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Lakers get Number 3 Seed

By Tom Schardin, 05/20/15, 12:30PM CDT

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Section 2AAA Softball Lakers get No. 3 playoff seed

Tournament play starts May 21 at Caswell Park

 
 
Playoff Time

Photo by Tom Schardin

Playoff Time

 

Can Angela McBeain and Prior Lake get back to the Section 2AAA title game for a fourth straight year and win their second title in three seasons? Section 2AAA play starts May 21 at the entire tourney is in Caswell Park in Mankato.

 

 
 
 
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  • Class 3A State Poll

    1. Maple Grove, 2. Bloomington Jefferson, 3. Anoka, 4. Eastview, 5. Prior Lake, 6. North St. Paul, 7. Forest Lake and Chanhassen, 9. Park, 10. Mankato West

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Posted: Monday, May 18, 2015 11:30 am

By Tom Schardin, tschardin@swpub.com

It's playoff time for the Prior Lake softball team.

The No. 5-ranked Lakers will attempt to get to the Section 2AAA title game for a fourth straight year with hopes of duplicating their 2013 success when they won the crown.

The Lakers (14-6) earned the No. 3 seed in the 12-team field and will get a first-round bye. They'll face the winner of sixth-seeded New Prague (15-4) and 11th-seeded Chaska (9-11) in the quarterfinals May 21 at 7 p.m.

The single-elimination first round games also are May 21 at 5 p.m. The entire tournament is held at Caswell Park in Mankato.

Seventh-ranked Chanhassen (18-2) earned the No. 1 seed and gets the winner of eighth-seeded Minnetonka (8-9) and ninth-seeded Waconia (10-9) in the quarterfinals, while 10th-ranked and second-seeded Mankato West (18-2) will get the winner of seventh-seeded Eden Prairie (8-12) and 10th-seeded Hutchinson (11-8), and fourth-seeded Shakopee (13-7) gets the winner of fifth-seeded Mankato East (15-5) and 12th-seeded Willmar (2-15).

The semifinals are May 23 with the winner's bracket final May 26. The title game is May 28.

The good news for the Lakers is they appear to be healthy for the postseason. Senior shortstop Shaye Barton will be back. She's been out with an injured hand since April 23 and Prior Lake went 6-5 in her absence and 8-1 with her in the lineup.

Junior Angela McBeain and senior third baseman Ashlee Leech also missed three games late in the year, but both returned for the end of the regular season.

Prior Lake lost six of its last eight South Suburban Conference games to finish 8-5 in the league play, which placed them fourth behind Rosemount, Eastview and Shakopee.

Prior Lake did end the regular season with two dominant two five-inning wins — 11-1 over Lakeville North in SSC play and 16-2 over No. 7 Forest Lake. 

Junior Justus Perry led the Lakers in the regular season with eight home runs and 26 RBIs, hitting .457. In 11 games, Barton was hitting .412 with three home runs and 14 RBIs.

Leech hit .500 in the regular season with two home runs and 14 RBIs, while McBeain was hitting. 400 with a homer and 15 RBIs. Ninth-grader Jocleyn Kirk led the team in run scored with 23, hitting .350 with 12 RBIs, while senior Deanna Wibbens had a team-best eight doubles, hitting .378 with 20 RBIs.

Junior Caitlin Stone hit .400 in the regular season, while senior Izzy Gates hit .395 and ninth-grader Abbey Sagert hit .361.

Stone led the Lakers in innings pitched with 68, posting a 3.29 earned-run average with an 8-3 mark and 32 strikeouts. McBeain worked 48 2/3 innings with a 2.73 earned-run average, a 5-2 mark and 26 strikeouts.

For complete playoff brackets, go to www.mshsl.org.