Silverstreak softball: State tourney action continues for Osakis

The Silverstreaks had their hands full in their first ever state softball trip Thursday morning as they faced three-time defending champion New Life Academy of Woodbury in the opening round of the State Class A tournament in Mankato.

The Eagles, who are making their sixth straight appearance in the tournament, have a 21-4 record and boast one of the top pitchers in the state in Rebekah Schmidt, who will play for Drake University next year.

Schmidt is a six-year starter and went 20-3 this season. She fired 291 strikeouts over 137 innings and her ERA is 0.66. She also drove in a team-high 23 runs, hit five home runs and bats .397.

Osakis, undefeated this season at 23-0, has their own weapon on the mound in Sabrina Zimmel, a junior with a 19-0 record. She threw 125 strikeouts in 111 innings and has an ERA of 1.26. She also boasts the team’s highest batting average of .480.

The Eagles allowed only 43 runs all season while scoring 204 of their own. They had 138 RBIs on 220 hits.

Eagle senior Katie Stodolka has a team-high .459 batting average, knocking in 19 runs on 34 hits.

The Silverstreaks had 183 RBIs on 229 hits this season and bat .372 as a team.

Silverstreak senior Mercedes Klimek, with a batting average of .472, belted 11 home runs this year and tallied 52 RBIs on 34 hits.

All three classes of the tournament will be conducted at Caswell Park in North Mankato on Thursday and Friday, June 9 and 10.

Following Thursday’s quarterfinal games, all Class A semifinals will be played at 3 p.m. or 7 p.m.

The consolation championships for all three classes will be played at 9 a.m. on Friday, followed by all third-place games at 11 a.m.

The Class A championship will begin at 2 p.m.

STATE CLASS A SOFTBALL

CASWELL PARK, MANKATO

THURSDAY, JUNE 9

OPENING ROUND

9 a.m. – New Life Academy, Woodbury vs. Osakis

9 a.m. – Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg vs. Hawley

1 p.m. – New Ulm Cathedral vs. Cherry/Cotton

1 p.m. – Blooming Prairie vs. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River

SEMIFINALS

3 p.m. - New Life Academy, Woodbury/Osakis winner vs. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg/Hawley winner

7 p.m. - New Ulm Cathedral/Cherry/Cotton winner vs. Blooming Prairie/Badger-Greenbush-Middle River winner

CONSOLATION BRACKET

3 p.m. - New Life Academy, Woodbury/Osakis loser vs. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg/Hawley loser

7 p.m. - New Ulm Cathedral/Cherry/Cotton loser vs. Blooming Prairie/Badger-Greenbush-Middle River loser

FRIDAY, JUNE 10

CONSOLATION CHAMPIONSHIP

9 a.m. – Winners of consolation semifinals

THIRD PLACE

11 a.m. – Semifinal losers

CHAMPIONSHIP

2 p.m. – Semifinal winners

Tags: osakis sports, area sports, sports, softball, state, class, a, silverstreaks