Girls softball falls short of state title

The Forest Lake softball team came up just short in its hopes of yet again capturing a Class AAAA state title.

The second-seeded Rangers opened up the tournament on Wednesday, June 5, against the unseeded Eden Prairie Eagles, where the girls won with ease in a 5-1 final score. The squad raked in seven hits on five RBIs, while striking out just three times. Senior Hannah Tong willed her team to victory on the mound, throwing seven strikeouts and giving up only three total hits.

With the win, the Rangers faced off with a tough Rogers team – a group who compiled a 20-3 record heading into the semifinal matchup on Thursday, June 6. The Royals rallied to score four runs in the opening inning, putting Forest Lake in a tough hole to climb out of early on.

As the girls trailed 4-0 in the bottom of the second, Ava Stenglein put her team back into striking position by smacking a three-run homer to trail by just a single point. But Rogers kept getting timely hits to slowly extend its lead throughout the ballgame. Karianne Drury hit a two-run homer to bring things closer once again, but the Rangers fell 7-5, ultimately knocking them out of contention for a state championship.

With the loss, the girls faced off with Rosemount – the No. 1 seed – in the third-place game on Friday, June 7, bringing together a rematch from last year’s Class AAAA championship battle where Rosemount beat Forest Lake 6-1. It was a close game all the way to the end, but Forest Lake lost 3-2 to wrap up its historic season with a fourth-place finish at the Class AAAA state tournament.