The Willmar West Central Tribune recently came out with its All-Area softball team, which included two selections each from BBE, BOLD, Lac qui Parle Valley and NLS.

Among the athletes earning the All-Area honor was Minnewaska Area senior Ally Mogard, who was named to the All-Area second team.

Three seniors, four juniors, one sophomore and an eighth-grader make up the All-Area first team, while five seniors, one junior, a sophomore, one ninth-grader and a seventh-grader constitute the All-Area second team.

Yes, that’s right, all grade levels are included in the 18-member All-Area softball team for 2024.

The first team includes Madison Anderson of KMS, Grace Etterman of Willmar, Brooklyn Fischer of BBE, Kaitlyn Flann of BOLD, Abby Knudsen of NLS, Laila Ridler of RCW, Kaydence Roeske of Paynesville, Kendyl Shelstad of LQP Valley and Bayli Sneller of YME.

The eighth-grader among that bunch was Flann, who went 13-8 on the mound with a 1.42 ERA and also batted .323 with an on-base percentage of .416.

On the second team are Claire Borstad of LQP, Emma Flann of BOLD, Kylieann Johnson of Montevideo, Taylen Jorgenson of Dawson-Boyd, Kendall Miller of ACGC, Presley Nygaard of Benson, Emily Ruter of NLS, Mya Worms of BBE and Ally Mogard of Minnewaska Area.

The seventh-grader is Emma Flann of BOLD, who batted .436 with an on-base percentage of .488, 10 stolen bases and a .987 fielding percentage at catcher in 151 total chances.

Of Mogard, the paper wrote:  “Ally Mogard closed out her career with many honors in a 7-16 season for the Lakers.  Mogard, the senior second baseman who was an All-WCC pick, batted .313 and had a .418 on-base percentage.   She plans to study psychology at the University of Minnesota.

Added her coach, Luke Barkeim, “Ally was a great bat at the top of the order all year and was strong defensively at second base.  Her biggest impact was her leadership.  She was a tremendous leader for our young team.”