ROCORI Opens Up Section Playoffs With 11-1 Win

COLD SPRING — With the regular season now in the past, the ROCORI Spartans opened up the Section 8-3A Playoffs on May 26 at the Cold Spring Baseball Park.

Fourth-seeded ROCORI hosted fifth-seeded Hutchinson in the opening round, exploding for 11 runs on 13 hits to 10-run the Tigers and come away with an 11-1 win in five innings.

The Spartans opened the game up with three runs in the bottom of the first inning, adding five more runs in the third before bringing home three runs in the fifth to seal the victory.

Nolan VanLoy finished 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI, while Reece Kalla went 3-for-3 with one run scored and Cal Heying added two hits, two runs and one RBI to lead ROCORI at the plate. Max Fredin added one hit and two RBI, Zander Folkerts went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI, Noah Olmscheid went 1-for-2 with a run, an RBI and two steals, and Caleb Maddox tallied one hit and one run scored for the Spartans.

Fredin earned a complete-game win on the mound, pitching all five innings while giving up just four hits, one run and striking out four in 88 total pitches.

With the win, ROCORI advances in the winners' portion of the Section 8-3A Playoffs. The Spartans' next opponent will be the top-seeded Sartell Sabres, who defeated eighth-seeded Albany 2-1 on May 26 in Sartell. ROCORI and Sartell will face off at 4:30 p.m. on May 28 at St. Cloud Orthopedic Field in Sartell.