Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm Cathedral's Lily Brennan takes off for third base as Springfield's Brooklyn Sturm races to field a hit during a Section 2A Softball Tournament game on Tuesday at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

NORTH MANKATO — New Ulm Cathedral will have another chance at taking on Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s after defeating Springfield 6-0 in the final game of the Section 2A Softball Tournament elimination bracket at Caswell Park on Tuesday.

The win advanced the second-seeded Greyhounds to the Section 2A Championship game.

St. Mary’s defeated Cathedral in the winner’s bracket finals game to send the Greyhounds to the loser’s bracket. The rematch will take place on Thursday at Caswell Park at 5 p.m., with the Knights needing just one win to qualify for the state tourney. A win by the Greyhounds would set up a winner-take-all second game at 7 p.m. that night.

Megan Haala picked up the win for Cathedral, getting eight strikeouts while allowing five hits and no walks.

At the plate for the Greyhounds, Jaylin Hartness was 3 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Lily Brennan had a double and two RBIs. Kiah Helget was 1 for 2 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Hartness, Cathedral’s catcher, said the shutout was due to focus on defense and a strong start.

“I think our heads were in the game,” Hartness said. “We started off strong, which led us into a good game. I think we were very excited about how we played today.”

Jalivia Richert took the loss for Springfield, getting one strikeout while allowing six hits and six earned runs in five innings pitched. Maddy Digmann led the Tigers at the plate, going 2 for 3. Astrid Ramirez had a double for Springfield.

Cathedral opened the scoring in the first inning with Jenna Hotovec driving in Helget with a single. The Greyhounds scored twice more in the second on singles by Hartness and Helget to put them up 3-0. Cathedral was held scoreless in the third, but scored three more runs in the fourth — Madalyn Haala scoring on a wild pitch and Hartness and Helget being brought home on a double by Brennan — to put the score at 6-0.

Springfield finished the season with a 16-10 record.

Tigers head coach Katie Wilhelmi said that the season was a result of hard work and senior leadership, and that next season they would have to find a way to replace the senior talent they will be losing in Digmann, Brenna Pabst, Jaeli Richert, Lexi Groebner and Ramirez.

“I’m very proud of how our girls came together and worked hard all year long” Wilhelmi said. “This group of seniors have been such leaders for our program for the past three years and they will be missed immensely. Each of them has brought so much to this team and have set the bar high for younger players to reach for. Looking ahead to next season, we will return a handful of players with experience that we will lean on to help the younger girls coming in.”

Hartness said that the keys to competing against St. Mary’s would be the same ones that led them to win this game — focus and a strong start.

“I think our heads just need to be in it the whole time,” Hartness said. “We need to start off strong. [Wednesday] we’re going to work on some of our hitting, I think, and just really our heads and working together as a team will get us through the game. We worked well together, and we’ve played together forever, so I think we’ve got it.”