The second day of the softball 3A Section Tournament will kick off at the Marshall softball complex on Saturday morning. Two championship games will be played at 11 a.m. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg Fighting Saints facing off against the Wabasso Rabbits in a regular season rematch. Then it will be the No.1 seeded Edgerton/SWC softball team going up against the Yellow Medicine East Sting.

The 1 p.m. elimination bracket matchups will include the Lac Qui Parle Valley Eagles versus the Murray County Central Rebels and also the Benson Braves will take on the Russell-Tyler-Knights. The losers of these games’ season will end.

No. 1 KMS vs.

No. 2 Wabasso, 11 a.m.

These two teams will face off eight days apart from their first meeting, which the Rabbits won handily 9-2. The Fighting Saints are coming in with a 17-4 record and went 15-2 in the section. KMS is averaging the most runs per game with 9.1 and gives up the third fewest at 4.1. However, that didn’t carry over into the game with the Rabbits; the seven-run margin of defeat was the Fighting Saints’ second-worst on the season. Since that loss, however, KMS has scored 27 runs without giving up any in two games and this meeting will be on a neutral site instead of in Wabasso.

Speaking of the Rabbits, they have been the hottest team in the playoffs, currently on an eight-game winning streak with wins over KMS, RTR twice and beating Lac Qui Parle Valley as well. On the win streak, Wabasso’s defense has surrendered only 15 runs in eight games, including two shutout victories. It will be interesting to see which defense can play mistake-free softball to advance to the semifinals.

No. 1 E/SWC vs. No. 3 YME, 11 a.m.

No surprise in having the perennial powerhouse Edgerton/SWC in the championship bracket but their opponent might have turned some heads in shock. The Sting are currently on a five-game winning streak and have only given up eight runs during the streak. Freshman sensation Bayli Sneller has been leading this team with her bat and especially her arm on the mound. In two games in the postseason, she has 25 strikeouts in leading YME to championship Saturday. Before that, she had 15, 13, and multiple 14-strikeout games this season. Of the four teams left in the championship bracket, YME scored the least, at five runs prt game, but with the defense being played and Sneller pitching, the Sting are contenders. Edgerton/SWC has been struggling, losing six of their last seven games played. The six losses came in three consecutive days but after a bye, defeated MCC 5-0 to advance to Championship Saturday. The question will be is the rust off of Edgerton/SWC after one win or can the Sting put together another upset performance?

Elimination bracket

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No. 2 LQPV vs.

No. 4 MCC, 1 p.m.

The Murray County Central Rebels have had to deal with some late-season injuries to two of their best players in Thea Schneider and Mary Lou McNab. However, they were able to overcome that to end Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s season 7-2 Tuesday evening. Before the win, these two teams matched up for the season finale and TMB won in five innings over MCC, 14-4. The Rebels were able to exact some revenge, but dropped the next contest to Edgerton/SWC 5-0, forcing them to the elimination bracket.

In an upset, the Eagles were the only host team to fall into the championship bracket, losing to YME 3-2. Now the Eagles face a must-win game against a team that is getting healthier. This will be the first meeting between these two teams as they both hover around the .500 record mark. MCC averages almost seven runs per game (6.8) and LQPV averages (8.1) runs per game. This may be a high-scoring contest to see who can prolong their season.

No. 5 Benson vs.

No. 3 RTR, 1 p.m.

The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Knights softball team came off a close loss to the Wabasso Rabbits 7-6 Tuesday evening. RTR has only lost three times all season with two of those losses to the Rabbits. Kya Alderson has been pitching solid and could arguably be the best pitcher in the section. Laken Baartman has also been a premier player for the team and they will look to lead this team over the Braves, who just took a loss of 17-0 against KMS. This will also be the first matchup of the season between these two teams. Of the four matchups, this is the only one that features a team with a losing record (Benson) going up against a winning record (RTR). The Braves have only won five of their 20 games. Will the Knights exhibit dominance in this matchup or will the Benson Braves pull off the enormous upset and end the season for RTR?