ROCORI Shuts Out Alexandria To Advance To Section Championship

ST. CLOUD — After taking down Willmar and Detroit Lakes in the first two rounds of the Section 8-3A Playoffs, the ROCORI Spartans shifted their focus to the Alexandria Cardinals on June 3 in the section semifinals at the Municipal Athletics Complex in St. Cloud.

Continuing the trend of success, ROCORI shut out Alexandria 5-0 to advance to the section championship at 4 p.m. on Wednesday back at the Municipal Athletic Complex.

The Spartans jumped out in front early in the game, plating one run in the bottom of the first frame and three more in the second to break the game open. ROCORI added one more run in the fifth inning while holding the Cardinals without a run in all seven frames.

John Kinzer went 2-for-3, Jack Spanier went 1-for-1 with two RBI and two runs scored and Brady Weber finished 1-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored to lead ROCORI at the plate. Hunter Heidgerken added one hit and one run scored and Jack Boos also drove in one run for the Spartans.

On the hill, Beck Loesch shut down Alexandria while earning a complete-game shutout. Loesch gave up just four hits and one walk while striking out eight Cardinals batters.

With the win, ROCORI is now one win away from advancing to the Class 3A state tournament for the first time since 2018 and for the 10th time in program history. Since the Spartans have yet to lose in the playoffs, they would have to lose twice in the championship round.

View the full Section 8-3A Playoff bracket here.