St. Charles Softball bound for Class AA Championship after 8-3 drubbing of St. Agnes

The Saints will play in their second State Softball Championship in three seasons.

(ABC 6 News) — It was a battle of two teams with Saint in the first part of their names: Saint Charles versus Saint Agnes.

The prize? A trip to the class double-a softball state championship on the line.

Both teams eked out first-round victories by one run in the quarterfinals as Saints Orange and Aggies Red collided at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

In the quarterfinals, St. Charles got behind the eight ball early and vowed it wouldn’t happen again. Head Coach Adam Gust’s team jumped on the Aggies quickly in the third inning; leading 1-0 when junior Mya Ohmdahl a deep shot to the fence, scoring senior Lauryn Delger for the 2-0 lead.

Fellow senior Eva Anderson brought Omdahl home with an RBI single to extend the deficit to 3-0, showcasing the orange crush offense. Makadyn Gust added to the damage both by laying down a bunt and beating the throw to first. Senior Grace Buringa was already on base and caught the Aggies napping to steal home, the score becoming 4-0 for St. Charles.

Needless to say, the Saints fans in attendance were fired up, as was Ohmdahl who added another extra bases hit putting up the #2 team in Class AA to a 5-0 lead.

However, St. Agnes began to rally as Monica Lavesseur’s 2-RBI double plus Monica Barrett’s sacrifice fly cut the St. Charles lead to 5-3.

Not that it appeared to both the Saints as they expressed before they never feel overwhelmed or nervous in the moment. Accordingly, the Saints absorbed and sent the blows back; it was none other than Mya Ohmdahl who found her money spot in right field, dropping an RBI as part of a three-run inning.

The Saints got the necessary cushion to close out the game, winning 8-3 to clinch their spot in the Class AA Softball State Championship.

“Our team is definitely something special,” Makadyn Gust said after the game. “We just carry ourselves so well on and off the field. We have high energy and I think the energy that we carry on our team is special and I think that’s what helps us pick ourselves up even when we’re low, behind, up, down.”

“We’re just hoping to have fun and when we have we obviously play the best,” Mya Ohmdahl added. “I’m just looking up there going to hit, obviously, every at-bat counts.”

“These girls know what it takes to win,” Coach Gust stated. “We’ll see what happens, hopefully, we show up, we play a good game and everything goes according to plan.”

Friday’s title game will mark the third straight time a Section 1AA team will play for a State title. St. Charles lost to Le Seuer-Henderson in 2021 before the Saints’ rivals, the Chatfield Gophers, defeated Proctor to win the 2022 Championship.

The Saints will face #5 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton for the Class AA Title at 4 PM in North Mankato.