2023 Minneota/Canby Softball Preview
Minneota/Canby Softball
HEAD COACH: Heidi Louwagie
ASSISTANTS: Emily Citterman (JV, Katie Boettger (pitching), Jenna Drietz (Jr. High)
LAST YEAR: 12-9
Minneota suffered a blow to the upcoming season when projected starting pitcher Madison Hennen injured her knee and will miss the entire season.
Still, head coach Heidi Louwagie feels others are capable of picking up the pieces inside the circle.
"Losing Madison really rocked our initial strategies for the season," she said. "But our other pitchers have been looking great in the gym. We're hoping that carries over to the field and games."
Brooke DeSmet, a junior letterwinner, is expected to take over the starting pitching duties with freshmen Joelle Otto and Isabelle Hulzebos backing her up.
"We need to play solid defense and swing the bat to have a great season," Louwagie pointed out. "Our pitchers need to throw strikes and let our defense back them up."
Louwagie is in her seventh season as head coach. The Vikings, who went 12-9 a season ago (12-8 in conference), return nine letterwinners but have only three seniors on the team.
Back this year are senior outfielders AshleeAnn Frazeur and Tessa Anhalt, plus senior utility player Tylee Groenhoff. Those seniors will be looked at to provide leadership.
Other returning letterwinners include junior first baseman Kenadi Arndt, junior shortstop Faith Myhre, sophomore second baseman Dakota Pesch, and sophomore catcher Kiersyn Hulzebos. Autumn Tooley, a junior, will see action in the outfield.
"We have a lot of girls with varsity experience, so hopefully that will help with confidence at the plate and smart defense," Louwagie noted. "With the weather being so uncooperative, we need to stay positive and practice all the little things in the gym until we can get outside. It is going to be a very busy few weeks when we actually get to start playing games, so staying healthy and somewhat rested will also be important."
The Vikings' scheduled season opener is at Ortonville on Saturday, April 15.