Maple Grove beats Mankato West for Great 8 softball title

Maple Grove, ranked No. 4 this week in Class 4A, beat Mankato West (Class 3A, No. 2) 6-4 to win the title game of the Great 8 softball tournament hosted by Eastview High School on Saturday.

The Crimson won on a two-run, walk-off homer from Ava Dueck, her second of the game. The senior has committed to play next year at Augustana.

In the semifinals, Maple Grove beat Bloomington Jefferson 6-1. Ellie Hosmann hit a grand slam as part of a five-run seventh for the Crimson.

Maple Grove (12-2) will travel to Osseo on Tuesday.

In other softball action-

Park of Cottage Grove 11, Cretin-Derham Hall 5: Madi Meduna went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI to lead the Class 4A, No. 2 Wolfpack. She also scored three runs. Hannah Schluetter hit a triple and later scored. Bryanna Olson picked up the win, allowing a run but no hits in 4⅔ innings. Cece Ziegler had two RBI for the Raiders. Park is 13-1 and riding a seven-game winning streak after falling to East Ridge on April 23. The Wolfpack will play the Raptors again Wednesday.

St. Paul Highland Park 4, Minneapolis South 3: A three-run seventh lifted the Scots past the Tigers. Olivia Johnson led the way, going 2-for-4 with a RBI. She also pitched a complete game. Julia Offerdahl had two hits and two RBI for South.

Centennial 5, Mounds View 4: Madi Newman went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI to lead the Cougars. Alyssa Montero pitched eight innings and struck out nine. She also had an RBI. Maya Patty, Abbie Thompson and Chloe Whalen each had two hits and one RBI for the Mustangs.

BASEBALL

Woodbury 8, Tartan 6: Adam Mazur, Luke Paulson and Brock Rinehart each hit home runs to lead the Class 4A, No. 2 Royals. Mazur had four RBI and Paulson added two more. Riley Frisk struck out 12 but fell one out short of the complete game. Rinehart picked up the one-out save. Brock Bertelsen led the No. 8 Titans, going 3-for-4 with a triple and a stolen base. R.J. Schwankl hit a home run.

Centennial 3, Armstrong 2: Casey Trapp scored the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the sixth for the Cougars on a dropped infield fly. Centennial was up 2-0 after the bottom of the first inning, but the Falcons tied it up after a two-run sixth. Trapp and Jack Ewings went 2-for-3.

Blaine 4, Roseville 3: Since dropping their season opener, the No. 5 ranked Bengals have won eight games in a row. Jon Koenig struck out 10 to earn the win. The Blaine offense was led by Bryce Nelson and Patrick Perrault, who each had one RBI. The other two runs came off wild pitches. Luke Schmaedke hit a double in the top of the second and later scored. He also hit an RBI groundout in the sixth inning.

Prior Lake 6, Lakeville South 0: Russ Tanner and Ben Eisenberg combined for a one-hit shutout of the Cougars. The duo struck out 15. Tanner got the win with 10 strikeouts in four innings pitched. Austin Gordon led the Lakers with three RBI and two hits, including a double.