Spartans Fall To Flyers, Get Off To Strong Start Against Cardinals In Section Playoffs

ST. CLOUD — The ROCORI Spartans continued postseason play on Tuesday, June 4, taking the field at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud for a pair of games.

The fourth-seeded Spartans opened up the day by taking on the fifth-seeded Little Falls Flyers in the Section 8-3A semifinals, with the winner advancing to the championship and the loser falling into the losers' bracket. ROCORI ended up dropping that battle against Little Falls 10-5, dropping into a must-win game in the losers' bracket.

The Spartans opened up the game hot, scoring four runs in the first inning followed by one more run in the third. The Flyers fought their way back, evening the game at 5-5 entering the sixth inning before plating five runs in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for good.

In the loss, ROCORI was led at the plate by Caleb Maddox, who went 2-for-3 with one RBI, and Tyler Prom, who went 2-for-3 with one run scored. Kaden Rausch added one hit, one run and one run scored, and Jared Laudenbach and Hunter Fuchs added one hit each.

Jacob Stalboerger began the game on the mound for the Spartans, pitching the first 3.1 innings while striking out five. Fuchs pitched 1.2 innings in relief, while Jack Boos rounded out the game by pitching the final inning.

Right after the conclusion of that game, ROCORI held a rematch against top-seeded Alexandria at the MAC in the losers' bracket, with a trip to the championship once again on the line.

The Spartans got off to a strong start in that game before weather postponed action. With the game paused in the top of the fifth inning, ROCORI currently holds a 9-4 advantage over Alexandria. The game will resume at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, with the winner advancing to play Little Falls in the Section 8-3A Championship.

To start the game against the Cardinals, the Spartans got off to another strong start, exploding for six runs in the top of the first inning to jump out to an early lead. ROCORI added one run in the third inning and two more in the fourth inning before game was postponed due to rain.

To view the complete Section 8-3A playoff bracket, click here.