Owatonna Softball Opens Playoffs at Lakeville North on Tuesday
The Huskies open the Section 1AAAA softball playoffs at Lakeville North Tuesday at 3:30PM (time correction). OHS (11-9) is on the road despite a better record than the Panthers (9-11).
Owatonna is the sixth seed and has lost their past two games, Friday 1-0 at Farmington and Thursday 11-1 at top five-rated Winona. OHS had won three straight before that. Seven of Owatonna's nine losses have come by two runs or less. The No. 3 seed Panthers have lost three in a row. Tuesday's 3:30PM game can be heard on Kat Kountry 105FM and on the RadioPup app.
Coaches had their hands full sorting through the Section 1AAAA standings. Every team had at least nine wins and there weren't many interconference games. New Prague had the best record in the section at 13-7, with their only section game being an 8-0 win over Mayo. The Trojans landed the top seed and will host Rochester JM in Tuesday's quarterfinals.
The tournament is double elimination. After Tuesday's games at the higher seed all remaining contests will be held at Todd Park in Austin.
Both Lakeville teams host playoff games despite sub-.500 records. North went 3-1 in the section with a sweep of Farmington and a split with South. The Tigers (11-9) got the second seed with a win over South (9-11) and a better record. Both North and South are hosting teams with winning records on Tuesday.
None of the teams in 1AAAA are ranked in the top 20 in the state.
Section 1AAA does boast some star power. No. 3 rated Winona is the top seed and will host Albert Lea on Tuesday. Kasson-Mantorville and Northfield are both receiving votes in the coach's poll and each have a home game to open the post-season.
Softball schedule
Section 1AAAA
Tuesday, May 24
No. 6 Owatonna (11-9) at No. 3 Lakeville North (9-11), 3:30PM on Kat Kountry 105FM
No. 7 Century (11-8) at No. 2 Farmington (11-9)
No. 5 Rochester Mayo (12-8) at No. 4 Lakeville South (9-11)
No. 8 Rochester JM (9-11) at No. 1 New Prague (13-7)
Section 1AAA
Tuesday, May 24
No. 8 Albert Lea at No. 1 Winona
No. 5 Stewartville at No. 4 Byron
No. 6 Austin at No. 3 Northfield
No. 7 Red Wing at No. 2 Kasson-Mantorville