Cleveland at Mankato Loyola
5 p.m., Wednesday, May 4

Mankato Loyola is one of the few undefeated teams left in Class 1A, and the Crusaders will have to be on their toes against one-loss Cleveland if they are going to remain that way. 

In the first eight games, No. 9-1A Mankato Loyola has outscored its first eight opponents 63-16. The main strength of the Crusaders (8-0, 5-0) is on the mound. At least four different pitchers have recorded wins, including senior ace Luke Sellner and junior Max Sernett, who pitched a no-hitter against Nicollet on Apr. 20. 

Cleveland (6-1, 4-1) was also undefeated until its 10-2 loss to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Apr. 29. Now, the Clippers will be looking to play spoiler and they have the firepower on both sides of the ball to do it. Bryce Novak has struck out 21 of the 35 batters he has faced this year, while Austin Plonsky has posted a 1.306 on-base plus slugging percentage in 27 plate appearances.