Laker softball to host SC for twinbill, April 1
Sports | Published on March 24, 2025 at 11:41am CDT
The Minnewaska Area softball team is set to get the 2025 season underway Tuesday, April 1 with a home doubleheader against Sauk Centre followed by a single game at home against the KMS Saints, Thursday, April 3.
The Lakers are coming off a 7-16 season from a year ago, a season in which the team also went 4-10 in the WCC.
Morris Area won last year’s WCC title with a perfect 14-0 record, followed by Melrose Area (11-3), WCA (10-4), BOLD (8-6), Sauk Centre (6-8), Minnewaska (4-10), Benson (3-11) and Montevideo (0-14).
Back to lead the Lakers is second-year head coach Luke Barkeim, who will be assisted again by Jesse Johnson.
Minnewaska Area has a home-friendly schedule this year with nine of the 15 regular-season dates scheduled to be played at home.
The Lakers have at least one home date for seven-straight weeks leading up to the start of the Section 3AA Tourney, Tuesday, May 20.
Seniors lost to graduation from last year’s team were Jenna Drewes (of), Ally Mogard (2b), Melanie Lara (of), Emara Sanow (of), Trelana Johnson (of) and Xi Li.
The Lakers did win their first playoff game last year over third-seeded NLS (6-5) before losing twice to Morris Area (15-0) and Pipestone (8-3) to be eliminated from the Section 3AA Tourney.
Dassel-Cokato went on to earn the Section 3AA title with a 2-0 win over Jackson County Central in the finals. DC also went 2-1 at state to claim the consolation championship in Class AA.
The Lakers were 1-8 at one point last year before going 6-8 the rest of the way to finish 7-16.
Earning All-Conference for the Lakers last year was Ally Mogard, a secondbaseman who batted .313 with an on-base percentage of .418. Selected to the honorable mention team was outfielder Haillie Schulz, who batted .327 with an on-base percentage of .431.
Mogard also earned the team’s Most Valuable Player honor and was selected as the Teammate of the Year, while Schulz was also selected as the Rookie of the Year.
In addition, shortstop Ella Roering earned the Best Offensive Player honor and Eliana Marthaler won the Best Defensive Player honor.
• Season stats — Ella Roering, Emma Poegel, Haillie Schulz and Ally Mogard were the top hitters for the Lakers last season, all batting over .300 with an on-base percentage of over .400.
Roering led the team with a .364 batting average and .447 on-base percentage, while also rapping out a team-high 24 hits and 12 RBI.
Poegel batted .333 with an on-base percentage of .397 and also had 22 hits, while Schulz batted .327 with an on-base percentage of .431 and team-high 10 walks, and Mogard batted .313 with an on-base percentage of .418 and team-best 22 runs scored.
On the mound, Mataya Mix led all pitchers with a 5-9 record and 7.87 ERA, while Norah VanZee was 2-2 with a 4.3 ERA and Ella Roering was 0-5 with a 10.2 ERA.
