The Forest Lake girls softball team comes off a stellar finish to its 2023 regular season campaign, where the squad finished second overall in the Class AAAA state tournament after falling to Rosemount in the title game last summer. Placing second in the ever-daunting Suburban East Conference behind Stillwater, the team overcame the misstep by rallying off multiple wins to claim the Section 7AAAA title. The program aims to keep up its high level of play and to continue to establish what Forest Lake softball is all about – but not without the help of some key returnees.
Those impact players include seniors Sami Ernst and Hannah Tong, junior Brie Bakke, sophomores Francie Gregor, Karianne Drury, Bella Dowdall and Avery Muellner, who has a possibility of missing the entire year due to an injury. Head coach Sean Hall labels Muellner as a big component of the pitching circle and hopes she’s back as soon as possible.
The group was ranked as the top overall team in Class 4A before Muellner’s injury, but Hall still expects to compete as one of the best units across the state.
“Our expectations are to always win the section and to win the state,” Hall said. “We’re not as heavily focused on the conference, but obviously we would like to go out and try and win that one, too.”
In regards to how his Rangers can repeat the same success they’ve had in previous years, Hall notes how crucial it is for the girls to stay healthy throughout the year, as well as playing their best softball toward the end of the season.
“Just staying healthy – that’s important. Also, peaking towards the back end of the season,” Hall said.
The Rangers opened up the regular season at home with a Suburban East Conference battle against Park of Cottage Grove on Wednesday, April 3, and came away with a whopping 12-2 victory to start out the season 1-0.
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