Alexandria at Bemidji
4:30 p.m., Thursday, May 25

The top two teams in Class 3A, Section 8 clash in a regular-season finale after spending last week on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Bemidji suffered its first losses since April 28, splitting a doubleheader with Grand Rapids on May 17 and dropping a 5-3 extra-inning game to Duluth East on May 19.

The No. 3-3A Lumberjacks (14-3) avenged their loss to the Greyhounds when Jared Young raised his batting average to .510 in 51 at-bats with a 2-for-2 performance in an 8-5 win over the Greyhounds on May 20. He also had a run scored and a sacrifice fly in the victory, but now he'll have to do it against the streaking Cardinals.

Alexandria went 4-0 last week, outscoring Sauk Rapids-Rice, Fergus Falls and Willmar by 35 runs. Blake and Brock Anderson combined to score 13 of those runs and knocked in 11.

The No. 9-3A Cardinals (14-5, 10-5) are also 5-0 against section opponents, but Bemidji is ranked first in Class 3A, Section 8 based on the Quality Results Formula (QRF) used by coaches to determine section seeding.