Two teams among the leaders in the fewest runs allowed in Class 1A softball in the state will meet in the first-ever Tomahawk-Valley Conference softball championship game.
Martin County West and New Ulm Cathedral will match up at 5 p.m. Thursday at Caswell Park in North Mankato.
Both teams will enter the game with a long winning streak and a 17-2 record.
The Greyhounds opened their season with back-to-back losses, losing to Cleveland and Wabasso, each by a 3-2 score. The Mavericks have 11 straight wins since a loss to Class 1A top-ranked and unbeaten United South Central.
MCW is ninth in runs allowed with 3.1 and 10th in runs scored (10.5). Cathedral is tied for second in runs allowed (1.2).
There will be two other games involving Valley Conference teams played at Caswell at the same time Thursday as Cleveland takes on Nicollet and Madelia meets Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons.
Something in common
The Mavericks and Greyhounds have five common opponents. Here are the results of those matchups.
Cleveland
MCW: Lost 3-2; Won 6-1
Cathedral: Lost 3-2
Nicollet
MCW: Won 10-8; Won 10-9
Cathedral: W 6-2
Sleepy Eye
MCW: Won 8-1
Cathedral: Won 5-2; Won 10-1
Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s
MCW: Won 19-0
Cathedral: Won 13-0; Won 11-0
Windom
MCW: Won 11-10
Cathedral: Won 18-1
Double digit win streaks
Cathedral and MCW are two of five Class 1A teams in the state with winning streaks of 10 games or more through Tuesday. United South Central brings the number of Section 2A teams on that list to three.
Listed are the number of games in the winning streak, team and won-loss record in parenthesis.
19: Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley (19-0)
18: United South Central (18-0)
17: New Ulm Cathedral (17-2)
11: Martin County West (17-2)
10: Red Lake Falls (15-4)
Section 2A records
MCW and Cathedral are both in Section 2A.
Here are the records of those teams played through Tuesday. Teams are listed in order of QRF value compiled by minnesota-scores.net
United South Central 18-0
New Ulm Cathedral 17-2
Martin County West 17-2
Cleveland 14-4
Sleepy Eye 14-5
Nicollet 11-6
Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 8-10
Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 7-11
Springfield 5-15
Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 4-13
Madelia 4-14
Minnesota Valley Lutheran 2-17
Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove 4-15
Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons 2-13
Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda 1-12
State leaders
MCW is ninth in Class 1A in runs allowed and 10th in runs scored. Cathedral is tied for second in runs allowed.
Runs for
Houston 13.5
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 13.3
Swanville 11.9
Braham 11.6
Kelliher/Northome 11.6
Hill City/Northland 11.4
Lac qui Parle Valley 11.3
Silver Bay 11.2
PACT Charter 10.6
Martin County West 10.5
Runs against
United South Central 0.3
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 1.2
New Ulm Cathedral 1.2
Braham 1.6
Bethlehem Academy 2.0
Blackduck 2.0
Red Lake Falls 2.0
Mabel-Canton 2.8
Martin County West 3.1
Cleveland 3.2
Hill City/Northland 3.2
West Lutheran 3.2
TOMAHAWK/VALLEY CONFERENCE
Softball standings
Through May 13
Valley Division
Martin County West 5-1
Nicollet 4-2
Cleveland 3-3
Madelia 0-6
Tomahawk Division
New Ulm Cathedral 13-1
Sleepy Eye 11-3
Wabasso 8-4
Lester Prairie 6-6
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 6-8
Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s 4-8
Springfield 4-10
Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 0-12
Conference games only
Season results
MARTIN COUNTY WEST (17-2)
Tuesday, March 25: at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, W 17-3
Thursday, April 3: Nicollet, W 10-8
Thursday, April 10: at Cleveland, L 3-2
Friday, April 11: at Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda, W 19-0
Saturday, April 12: at Minnesota Valley Lutheran, W 3-0
Monday, April 21: at Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey, W 14-2
Thursday, April 24: Windom, W 11-10
Friday, April 25: United South Central, L 6-2
Tuesday, April 29: Cleveland, W 6-2
Friday, May 2: at Madelia, W 12-0
Friday, May 2: at Madelia, W 13-3
Saturday, May 3: Adrian/Ellsworth, W 9-2
Saturday, May 3: Hayfield, W 11-5
Tuesday, May 6: Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, W 19-0
Thursday, May 8: at Nicollet, W 10-9
Saturday, May 10: Yellow Medicine East at Walnut Grove, W 6-5 (8 innings)
Saturday, May 10: at Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, W 17-0
Saturday, May 10: Lakeview at Walnut Grove, W 12-0
Tuesday, May 13: Sleepy Eye, W 8-1
Thursday, May 15: New Ulm Cathedral at Caswell Park, 5 p.m.
NEW ULM CATHEXDRAL (17-2)
Friday, March 28: Cleveland, L 3-2
Friday, April 4: at Wabasso, L 3-2
Thursday, April 10: Lester Prairie, W 16-6
Friday, April 11: BOLD, W 8-0
Tuesday, April 15: at Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, W 22-0
Tuesday, April 15: at Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop, W 15-0
Monday, April 21: Sleepy Eye, W 5-2
Tuesday, April 22: at Nicollet, W 6-2
Wednesday, April 23: at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, W 13-0
Wednesday, April 23: at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, W 11-0
Tuesday, April 29: Wabasso, W 9-0
Friday, May 2: at Lester Prairie, W 12-0
Monday, May 5: at Sleepy Eye, W 10-1
Tuesday, May 6: Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart, W 8-0
Tuesday, May 6: Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart, W 8-2
Saturday, May 10: Fairmont at Windom, W 3-0
Saturday, May 10: at Windom, W 18-1
Monday, May 12: Springfield, W 8-0
Monday, May 12: Springfield, W 16-2
Thursday, May 15: Martin County West at Caswell Park, 5 p.m.
Friday, May 16: at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (2), 4:30 p.m.