NORTH MANKATO — Missed opportunities early curtailed Stillwater’s attempt to extend its season after falling to St. Michael-Albertville 4-0 in the consolation semifinals of the Class AAAA state softball tournament on Thursday, June 6 at Caswell Park.
The unseeded Ponies (19-7) were stopped by top seed and eventual third-place finisher Rosemount 8-7 in extra innings the previous day and they were unable to produce much offensively against the Knights (20-6), who defeated Edina 10-8 in the consolation finals.
After defeating Class AAA state runner-up Cretin-Derham Hall in its regular season finale, Stillwater cruised through the Section 4AAAA tournament while outscoring their opponents by a combined 53-9 in four games. One bad inning cost the Ponies against Rosemount in the state quarterfinals and they managed just five hits in blustery conditions while getting shut out by Kendra Behrens of STMA.
“We played OK, but we didn’t play great,” Ponies coach Angie Ryan said. “We had a tough time bouncing back after losing in extras the day before.”
Stillwater threatened in each of the first three innings, but had runners called out at home in the first and third.
“It was one small thing and if ball a ball bounces differently we also could have scored in the third,” Ryan said. “Things did not go our way, but they played really well, too. They were strong defensively and handled the wind and their shortstop made some great plays. Sometimes things don’t go your way.”
STMA strung together three hits in the bottom of the first to surge in front 1-0 and added another run in the third for a two-run cushion. Then in the fourth, Grace Fouquette drove a two-run double to right field to extend the lead to 4-0. Fouquette finished with three hits to lead the Knights, who also received two hits and an RBI from Behrens.
“They had that big hit at the right time,” Ryan said.
Maya Schroeder and Sarah Dollerschell each collected two hits for the Ponies. Ava Volkmann drew three walks in as many plate appearances after launching a home run among her three hits in the quarterfinals the previous day.
The Ponies have been productive up and down the lineup most of the season, but could not break through against Behrens.
“She moved the ball around the zone,” Ryan said. “She didn’t throw very hard or anything, but the wind was crazy that day and blowing right at the hitters. You had to drive the ball down and that is not our strong suit. The wind played a large factor.”
Anna Corbid allowed just two hits and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings after entering in the fourth, but the Ponies were unable to make up the deficit at the plate.
Corbid was part of a productive senior class for the Ponies, who have contributed to an 82-19 record the past four seasons, with two conference championships and two trips to the state tournament. Lilly Grundner, Addison Coffey and Dollerschell have been four-year starters and productive members of the lineup.
“The seniors were freshmen when I became the head coach and they were a big part in the program,” Ryan said. “Anna Corbid is just an absolute gem of a person the way she treats her teammates and coaches and is a super smart student. She’s just the kind of person you want your children to be like and we will miss her dramatically. Losing somebody like that is hard and obviously that senior class with Dollerschell, Coffey and Grundner are extremely talented players.”
“It’s just a lot of experience and leadership that we’re losing,” the coach said, adding fellow seniors Morgan Perkins and Ava Cheney. “Over the last couple of years we’ve lost a lot of great players. According to whoever, we weren’t supposed to be very good the last couple years because we lost such a strong group, but I think these players were not recognized as the players they could be and proved a lot of people wrong. They really stepped up and became great in their own right.”
Maya Schroeder enjoyed a remarkable season in the lead-off spot after taking over for an all-state performer Alexis Monty and didn’t miss a step. Volkmann also helped solidify the infield after taking over at shortstop and also produced at the plate.
“She was the only outfielder with experience and our outfield did struggle early on, but our outfield play really came along and ended up being one of our biggest strengths,” Ryan said. “Maya’s numbers were very close to Monty.”
“Volkmann really ended up having an awesome year. She ended up being that shortstop we needed and we didn’t know we had. She kept proving herself and became a great shortstop for us.”
After defeating the Ponies in the quarterfinals, Rosemount was stopped by New Prague 3-1 in the semifinals before defeating Suburban East Conference champion Forest Lake 3-2 in the third-place game. Rogers defeated the Rangers 7-5 in the semifinals before blanking New Prague 3-0 to claim the program’s first-ever state championship.
Still 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 1
STMA 1 0 1 2 0 0 x — 4 8 0
WP: Kendra Behrens 7-ip, 5-h, 0-r, 0-er, 4-bb, 3-so
LP: Cece Lamey 3 1/3-ip, 6-h, 4-r, 4-er, 2-bb, 1-so
Leading hitters: St, Maya Schroeder 2x3, Sarah Dollerschell 2x3, Ava Volkmann 0x0 (3 BB) and Autumn Lettner 1x3; STMA, Camryn Dubel 1x3 (2B), Grace Fouquette 3x3 (2B, 2 RBI), Kylie Gaston 1x4 (RBI), Kenra Behrens 2x4 (RBI) and Becca Odland 1x2.
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