Zumbrota-Mazeppa No. 2 Seed in State Softball Tournament

The defending Class 2A state champion Zumbrota-Mazeppa Cougars were ranked No. 10 in the final coaches poll but received the No. 2 seed in the state tournament.

The tournament begins Thursday at Caswell Park in North Mankato, and the Cougars drew St. Agnes with a record of 16-10.

The Cougars and Aggies begin play at 11AM Thursday; if they win they play at 5PM, if they lose they play at 7PM. The games will be broadcast on KDHL, www.kdhlradio.com and the RadioPup app.

St. Agnes is a K-12 Catholic school in St. Paul and has not been to the state softball tournament since 1983.

The top seed is unbeaten and No. 1-rated Maple Lake. The Irish got a tough draw with the Albany Huskies right out of the gate at 19-3.

The rest of the field has No. 3 seed Pipestone Area (24-1) playing Esko (21-3) and No. 4 seed Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton (24-3) tangling with No. 5 seed St. Peter (20-4).

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In Class A, Hayfield (18-6) is the No. 5 seed and opens with No. 4 seed Kimball Area (19-3) at 1PM Thursday. Win or lose, the Vikings play at 7PM Thursday.

No. 1 seed and No. 1-rated Edgerton/Southwest Christian (22-3) plays Red Lake Falls (18-8) on the same side of the bracket.

No. 2 seed New York Mills (22-2) faces Carlton (24-4) and No. 3 seed Sleepy Eye Saint Mary's goes up against Pillager (17-7) on the other side of the bracket.

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In Class 3A, No. 1 rated and defending state champion Mankato West (21-3) opens with Waconia (15-8) at 11AM.

No. 5 seed Visitation (19-4) plays No. 4 seed Hermantown (19-4) at the same time and win or lose they play at 5PM.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seed Totino-Grace (21-2) plays Big Lake (15-11) and No. 3 seed Winona (21-3) collides with Thief River Falls (20-5).

The Faribault Falcons (21-3) defeated three of the eight teams in this year's field: Winona by a score of 6-1, Visitation in the Lakeville North Invitational 17-1 in five innings, and Mankato West in that same showcase tournament 5-4.

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In Class 4A, Section 1 representative Farmington (21-3) received the No. 5 seed and will play No. 4 seed Park High School (20-5) at 9AM Thursday. No. 1 seed Chanhassen (23-1) opens with Maple Grove (16-9).

Winners and losers play at 3PM.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seed Anoka (23-1) faces Hopkins (16-7) and No. 3 seed Woodbury (22-2) competes against Buffalo (19-4).