Staying Alive!; Cats Advance To District Championship Game.

It wasn't pretty, it was gritty and it was another postseason win for the St. Paul/Palmer Cats as they hold off the Raymond Central Mustangs Thursday in Malcolm by a final score of 8-7.

The Cats got off to a quick start scoring the game's first two runs from Zandyn Weller and Alex Meinecke to take an early 2-0 lead. Raymond Central cut the deficit in half with a run of their own in the first to trail 2-1 at the end of the frame.

Both teams tallied a run in the second inning to make it 3-2. A scoreless third by both teams set up a wild fourth inning for the Cats where they tacked on 4 runs including a double by Parker Lentz that scored two runs and an RBI double by Jaydn Thomsen with the senior rallying for the hit after following behind 0-2 in the count.

The Cats scored their final run in the fifth inning and that's where the fireworks came in the contest. Raymond Central didn't go down quietly as the Mustangs capitalized on missed opportunities and placement hitting to chase Mason Majerus off the mound for St. Paul/Palmer. Colby Wood came on in relief but the Mustangs got four runs of their own to make it an 8-6 ball game. The Cats turned to Senior Christian Lemburg to close the remainder of the game. 

The Game was hit with controversy in the bottom of the sixth when Devin Watkins came home on a bloop single diving over home plate with out touching it according to the Umpire. Braxton Heater was able to alert Carter Hawley to apply a tag to Watkins and the second out of the inning was applied. Lemburg turned on the heat and struck out the next Mustang to end the Sixth. 

Raymond Central turned on the pressure again in the Bottom of the Seventh when Lemburg was able to get the first two outs via strikeouts. The Mustangs last ditch effort to rally almost paid off after a hits batsmen and two singles to make it 8-7. Christian Lemburg got Watkins to strikeout to end the ballgame and send the Cats to a District Championship Game.

Mason Majerus earns the wins for St. Paul/Palmer while Christian Lemburg gets the Save.

Standing in the way of the Cat's Return ticket to Omaha is #1 Seed in Class C Malcolm. First Pitch for the C1 District Title is 5pm today. Coverage starts on 103-1 KJ Country at 4:45 PM.