It’s natural for younger players making their way on a varsity team to be timid. They may feel it’s best to feel their way out and blend in with the crowd.
If Kenyon-Wanamingo wants to put together another winning season on the heels of one of its best in recent in history in 2023, the Knights will be reliant on a host of newcomers to supplement a mighty three-player senior class.
The senior trio of pitcher/infielder Josie Flom, infielder/outfielder Ivette Mendoza and infielder/outfielder Kenzie Moore are helping the young core along, but they’re finding they don’t need too much of a push to be ready and motivated.
“We’ve just been working on the basic stuff. Getting the younger ones on varsity ready to play at that level,” Moore said as the team prepares for its April 4 season opener at Bethlehem Academy.
Mendoza added that “we see a lot of confidence in them, too. They’re not scared. They’re playing varsity level and it’s actually really good. I think we’ll have a good season this year. I’m looking forward to that.”
A dry winter and warm start to March allowed the team to begin practice on March 11. Minnesota teams tend to start practice indoors then work they’re way outside. It’s been the opposite this year as more wintry weather later in the month and into April has led to a lot of practice inside the gym.
K-W head coach Carrie Anderson hasn’t noticed a dip in want-to or desire to get better when the team’s forced to the wood floor instead of the dirt under their cleats.
“We have a younger team, but I’m super excited because they’re all eager and want to be playing,” Anderson said. “They want to be here and they’re pushing really hard to earn a spot. They all came in knowing we have all the seniors who left. We have positions to fill and people are going to move around. So it’s kind of fun seeing them. We were outside for a week and now even coming back inside, to be able to come in and really push hard to want to work now inside has been different.”
K-W will be led by its all-conference pitcher, Flom.
“She had an injury during basketball season. She worked on training to get back from that,” Anderson said. “We had dome ball scrimmages in Rochester. She pitched a couple innings and did well. We’re trying to keep her rested this week. She worked on it all winter, too. She continues to keep pitching.”
It’s also Flom’s summer sport. She’s found success competing on the Owatonna Crush travel softball team.
Flom rarely ever left the circle last season. That expects to be the case once again, though Anderson would like to see some of the pitchers coming down the pipeline like sophomore Addy Lindell or freshman Anna Ostertag, get some action.
She’s also interested to see Flom get some time in the infield, allowing her arm to shine at third base or shortstop.
“We’ve got a couple younger girls who pitched in the past and so they’ll be working hopefully on JV and maybe we can see Josie in some other positions depending how games go,” Anderson said.
A big question for K-W is who will be behind the plate in replacing 2023 graduate and Flom’s trusty battery mate, Nevaeh Greseth.
“Chloe [Donkers], she’s a really good catcher,” Moore said of the freshman. “She’s a very good takeover for Nevaeh.”
Donkers has been behind the plate growing up and is ready to take the next step.
“She loves catching. She wants to learn, too,” Anderson said. “She’s been doing it for a long time, but she’s willing to listen to feedback and change things.”
The team will pack some power with Flom and Mendoza in the middle of the lineup. The Knights will be without the younger of the Mendoza sisters, junior Allina, due to injury.
Allina is expected to take on a co-manager role for the team, as well as hype woman in the dugout.
Outfielder/infielder Eva Jacobson and pitcher/infielder/outfielder Ostertag join catcher/outfielder Donkers as freshmen who could make an immediate impact.
Sophomore pitcher/infielder/outfielder Addy Lindell, sophomore outfielder/infielder Bria Miller, junior outfielder/infielder Amber Lerfald and junior infielder/outfielder Vanessa Bartel are also expected to provide key contributions.
K-W got its first taste of game-like action when it took to the Rochester Regional Stadium dome for scrimmages vs. Plainview-Elgin-Millville and Rochester Century on March 16.
PEM is a Class 2A squad coming off a 9-11 season. Century is a 4A squad coming off a 10-10 season.
“We had a really good showing. Plainview was pretty similar to us. They had a ton of girls. We played them, we played well. We didn’t keep score, but in our minds we won,” Anderson said. “Then Rochester Century, they had a small team much like us. Very small considering it’s a Rochester school. Their coaches said they compete with lacrosse and track and other sports, golf, so they have a lot less girls. They were a really good team. The pitcher was a different caliber. We played not as strong of a pitcher vs. Plainview and then to go to a strong pitcher definitely set us back in our mentality. So we struggled a bit more. But after we kept playing it was like ‘Oh yeah, we know what to do.’ I was like ‘Yes, you do!’”
Ivette Mendoza likes the camaraderie of the team. There’s a lot of carryover from the winter basketball season to help with chemistry.
“The thing with us, we’ve all been on teams together,” Mendoza said, “so we all know each other and that’s another good thing.”
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