ROCHESTER — The Rebels are within one game of the class ‘A’ state baseball tournament.

Southland took care of business when it beat Hayfield 8-1 on the strength of a strong pitching performance from its ace in the Section 1A winners bracket game in Hudson Field in Rochester Saturday.

Rebel senior pitcher Brian Voigt allowed a homer to Darin Wagner on the first at-bat of the game and he walked the bases loaded with one out in the third inning, but after that he would retire 14 straight Vikings to end the game on a strong note.

“I kind of lost my groove a little bit,” Voigt said. “You just gotta settle down and get back going. Once you get going, I just let (catcher) Derek (Emanuel) make all the calls. I just trust him and make the pitch.”

To get out of the bases loaded jam, Voigt got MacEagon Voyce to fly out to short right field and he struck out Tyler Nelson.

The Rebels (23-2 overall) built up their lead by taking advantage of some Viking mistakes. In the third, Southland’s Jake Chapek hit a two-out triple and he scored on a wild pitch; in the fourth Emanuel started a three-run inning by getting to first on a pop fly that Hayfield let drop. He then stole third and scored on a throwing error by Hayfield catcher Travis Kauffman.

Emanuel wasn’t told to steal, but he saw something in the defense.

“I thought the third baseman was playing pretty far back so I thought maybe he couldn’t get to the bag,” Emanuel said.

Southland head coach Scott Retterath said his team has learned to feed off their opponents mistakes.

“You get to this time of the year and you’re gonna need to get some hits,” he said. “But you have to take advantage of what the other team gives you as well. If they have a few miscues in the field, you’ve gotta exploit that and we did a pretty good job of that today.”

Southland sophomore Chris May hit a two-run double to give Southland a 5-1 lead in the fourth. May finished 3-of-3 with a double and a triple from the No. 9 spot.

“He’s hitting the ball right now,” Retterath said. “He’s getting clutch hits and that’s what we need to keep running in the tournament.”

Voigt added his 12th homer of the season in the seventh inning on a two-run shot off of Hayfield’s Ben Pollock.

“I think he was wearing down a little bit,” Voigt said. “He just left one out in the zone and I had a pretty good swing on it.”

After the Vikings (12-13 overall) seized an early 1-0 lead, Josh Bamrick had a two-out run-scoring single to tie the game at one in the second inning.

Hayfield will now play Chatfield in an elimination game Tuesday at 5 p.m. in Hudson Field. The winner of that game will face off against Southland at 7:30 p.m. The Rebels would have to lose twice in order to not make it to the state tournament, which starts June 12.

Hayfield beat Wabasha/Kellog (20-5 overall) in the opener by scoring three runs in the seventh inning to take a 5-3 lead for good. Steve Serratore had a two-run single to give the Vikings the lead.

Southland jumped out to a 7-2 lead over Chatfield (15-10 overall) in its first game and it went on to win 9-3.

Wagner and Voigt each had two home runs on the day.

Southland 8, Hayfield 1

Southland, which has won 20 straight games, also beat Hayfield 8-1 in the subsection playoffs May 22.

Southland pitching: Brian Voigt (W), 7 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, 8 K

Southland hitting: Matt Schroeder, 0-of-4; Jake Chapek, 2-of-4, triple, RBI; Brian Voigt, 1-of-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Derek Emanuel, 2-of-4; Kody Retterath, 0-of-3, BB; Winston Smith, 0-of-3; Josh Bamrick, 1-of-1, RBI, BB; Alan May, 0-of-3; Chris May, 3-of-3, double, triple, 2 RBIs

Hayfield pitching: Ben Pollock (L), 7 IP, 9 H, 2 BB, 8 R, 7 ER, 6 K

Hayfield hitting: Darin Wagner, 1-of-2, HR, 1 RBI, BB; Steve Serratore, 0-of-2, BB; Tyler Krekling, 0-of-2, BB; MacEagon Voyce, 0-of-3; Derek Petersen, 0-of-3; Travis Kauffman, 1-of-3, double; Evan Bungum, 0-of-3; Tyler Nelson, 0-of-3; Mark Evjen, 0-of-2

Southland 9, Chatfield 3

Southland pitching: Mitch Nagele (W), 7 IP, 8 H, 3 BB, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 K

Southland hitting: Matt Schroeder, 2-of-4, 2 RBIs; Jake Chapek, 2-of-3, 1 RBI; Brian Voigt, 3-of-3, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 R, BB; Derek Emanuel, 1-of-3, double, RBI; Kody Retterath, 1-of-4; Winston Smith, 2-of-4, RBI; Josh Bamrick, 1-of-4; Mitch Nagele, 1-of-3, double; Chris May, 1-of-2, 1 RBI

Hayfield 5, W/K 3

Hayfield pitching: MacEagon Voyce (W), 7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 K

Hayfield hitting: Darin Wagner, 2-of-4, HR, RBI; Steve Serratore, 1-of-4, 2 RBIs; Tyler Krekling, 0-of-3, BB; MacEagon Voyce, 1-of-2, RBI, BB; Derek Petersen, 1-of-3, double, RBI; Travis Kauffman, 0-of-3; Jake Holst, 0-of-3; Tyler Nelson, 0-of-3; Mark Evjen, 0-of-3