“I’m very excited,” Cathedral’s Alex Portner said. “We get to play at Target Field. Last year we came up short in the section finals, so I’m really excited to be there.”

Woitas said the accomplishment was a credit to the work the team has put in throughout the season.

“Credit to our kids,” Cathedral head coach Alan Woitas said. “This has been the goal all year, and they showed up every day to improve incrementally throughout the year to put themselves in the best spot to be successful at the end of the year. And just different contributions. It starts with your senior leadership, we’ve had some really good seniors that lead and do things the right way and everybody follows suit on that.”

Cathedral jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, racking up four runs in the second, one in the third and one in the sixth to put the game away.

Photo by Matthew Edens New Ulm Cathedral’s Jake Finstad slides into home safely during a Class A State Baseball Tournament semifinals game against South Ridge on Thursday at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud.

“We were able to score early and really open up our running game,” Woitas said. “Playing with the lead, we were able to play a little more aggressive and put a lot of pressure on them defensively. And then just base hits throughout the game by multiple different people to push runs across. Jake Finstad threw an absolute gem on the mound. I’m really proud of the effort he gave us on the mound to put us in a really good position to win the game. And defensively, we made a lot of really nice plays behind him.”

Getting on the board early has been a big part of Cathedral’s success all season, as it allows the Greyhounds pitchers and defense to work the kind of game they want to play with freedom.

“It gives us more confidence and it gives our pitcher more confidence on the mound,” Portner said. “The energy is up, and we have momentum.”

The Greyhounds also had a strong day defensively, with winning pitcher Finstad allowing just two hits in the game with five strikeouts and the defense playing well behind him. Portner was in the middle of several of those defensive plays, including a sequence in the fifth inning where he threw out a runner after grabbing a ball that ricocheted off of a diving Caleb Forstner at shortstop, then made a diving catch of his own to end the inning.

“It gets us all excited,” Portner said. “Momentum is our way, and then we’ll get piped up and it gives us the confidence we need.”

At the plate for the Greyhounds, Colin Anderson was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Elliot Schabert was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Finstad had a hit and three runs scored, while Portner had a hit and two RBIs.

Cathedral scored both of its runs in the first inning on infield hits, with Colin Anderson hitting a grounder to third to reach first safely, and as Finstad took off for third on the throw to first, an errant throw allowed him to reach home safely. Anderson then scored on an infield hit from Portner for the 2-0 lead.

Cathedral loaded up the bases with just one out in the second, with Colin Anderson singling to score both Eli Anderson and Elijah Rieser. Schabert singled to bring home Finstad, then a sacrifice fly from Portner brought home Colin Anderson for a 6-0 lead.

Cathedral continued the scoring in the third inning, as a dropped third strike on Elijah Rieser allowed Josh Forstner, courtesy running for Eli Anderson, to score for a 7-0 lead. South Ridge managed its first run of the game in the sixth inning as Ben Prestasky doubled then scored on an error, but Cathedral got the run back in the sixth inning as Schabert singled to bring home pinch runner Rylan Koopmann. Finstad and the Greyhounds defense engineered a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close out the game.

Cathedral awaits the winner of the other semifinals game Thursday between Parkers Prairie and Red Lake County, which was delayed in the ninth inning tied up at 3-3. Cathedral will play the winner of thar game, which moved from St. Cloud to Alexandria to finish Thursday, in the state championship game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Target Field.

“It’s a really cool place to go play a game,” Woitas said. “I think our kids are really excited about the opportunity, but as far as our preparation goes, we’re going to do the same thing that got us to St. Cloud. Keep it simple, do what it is that we do well and continue to thrive in those areas.”

Portner said that the team will have to continue to be aggressive early at the plate to get the win.

“We’re going to have to jump on the ball right away and get a run or two,” he said. “Have our defense settle back, get our confidence, have a really good inning.”