Forest Lake softball falls to Rogers 7-5 in AAAA state semifinal

The Forest Lake softball team came up just short in its 7-5 loss to the Rogers Royals in the semifinals round of the Class AAAA state tournament on Thursday, June 6. The Rangers surrendered four early runs in the top of the first inning, creating a tough hole that the girls made every effort in climbing out of in the close loss.

Following the quick 4-0 deficit, Forest Lake’s Ava Stenglein raked in a three-run homer to center field to bring the Rangers back within striking distance in the bottom of the second–but Rogers kept getting timely hits to slowly extend its lead throughout the ballgame.

With the girls trailing by a 6-3 score in the bottom of the fifth, Karianne Drury smacked a two-run home run to shrink the Royals’ lead to just a single run. But Rogers responded with a ground double to open up the top of the sixth, extending its lead to 7-5. The bats weren’t too friendly for the Rangers in its final chance to mount the comeback, resulting in Forest Lake being knocked out of contention for the Class 4A state title.

Rogers, the third-seed, will battle with fourth-seeded New Prague in the Class AAAA championship game, and with the loss, Forest Lake will face off with top seeded Rosemount in the third-place game, with that contest scheduled for Friday, June 7, at 9 a.m. at Caswell Park in North Mankato.