A red sea rose to its feet, phones out, recording. The United South Central fans were packed into the Gophers' Jane Sage Cowles Stadium on Friday to watch their softball team vie for its first Class 1A state title.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the No. 1-seeded Rebels' junior pitcher, Mariah Anderson — at 5-foot-3, "the little engine that could," said head coach Todd Schmidtke — squared her shoulders, looking for her 19th strikeout of the game against No. 6 Badger/Greenbush-Middle River.

The at-bat dragged out, the longest of the evening. A rare ball, a tipped foul, then Quinn Vacura recorded the Gators' second hit of the night.

But Anderson was unfazed. The effect of her whizzing fastball could be delayed for only so long. The next at-bat she got what she was looking for — her 52nd strikeout of the state tournament, and the clincher to the Rebels' 2-0 win.

"It was honestly less pressure, more fun today," she said. "We had no pressure on us, because it was our first time here, so to just go out there and have fun, that was the ultimate goal."

After that final strikeout, Anderson ran to celebrate with senior catcher Taylor Schroeder. The pair have spent early morning practices pitching and catching together since middle school.

"We've been waiting for this moment," Schroeder said. "Me and Mariah have worked together forever, and to end my senior year this way, I couldn't have any better."

Anderson, who is also an accomplished club gymnast, has shot up Minnesota's strikeout record boards. She's on pace to, next year, break the state's career strikeout record (1,642, set by Kasson-Mantorville's Maddie Damon in 2015). Along the way, she helped the Rebels post three shutouts in their first trip to the state tournament.

On Friday, after USC's two-run third inning, Anderson's pitching eased worries about the Rebels' quieting bats. Each team recorded two hits, the Rebels relying on the Gators' two errors to help send juniors Carissa Hanson and Hannah Niebuhr home.

Otherwise, BGMR, a four-time state runner-up also looking for its first state title, played tight defense.

"They made some really good defensive plays. … They made plays all tournament," Schmidtke said. "Wish we could have put a little more runs across, but we'll take it."