Hastings vs. North St. Paul
4:15 p.m., Monday, April 24

The battle for the Metro East Conference heats up when frontrunners Hastings and two-time defending champion North St. Paul tangle on Monday.

The Polars (6-2, 4-1) find themselves looking up at the Raiders (6-0, 6-0) in the standings after a 1-0 loss against Hill-Murray on April 18.

Montanna Thole leads North St. Paul with a .533 average while Jenna Rubbelke and Kallie Stepaniak are each hitting .353. Rubbelke leads the team with five RBI and Stepaniak has five stolen bases.

Hastings (6-1, 6-0) suffered its first loss of the season on April 22, falling 9-3 against Blaine. The Raiders had held opponents to three or fewer runs in the previous six games.

Hastings hasn’t won a conference title since the 2014 season, when the Raiders played in the Suburban East Conference, and will be eager to cement its place at the top of the Metro East.