The Prior Lake softball team will be under new leadership next spring.

Kelsey Anderson, a former standout pitcher for Burnsville, has been hired as the Lakers' new coach. She has coached the last three seasons at Wayzata and is currently a 13U coach for Midwest Speed, a Twin Cities club softball program.

Anderson is a 2011 Burnsville graduate, leading the team to the Class 3A state title in 2010. She was selected the 2011 Gatorade Minnesota Softball Player of the Year and the Ms. Minnesota Softball winner in her final season with the Blaze.

In Anderson's last two seasons at Burnsville as the team’s No. 1 starter, she had a combined 43-6 record with 515 strikeouts in 349 1/3 innings.

Anderson started her collegiate career as a pitcher at Winona State University, but she ended it as a hitter for her final two seasons at Bethel University in St. Paul. At Bethel, she was All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Association Conference in her two seasons there.

In her final season in the MIAC, Anderson finished first on her team in nearly every offensive category for the season, including hits (51), runs (44), RBIs (37), total bases (82), and home runs (7). She also hit .370 with a .441 on-base percentage and a .594 slugging average.

As a coach at Wayzata, Anderson's Trojans struggled to get wins. She had a career record of 18-44 in her three seasons there.

At Prior Lake, Anderson will take over for Matt Haefner, who stepped down this past spring after seven seasons leading the Lakers. Haefner compiled a 123-46 overall mark, including a 23-13 record in the playoffs.

In his first season, Haefner led the Lakers to the Class 3A state tournament, where the team finished runner-up to Elk River. Prior Lake played in the section championship three times after that state berth, but lost to New Prague in 2014, Chanhassen in 2017 and Shakopee in 2018.

Haefner won one South Suburban Conference title in his tenure in 2018. This past spring, Prior Lake finished 13-10 overall, going 2-2 in the Section 2AAAA tourney.