—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla St. Edmond's Jack McEvoy swings at a pitch for the Gaels.

PETERSON — The St. Edmond baseball team was unable to get on track here Tuesday night, falling in a Class 1A district semifinal to Sioux Central, 7-0.

The Rebels will host Newell-Fonda back here on Saturday for the district championship. The Mustangs topped Bishop Garrigan in the first game of the doubleheader, 9-6.

Scoreless after two, Sioux Central (16-11 overall) jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the third. The Rebels added three more in the bottom of the sixth to take control of the contest.

“We just couldn’t make much contact,” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “I brought in (former Iowa Central player and coach) Justin Meyer to simulate what we would see, but it’s just hard to do that. (Jake Hanson) is good, but we’ve seen pitching like him in the North Central Conference.”

For the Gaels (8-13), this marked the final game for seniors Nick Bennett, Elijah Litwiller, Gage Johnson, Jack McEvoy and Jackson Kochendorfer.

“I appreciate these seniors for sticking with me through the transition from Coach (Joe) Shanks to myself,” Szalat said. “It would have been easy for them to walk away, so I appreciate their efforts in helping build the foundation we are trying to start here.”

Sophomore Cael Kolacia recorded nine strikeouts on the mound for the Gaels.

The winner between Sioux Central and Newell-Fonda will meet either Mason City Newman or West Fork next Tuesday in the Substate 2 final in Algona.