The Prior Lake softball team just couldn't get a timely hit when it really needed one in the Section 2AAAA title game.

Top-seeded Chanhassen scored its first two runs on two-out hits and then used the long ball in a 5-2 victory over the second-seeded Lakers June 1 at Miller Park in Eden Prairie.

Prior Lake needed to beat Chanhassen in back-to-back games to earn its second state berth since 2013 and third in seven seasons. But Marybeth Olson wasn't going to allow a winner-take-all contest.

The Storm senior hit a pair of solo homers in the bottom of the third and sixth innings and tossed a complete game. She allowed seven hits and two runs (one earned), while fanning seven.

Prior Lake finished the season with a 21-4 overall mark with two of its four losses to the Storm, the defending state champions. Chanhassen beat the Lakers 2-1 in the section's winners bracket final May 30.

Prior Lake went into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents 58-6 in that span. But in four of five section games, the Lakers managed just seven total runs, getting 2-1 wins over Chaska and Minnetonka in the first two rounds, along with the two losses to Chanhassen.

Prior Lake beat Minnetonka 10-1 May 30 in the losers bracket to get to the title game.

In the finals, the Lakers had runners in scoring position. Prior Lake stranded two runners in the first, two more in the second and left the bases loaded in third. In the fifth, two more Lakers were left on the bases.

Junior Alexandra Pinkowski did tie the game at 1-1 with an RBI single with two outs in the second inning. Her line drive up the middle scored junior Sydney Trees, who reached on an error to open the frame.

In the fifth inning, the Lakers trimmed the Storm's lead to 3-2 on a sacrifice fly from Trees. Junior Abbey Sagert got the inning started with a leadoff double. She had two doubles in the game.

Olson's second homer put her team up 4-2. Another run came in on a Lakers' error with two outs in the bottom of the sixth.

Down 5-2, Prior Lake got a one-out walk from junior Jasmine Ziegler in the top of the seventh. But Olson got a couple of pop ups to end the game.

Junior Kailey Ahlstrom took the loss for the Lakers, tossing a complete game. She allowed six hits and five runs (four earned), while fanning four.

Pinkowski and senior Mikalya McEnery each finished 2 for 4, while senior Katie Stewart also had a hit.

The Lakers will graduate just four seniors, including Maddy Larson and Mackenzie Hoeg, so don't be surprised if the team is right back in the section final again next spring.

Prior Lake won the South Suburban Conference title this spring, its first under fifth-year coach Matt Haefner. The team won its final 13 league games to win the crown with a 13-1 mark.

To see more photos of the Lakers, click here.