Pitching prowess propels Panthers to 4th straight state tournament

South Ridge baseball pulled out of town Monday beginning the trek to their fourth straight Class A state tournament.

Sitting 17-7 overall on the season the Panthers earned the fifth seed and will first battle fourth seeded 21-3 Sacred Heart in a quest to move past the first round for the first time since 2018.

"I’m confident going into it. I’m excited because I know our team is capable of doing well down there and we’ve been working hard for it all year," sophomore Christian Pretasky shared.

The Panthers, going undefeated in the Section 7A tournament, have attributed a large part of their recent success to solid performances from the mound.

"Our pitching has been really good so far this year. If we can get the bats going pretty good we should be sitting pretty good," junior Wyatt Olson said.

"We’ve had a lot of guys step up through injuries," added head coach Aaron Weber. "It’s just been a little up-and-down year compared to the years past, but I think we’re sitting really good. We’ve played a lot of really close games which is going to help us down the stretch."

South Ridge has also exhibited strong defense holding their opponents to two or fewer runs in their last five games.

First pitch against Sacred Heart is set for Tuesday at 1pm at St. Cloud’s Joe Faber Field. For the full bracket, click here.