The Caledonia High School softball team has advanced to the final day of the MSHSL Section 1AA tournament in each of the past two seasons.
The Warriors also ended both season with tough championship losses that stopped them from qualifying for a state tournament that has always eluded them.
Top-seeded Caledonia begins what it hopes is a march through the tournament today by hosting either 16th-seeded Triton or 17th-seeded Fillmore Central at 6 p.m., and it has spent the season building momentum for the postseason.
“This group here has a lot to prove this year, and they know it,” Caledonia coach Chad Augedahl said after a 3-0 victory at La Crescent-Hokah last week. “We were runner-up the last two years.
“They are hungry. They are very hungry.”
The Warriors (21-2) enter the section tournament afer a 1-0 loss to Cannon Falls in their regular-season finale, but Augedahl poinited out a lat-season loss to La Crescent-Hokah a year ago to show that his team knows how to rebound from such a loss.
Everyone in last year’s postseason starting lineup are back for this run, and the experience gained during a season that has included domination both from the pitching circle and at the plate should be something that can make difference over the next 10 days.
Junior pitcher Avery Augedahl has been at the center of the success as part of both aspects.
Augedahl has struck out 236 batters over 136 2/3 innings this season. Opponents have managed just 62 hits, eight earned runs and drawn 20 walks. That adds up to an impressive ERA of 0.41, and she enters the section tournament with 620 career strikeouts.
“We’re a little spoiled,” Chad Augedahl said. “I would say her changeup is her best pitch. She has a good curveball and good rise ball, but her changeup is the go-to.
“Everybody knows it’s coming, but they still have a hard time hitting it.”
Avery has also been a serious threat in a lineup that has averaged 11.7 hits and 9.4 runs per game. She is batting .463 with three doubles, four triples and 22 runs batted in.
The Warriors have made it through the regular season without a weak spot in the lineup.
Junior first baseman Elsa Blum has been on a season-long tear with a .600 batting average. Blum has hit 16 doubles, three triples and two home runs while driving in 34 runs.
