Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Jackson Kochendorfer connects for St. Edmond against Humboldt on Friday at Rogers Park. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

ALGONA — The St. Edmond baseball team begins postseason play on a familiar field Saturday evening.

The Gaels (7-12 overall) meet Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire in a Class 1A, District 3 quarterfinal at Bishop Garrigan. First-pitch is 5 p.m. with the Golden Bears meeting West Bend-Mallard at 7 p.m.

Winners of the two games advance to Tuesday night in Peterson, but will not be facing each other. The St. Edmond-GT/RA winner takes on either Sioux Central or Storm Lake St. Mary’s, with the other semifinal featuring either Newell-Fonda or Harris-Lake Park taking on the Garrigan/West Bend-Mallard winner.

Sophomore Peyton Scott anchors the SEHS pitching staff, entering with a 4-1 record in 35-plus innings. Scott has 56 strikeouts and sports an earned run average of 1.78, with opponents hitting just .199 against him.

Classmate Cael Kolacia is 2-3 with 44 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA, with a handful of others having logged innings for head coach Mike Szalat this season including senior Jackson Kochendorfer, junior Connor Bocken and senior Gage Johnson.

Jack McEvoy, a senior, is batting .379 with 10 RBI, six doubles, three triples and a home run, with Noah Carlson and Bocken each sporting averages over .300. Both have driven in nine with Bocken leading the team with 15 walks.

Senior Elijah Litwiller and Kolacia have each driven in 10 runs on the year.

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire (6-13) is on a two-game win streak, sweeping North Iowa to snap a six-game losing skid. Lucas Hoffman, Jace Naig and Jon Gerdes are all batting over .300, with Hoffman and Cormick Currans each picking up two wins on the mound.

Naig has a team-high 14 RBI followed by Carter Koenck’s 13. Currans, Hoffman and Naig have a combined 34 stolen bases.

Hoffman has 42 strikeouts in 41 innings, with opponents batting just .182 against him. Gerdes, who is 1-2, has 20 strikeouts.

The district final is scheduled for next Saturday in Peterson, with the Substate 2 championship set for Tuesday, July 23 in Algona. District 4 features Mason City Newman and West Fork as the top seeds.