Season Stats
Mankato, Minn. – The Viking softball team wrapped up their best season in school history with a banquet that celebrated the team’s accomplishments.
Awards were handed out with Ashley Jensen (Delano, Minn./West Lutheran) voted the Most Valuable Player. Most Valuable Defensive Player went to Kelsey Pekarna (Jordan, Minn./Jordan). Gena Chester (Mankato, Minn./Mankato West) was named Rookie of the Year. The Batting Champion award went to Emily Rauchman (Mankato, Minn./Mankato West), and Jonnica Norell (St. Peter, Minn./St. Peter) was given the Viking Award.
We sat down for a Q & A with Head Coach Leigh Ann LaFave and asked her to reflect on the record breaking season.
Did you meet or exceed your expectations this year?
Taking a look back at our goals from the beginning of the season, we did meet several of them. After we had a successful fall-ball season, we knew we had talent that could compete with the rest of the teams in the conference. At every practice we focused on the fundamentals and we continually stressed the importance of playing consistently from game to game and playing with intensity through seven innings. As a team, we sat down and came up with goals that we wanted to achieve. Everyone mentioned that this was the year we would make it to the conference tournament. I am very proud of this team as we did not only make it to the conference tournament, but we played exceptionally well—consistently and with intensity. We played competitive softball and ended up third in the conference.
What was the biggest obstacle you had to face this season?
The biggest hurdle we had to overcome was the injuries and illness that occurred. We had a small roster to begin with but when players became injured we had people playing out of position for several games. I want to commend my players for their willingness to move positions and do what was best for the team in the given scenario. However, having to move players from position to position not only improved their knowledge of the game, but we saw team chemistry. Everyone knew their role for the season and everyone was just excited to be on the field.
What was the best highlight of the season?
There were several highlights of the season:
1) Sweeping Northland all three conference games
2) Beating Morris two of the three conference games
3) Playing competitively with Northwestern all three games
4) Playing competitively with St. Scholastica in the conference tournament
5) Beating Morris (2nd seed in the tournament) to finish 3rd in the conference
What are you looking forward to next year?
This season we saw what we could do when everyone played up to their potential. Fortunately, I will return everyone next year and add a few more recruits to key positions. I think having experienced the conference tournament this year, I want to say that these players will work hard and want to get back and do better next year.
Is there anything extra you want to make sure people know as you reflect on the season?
This was the first season in program history that the softball team made the conference tournament. We were the underdogs and may have surprised a few teams in the conference tournament with our performance. The season was successful as we had support from parents, fans, donors, and administration—a true team effort.
