Faribault Fastpitch Wins Mankato Tournament

The Faribault Falcons defeated Waseca, Mankato East and Mankato West en route to winning a Section 2 Class 3A preview tournament at Caswell Park in Mankato on Friday night.

There are no seniors on this team, which was ranked No. 2 in the latest rankings, but will undoubtedly be No. 1 after defeating defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Mankato West in the championship game of the tournament.

Juniors Cassie Swanson, Claire Drentlaw and Bre Bresnahan stopped out to Bashers/J&J Bowling Center for the Faribault Coaches Show on Saturday and said the bus ride home was full of singing.

Swanson clubbed a two-run homer to lift Faribault to the win over the Mankato West Scarlets. The homer came in the sixth inning when the score was tied at 3.

The Falcons jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks again to a Swanson two-run double and Mankato West chipped away with single runs in the second, third and fourth innings.

Swanson's homer was over the centerfield fence and came after Bre Bresnahan coaxed a walk in a long at bat.

Mankato West beat Worthington 16-0 in four innings and Hutchinson 10-0 in five innings before facing Faribault.

The Falcons defeated Waseca 16-1 in their first game before the semifinal eight-inning 7-5 thriller over Mankato East The Scarlets did not throw their top pitcher.

Mankato West head coach Don Krusemark did not want Faribault to see her until they travel to Faribault in the last game of the regular season Thursday in a game that could determine the Big Nine Conference title and the top seed in the section tournament.

Faribault threw both its top pitchers in the game.

The Falcons are 17-0 and Mankato West dropped to 15-2 on the season. The Scarlets' only other loss came to New Prague, so both teams are still unbeaten in conference play.

In the Mankato East game, Faribault jumped out to a 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the fourth when the Cougars put a crooked number on the board to cut the lead to 4-2.

Faribault added a run in the fifth and the teams went into extra innings tied at 5 when Mankato East collected four consecutive singles in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game.

Mankato East beat Hutchinson 9-2 and Marshall 7-5 and finished third in the tournament.

Mankato West will host Northfield before going to Faribault on Thursday in hopes of playing for the Big Nine title.

Faribault hosts Rochester Mayo on Monday, travels to Owatonna on Tuesday and then entertains Mankato West on Thursday to close out their season.

I will be broadcasting Tuesday's game in Owatonna and Thursday's possible Big Nine title game Thursday on KDHL Radio, 920AM, www.kdhlradio.com and you can download the free RadioPup app and listen on your favorite mobile device.