USC players celebrate after getting the final out in their 1-0 victory over West Lutheran in the Class A Softball Championship, left. Later, they took time to pose with their trophy, right.

Another superb pitching performance by Mariah Anderson and a timely hit by Grace Walton propelled the United South Central Rebels to their second consecutive Class A State Softball Championship with a 1-0 victory over the West Lutheran Warriors.

The low-scoring contest, played at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus on June 5, featured a total of four hits in the game – three by the Rebels and one by the Warriors.

Mariah Anderson had two of the hits for USC including a line-drive single to lead off the first inning.

The speedy senior proceeded to steal second base with Ivy O’Rourke at the plate. O’Rourke hit the ball hard but right to the West Lutheran left fielder for the first out of the inning. Alivia Bruegger popped out to the pitcher to bring Grace Walton to the plate.

With Walton batting, Anderson swiped third base to move to 60 feet from home plate. Walton, a freshman, delivered a base hit to score Anderson with what turned out to be the winning – and only – run. The next batter, Izzy Bird, walked before West Lutheran got out of the inning with no further damage.

Anderson got the Rebels’ only other hit in the bottom of the third inning and made it to third base before being stranded there. Bruegger was the only other base runner for USC. She reached on an error in the bottom of the sixth inning and made it as far as second base before the inning ended.

Meanwhile, Anderson retired the first 10 batters she faced, eight of them by strikeouts. The Warriors got their first runner of the game on a dropped third strike with one out in the top of the fourth inning. The West Lutheran runner made it to second base on an infield ground out but was left at second base when another infield ground out ended the inning.

Anderson proceeded to pitch a 1-2-3 top of the fifth inning before things got a little exciting in the top of the sixth.

After retiring the first two batters to start the inning, the Warriors’ Kailey Oppitz, batting at the top of the order, got West Lutheran’s only hit of the game. The next Warriors’ batter, Marissa Tusler, reached on another dropped third strike that sailed away from Walton.

Anderson then uncorked a rare wild pitch that allowed both runners to move up a base. West Lutheran’s next batter, Eleanor Rolf fouled off a number of pitches before striking out to end the Warriors’ scoring threat. Rolf had only struck out two times during the season prior to Anderson’s inning-ending strikeout.

Holding on to a slim 1-0 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning, West Lutheran’s first batter, Grace Rolf, popped out to USC second baseman Reanna Obermeyer for the first out. Anderson then struck out Evelyn Valleau for the second out.

The USC crowd stood in anticipation of the final out. With a count of two balls and two strikes, West Lutheran’s Claire Bostic fouled off three two-strike pitches before striking out to give the Rebels the victory.

It was a fitting way for Anderson to end her high school career. She holds the record for career strikeouts for Minnesota high schoolers with 1,822. The previous record was 1,642 which was set by Kasson-Mantorville’s Maddie Damon in 2015.

Anderson also set another record during her teams’ championship victory. Her 16 strikeouts in the game gave her a season-total of 437 which broke the former record of 435 set by Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial’s Whitney Johnson in 2009.

Anderson, Bruegger, Walton and Olivia Bird were all named to the Class A All-Tournament Team.

The State Champion Rebels compiled an overall record of 26 wins and four losses during the 2026 season which included 10 wins and one loss during the playoffs.

They were the No.-2 seed behind Martin County West in the Section 2A playoffs and had to survive five elimination games to get to the Section 2A Championship game, which they won 7-1 over MCW.

They opened play at State with a 10-0, five-inning triumph over Sebeka to advance to the State Semifinals where they rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat BOLD 5-3 and earn their way to the State Championship.

Six seniors ended their high school career with the State Championship game. In addition to Anderson, the other graduating seniors are Brianna Boyd, Carissa Hanson, Hannah Niebuhr, Alyssa Winkle and Makiha Dillon.