JCC advances to state softball tournament; A-E still alive in baseball

Jackson County Central on Thursday advanced to the state Class AA softball tournament as the Huskies topped Pipestone Area 4-1 in Marshall for the Section 3AA title.

Mady Wachal had a dominating pitching outing for JCC, allowing just three hits and an unearned run while striking out 17 batters in a complete-game effort. 

The Huskies went up 2-0 in the first on a two-run single by Hadley Wachal. They made it 3-0 in the second on an RBI single from Bailey Finck and, after the Arrows made it 3-1 in the third, Finck's RBI double in the fourth put the lead back at three.

JCC is now 25-1 on the season. Seeding for next week's state tournament, which begins Tuesday at Caswell Park in North Mankato, will take place Saturday.

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The Adrian-Ellsworth baseball team fell behind 3-0 in the second inning Thursday, but the Dragons scored twice in the bottom of the second and eight times in the third en route to a 10-4 triumph in a Section 3A elimination bracket game in Milroy.

Travis Weiss had a three-run double in the game for A-E, which also got a two-run homer from Jayden Lautt and a double, single and RBI from Garrett Penning. Matt Geister and Penning combined to toss a five-hitter on the mound.

The Dragons, the tournament's No. 2 south seed, will play another elimination bracket game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Milroy. If they win, they'll play again for the elimination bracket title at 5 p.m. Tuesday in Milroy.

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The Worthington Community Football Club Toros will look to extend their season-long unbeaten and unscored-upon streaks on Saturday when they play host to Garwo United FC at 7 p.m. at Trojan Field.

Los Toros improved to 7 wins, 1 draw and no losses with a 3-0 triumph at Club Atletico Omaha this past weekend. Tim Berger scored all three of Worthington's goals and the defense once again did the job in shutting down the United Premier Soccer League Nebraska-Iowa-South Dakota Division's third-place squad.

So far this season, the first-place Toros lead their division in goals scored with 30 and have yet to allow a single goal on defense. They'll look to keep their hot streak alive Saturday in their regular-season home finale against a Garwo United team which has won three, drawn three and lost two this season.

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The Worthington Cubs' amateur baseball team returns to action Saturday in Brookings, S.D. for a non-league game against the Brookings Cubs.

In their most recent game, Worthington was defeated at home on Sunday by the Hadley Buttermakers, 7-1. Tate Gaul had the only hit of the afternoon for the Cubs. Jakob Olson doubled, singled and drove in three runs for Hadley.

With the setback, Worthington slipped to 2-3 overall and 1-2 and league play.