ST. CLOUD - Having spent 41 seasons strolling between the dugout and the third base coaches' box, St. Cloud Cathedral coach Bob Karn has seen just about everything a coach can see.

So when his No. 1-ranked Crusaders spotted Fairmont a three-run lead in the top of the first inning, by bunching a game's worth of mistakes into a single frame, Karn took stock of his team.

"They didn't have that look," Karn said. "They weren't hanging their heads. They were still connected."

As usual, Karn was spot on.

St. Cloud Cathedral pulled itself together and played six flawless innings thereafter, rallying for a 5-3 victory at Dick Putz Field.

Starting pitcher Matt Dietmann embodied the Crusaders' comeback. After hitting two batters and giving up two hits in the first inning, Dietmann was nearly untouchable. He did not surrender a hit over the final six innings of the game, rendering a Fairmont team that entered Friday averaging nearly 10 runs per game punchless.

While Dietmann was taking control of the Fairmont hitters, the Crusaders offense started to get untracked against Fairmont starter Ben Kain. They scratched out runs in the second and third innings and chased him in the fifth after Kain walked the first two batters of the inning.

Both came around to score as Cathedral took the lead -- and control of the game -- with a three-run rally.

"Their pitcher was better than our pitcher," Fairmont coach Todd Sukaski said. "We were walking guys, and they were hitting line drives. We started holding our breath, hoping those line drives were hit at someone."

Flush with a two-run lead, Dietmann was determined to finish the game that began so dreadfully, despite a curveball that wasn't biting.

"I got goosebumps when our team started to come back," said Dietmann, who also singled twice and drove in two runs. "There was no way I wasn't finishing this."

La Crescent 2, Fergus Falls 0: The circumstances were remarkably similar. Travis Krukow was determined to make sure the outcome was completely different.

The La Crescent senior pitched a four-hitter, striking out six, leading the Lancers past the Otters and into their second Class 2A championship game in the past three years.

Krukow, a righthander with a plus-fastball and a biting curve, was the starting pitcher for La Crescent in the 2010 semifinals. He lasted less than an inning, giving up five runs in a loss to eventual state champion Rocori. The sour taste left by that performance lingered with Krukow for an entire season.

"I wanted some redemption for last year," Krukow said. "I wanted to show I was a better pitcher than I was against Rocori."

"Travis had all his pitches working today," said catcher Troy Traxler, a junior who has played on all three of La Crescent's state tournament teams. "He was getting into hitters' heads."

Traxler, a natural who appears as if he were born with a baseball in his hand, got the Lancers off to a positive start with his own baseball moxie.

He walked to lead off the game, stole second, went to third on a grounder and raced home on a wild pitch by Fergus Falls' Pete Gaustad.

Little did anyone know that Traxler's run would hold up as the game-winner.

"I know that my job is to be that spark," Traxler said. "I know if I do my job, we'll be successful."