Quantcast
skip navigation

Top games: Maple Grove, Centennial meet in replay of 2021 Class 4A, Section 5 title game

By Mark Hvidsten, SportsEngine, 04/18/22, 8:00AM CDT

Share

April 19: A victory this time won't guarantee a state tournament trip, but the Crimson can get a leg up on Cougars for 2022.


Photo by SportsEngine

We task our reporters with identifying several intriguing games throughout the state to assemble our Top Games of the Week. The matchups are presented in no particular order, and when there are additional games we want to highlight, we’ll include them with brief notes.

Maple Grove vs. Centennial

4:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 19

Maple Grove (2017 and 2019) and Centennial (2018 and 2021) have won the past four Class 4A, Section 5 championships, and it wouldn't be surprising at all if one of those teams won it again in 2022.

Breakdown Sports Media tagged Maple Grove as the sixth-ranked team in its Class 4A preseason poll, and the Crimson have already lived up to that billing when they beat their first three opponents -- all Northwest Suburban Conference rivals -- by a combined score of 35-2.

Centennial, which advanced to last year's state tournament with an eight-inning 4-3 victory over Maple Grove in the section championship, started the season ranked fifth. The Cougars are 2-0 and have not allowed a run.

Helene Krage provided the hitting and the pitching that made the difference in last year's section final, and the Augustana commit is back for her senior season. She already has four hits and three RBI and a two-hit shutout in the Cougars' first two games. 

Elizabeth Berry, who hit .443 and drove in 19 runs a year ago, returns for the Crimson (3-0, 3-0). Madison Wihlm backed up the now graduated Bella Daniels last season, and Wihlm will be counted on to shoulder much of the pitching load this season along with senior Olivia Wallace.

Summer still seems a long way away right now, but this matchup at least should provide a little of the playoff heat to come.


Winona vs. Mankato East

Noon, Saturday, April 23

Mankato East (0-1, 0-0) enters this season with high expectations. The Cougars return several players from a 20-win team in 2021 and carry a No. 7 preseason ranking in Class 3A from Breakdown Sports Media.

But the Cougars also face many of the same obstacles that have kept them out of the state tournament since 2012. Quality opposition from Big Nine Conference rival Winona and conference and Section 2 rival Mankato West still remain.

Saturday's game against Winona (2-0, 1-0) will already be the Cougars' second against a team that played in a 2021 state championship game. Defending Class 2A champion LeSeuer-Henderson beat Mankato East 4-2 in a season-opener; Winona lost to Becker in the Class 3A state title game. 

And the Winhawks, which have won four of the past five Class 3A, Section 1 championships, are gunning for a fifth. Winona returns first-team All-State infielder Grace Fricke and second-team all-state pitcher Makayla Steffes, and Winona is ranked second by Breakdown Sports Media.

Steffes went 16-4 with a 1.61 ERA and batted .521 with 24 RBI in 2021 while Fricke, the Winhawks' career home run leader with 12, batted .523 with six home runs. Winona's 10-2 and 13-1 doubleheader sweep of Albert Lea is a pretty good indicator that the Winhawks' are again in the state championship conversation.

Senior first baseman-pitcher Madi Mangulis, a South Dakota commit, and Peyton Stevermer, who had 30 hits and 32 runs as a sophomore, provide the spark for the Cougars' offense.


Delano vs. Orono

4:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 19

Louisa Stowman had one of the great seasons in Minnesota softball history in 2021. So, what will the Delano senior do for an encore in 2022?

Stowman's 53 hits a year ago ranks fifth all-time for most in a single season. Her 50 runs scored ranks sixth. Her 13 home runs ranks seventh. And her 58 RBIs are the most in any season for a Minnesota player.

Inconsistent pitching (a team 4.45 ERA) was the downfall for Delano a year ago and will be the team's primary question again this season. But Delano will provide a test for an Orono team that finished strong last season and is ranked 11th in Class 3A by Breakdown Sports Media. Neither team has played a game this season.

The teams met in the Class 3A, Section 6 playoffs a year ago, with Orono outlasting the hard-hitting Tigers 19-13 in the elimination bracket final.

Junior pitcher Rachel Ishaug returns for her fourth season in the Orono starting lineup. She helped Orono, which finished 12-13 in 2021, reach last spring's Class 3A, Section 6 championship. But the Spartans will have to replace slugging catcher Hannah Johnson.


Other games to keep an eye on

St. Michael-Albertville vs. Hopkins, 4:30 p.m., Monday, April 25. Rising sophomore Ella Luoto (7-4, 3.00 ERA in 2020) and senior Paige Holm (8-4, 2.65) will lead St. Michael-Albertville (1-0, 0-0) on its quest to the top of the Lake Conference. Hopkins (1-0, 0-0) junior Signe Dohse (10-3, 1.83 ERA, .515 average, 9 HRs) and senior Lauren Granger (.450, 12 HR, 30 RBI) will be hard to beat.

Stillwater vs. East Ridge, 4:30 p.m., Monday, April 25. Keira Murphy would have been a feature player for a lot of teams in the state in 2020, but she played second fiddle to star Allison Benning at Stillwater (2-0, 2-0). Now, it's Murphy's time to command the pitching circle for the Ponies, ranked fourth in Class 4A by Breakdown Sports Media. East Ridge (0-1, 0-1), ranked 15th, still has an uphill climb in the powerful Suburban East Conference, looking up at No. 11 Park of Cottage Grove, No. 9 White Bear Lake, Stillwater and No. 2 Forest Lake.


Top Games poll

The MN Softball Hub poll is for entertainment purposes only. 

Softball Hub Headlines