the Section 1AA tournament where it allowed only one run.
St. Cloud Cathedral was third in the 2024 tournament, beating St. Agnes in the third-place game.
Spectrum, a 6-through-12 charter school in Elk River, is also making its state tournament debut. The Sting have allowed just two runs this season and they came on one swing of the bat, a two-run double by Rockford in the Section 5AA championship game.
Junior Addison Wallschlaeger is batting a .646, and as a pitcher, has a 0.15 earned-run average with 181 strikeouts.
St. Cloud Cathedral lost once during the regular season, 3-2 to Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 3-2 on May 2. The Crusaders lost to Kimball 8-5 in the Section 6AA tournament, but answered with a 10-4 victory to scan its ticket to state.
The Esko Softball Team lost three in a row in late April, but is on a 7-1 run in making the state tournament for the first time since 2019. Esko was the Class A champion in 1998.
Class 2A tourney
Tuesday, June 3
At Caswell Park, North Mankato
Quarterfinals
All games at 3 p.m.
Upper bracket
No. 1 Randolph (23-1) vs. No. 8 Esko (17-8), Field 1
No. 4 St. Cloud Cathedral (23-2) vs. No. 5 Spectrum (20-0), Field 2
Lower bracket
No. 2 Saint Agnes (22-2) vs. No. 7 Jackson County Central (22-4), Field 3
No. 3 Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial (23-2) vs. No. 6 Hawley (25-2), Field 4
Wednesday, June 4
At Caswell Park, North Mankato
Semifinals
Both games at 4:30 p.m.
Upper bracket winners, Field 1
Lower bracket winners, Field 2
Consolation semifinals
Upper bracket losers, 11:30 a.m., Field 1
Lower bracket losers, 11:30 a.m., Field 2
Thursday, June 5
At Caswell Park, North Mankato
Third place
Semifinal losers on Field 3, p.m.
Consolation championship
Consolation semifinal winners on Field 3, 11 a.m.
Friday, June 6
At Jane Sage Cowells Stadium
Championship
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.
Season results
JACKSON COUNTY CENTRAL (22-4)
Friday, April 4: Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian, W 7-5
Tuesday, April 8: Windom, W 9-0
Tuesday, April 8: Windom, W 19-5
Thursday, April 10: Blue Earth Area, W 13-1
Monday, April 2: Fairmont, W 4-1
Friday, April 25: at Luverne, W 12-1
Friday, April 25: at Luverne, W 9-2
Saturday, April 26: at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial, L 3-2
Tuesday, April 29: at Blue Earth Area, W 33-0
Thursday, May 1: Pipestone, W 13-3
Thursday, May 1: Pipestone, W 2-0
Monday, May 5: at St. James Area, L 2-1
Tuesday, May 6: St. James Area, W 5-1
Thursday, May 8: at Redwood Valley, W 15-0
Thursday, May 8: at Redwood Valley, W 10-0
Saturday, May 10: Worthington, W 15-3
Saturday, May 10: New York Mills, W 10-3
Saturday, May 10: Zumbrota-Mazeppa, W 12-2
Tuesday, May 13: at Fairmont, W 13-1
Thursday, May 15: Wabasso, W 12-1
Saturday, May 17: New Ulm, L 11-5
Thursday, May 22: Windom, W 6-1
Saturday, May 24: Dassel-Cokato at Marshall, W 3-2
Wednesday, May 28: Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta at Marshall, W 3-2 (8 innings)
Thursday, May 29: Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta at Marshall, L 3-2 (8 innings)
Thursday, May 29: Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta at Marshall, W 7-2 (14 innings)
SAINT AGNES (22-2)
Tuesday, April 8: at Southwest Christian, W 9-1
Thursday, April 10: at Minnehaha Academy, W 17-0
Friday, April 11: at St. Croix Prep, W 10-0
Monday, April 14: Concordia Academy, W 12-3
Wednesday, April 16: North Lakes, W 13-0
Monday, April 21: Maranatha, W 10-2
Tuesday, April 22: Spectrum, L 4-0
Friday, April 25: at Minneapolis Southwest, W 9-7
Saturday, April 26: DeLaSalle at Highland Park, W 14-1
Saturday, April 26: at St. Paul Highlnd Park, W 9-1
Tuesday, April 29: at St. Croix Lutheran, W 13-0
Wednesday, April 30: St. Croix Prep, W 13-3
Thursday, May 1: Mounds Park Academy, W 7-2
Friday, May 2: at Concordia Academy, L 5-4
Tuesday, May 6: Providence Academy. W 11-1
Wednesday. May 7: at Maranatha, W 2-1
Thursday, May 8: at LeSueur-Henderson, W 5-3
Wednesday, May 14: St. Croix Lutheran, W 10-0
Friday, May 16: at St. Paul Central, W 9-4
Saturday, May 17: West Lutheran, W 5-2
Wednesday, May 21: Fridley-Heights at Concordia University, W 10-0
Friday, May 23: Concordia Academy at Concordia University, W 5-0
Saturday, May 24: at Visitation, W 4-0
Thursday, May 29: Visitation at Northwestern, W 5-3