A solid nucleus of four seniors along with an infusion of talented varsity newcomers both look play a key role in the success of the Northfield High School softball team in 2024.
“We are going to be young as we graduated six starters from last year,” NHS coach Josten Colman said. “We have a big group coming up from JV and they had success at that level going undefeated against some extremely tough competition. It is almost a whole new group for us coming up from varsity.”
The Raiders, which posted a 16-8, 7-6 Big 9 record in 2023, did lose several key players from last year’s club, including names like Lucy Menssen, Courtney Graff and Megan Snyder, but they will return now senior captains Leah Enedy (utility), Paige Christensen (middle infield), Samantha Mosley (outfield) and Rita Langford (outfield).
Those seniors along with five juniors, two sophomores, one ninth grader and one eighth grader look to make up the Northfield roster this season. In addition, Northfield will also have a new look on the bench, as Colman will share head coaching duties with Jason Mosley in 2024.
An assistant at NHS for the past two seasons, Jason Mosley has coached for many seasons in the Northfield softball association. He answered the call when Colman asked if he would be interested in being co-coaches this year in order for Colman to be able to spend more time with his family. This will be Colman’s third season as a head coach for the Raiders.
“It is definitely a group effort and I really like working with Josten,” Mosley said. “He has a family with younger kids and this will make life easier for him. Since my family and kids are a little bit older I can take on some of those things, so he can enjoy the life of having young kids and be able take all of that in.
“I’ve coached through the ranks of the association, and then I ‘retired” from there and had the chance to work with Josten a couple years ago and I jumped at it…and here we are.”
In his first season as a co-head coach Jason Mosley likes what he has seen so far as they team preps for the season opener April 4 against Mankato West at home.
“We are very athletic. We are a young team with a wide variety of ages on varsity this year. We were very senior heavy last year, so there will a learning curve but we have a very athletic team and defensively we are going to be solid,” Jason Mosley said. “Offensively I think we are going to be right there. The first couple times out it may take a minute to get our feet under us but as soon as they get that timing down we are going to be right in there and be very competitive.”
Pitching is typically a top key to success in the sport of softball and the Raiders look to have three quality candidates for innings in 2024. The group includes sophomore Grace Mostad along with junior Kennedy Larsen and eighth grader Kristen Hafemeyer.
“We have three quality pitchers who will be fighting for innings. I think they will all embrace the challenge and all work well together. They all complement each other well and they are all very strong pitchers and have been doing it for many years. We will have to figure out a rotation but this is the most pitching depth we’ve had a varsity since we’ve been together,” Jason Mosley said.
Samantha Mosley added, “We brought up an eighth grade pitcher and two other pitchers as well. They can all pitch a wonderful game, so we will have multiple options and not just relying on one pitcher.”
Around the infield, Ellie Capatina has experience at third base at junior varsity while ninth grade Emma Peroutka is a versatile middle infielder along with Christensen. Sophomore Tatum Sawyer will also add depth at middle infield and Enedy is a multi-faceted player who can do it all.
“Leah (Enedy) is one of our captains and she can literally play every position other than pitcher,” Colman said.
Behind the plate, junior Olivia Hohrman has a wealth of varsity playing time and will be able to share that experience with the Raiders’ young pitching corps. In the outfield, Samantha Mosley and Langford both saw varsity time last year while Mostad should be a factor in the outfield, when she is not pitching, along with junior Makena Malecha.
“I think our hitting has really improved from last year to this year. We have lots of depth,” Christensen said. “I think our defense will be good and we have a lot of people who can play a variety of positions, which will be a good plus to the program.”
Langford added her insight into the team’s offensive potential, “We have a lot of big hitters and then we have people who make singles, are fast and can steal bases.”
Another asset for the Raiders this season will be the team’s family atmosphere and connections created by years of playing in the Northfield association and at the high school.
“I think that most of the girls on this team have played together through youth softball, so I think we’ve really gelled over the years and we know how to have fun…and I think that will help to our advantage this year,” Langford said.
Enedy also believes these types of connections will help make the transition to varsity easier for many of Northfield’s players this spring.
“I think some of the camaraderie and family that they created last year on junior varsity will be super strong and I am excited about that,”
As team captains, all four seniors look forward to the leadership roles they will have this season at Northfield.
“It’s a lot of leadership,” Samantha Mosley said about being a captain. “Sometimes the young girls are a little scared to ask people for questions, so it is just being open and excepting those questions.”
Langford noted, “I think we are going to have lots of energy. I think people are expecting us to lay low this year because of how many people we lost but I think we are going to shock a lot of people with how good we are going to be and we are going to have lots of fun doing it.”
Along with several new faces and a new head coaching arrangement, Northfield will also face the change of moving down to Class AAA in the upcoming MSHSL sectional and state tournament. The 2019 MSHSL Class AAA champions, Northfield moved up to Class AAAA in the recent years but will now drop back down to compete in Class AAA this season.
In the Big 9 Conference, Winona will be a team to reckon with along with defending conference and state Class AAA champion Mankato East along with 2022 Class AAA champion Mankato West.
“Our biggest competitor in our conference is still Winona and the two Mankato’s (East and West),” Colman said. “When we look at our Section in 1AAA, (the move down to Class AAA) should help us but Winona won it last year and they should be a tough competitor as well. It’s (the move to Class) going to be a whole new experience for this team and our coaches.”
Right off the bat, Northfield will be tested as it will host perennial power Mankato West and then play at Mankato East on April 9.
“We start out with two tough teams as we will play both Mankato teams right away. The measuring stick is coming out real fast, which is great,” Jason Mosley said. “I love the competition right away and it helps coach and I create a game plan for the rest of the year.”
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