Entering his 19th year as head coach of the Becker girls softball team, Coach Jason Baune usually has a good idea what to expect from his teams as he enters each season.  However, after last year’s season never happened, Baune has a few more unanswered questions as his team prepares for its season opener scheduled for April 12 in Elk River.

“After missing last spring, we have really graduated two classes, so we will work hard early in the season to figure out our best offensive and defensive line-ups,” says Baune, who will again be assisted by Matt O’Neill.  “There will be some experimenting, but I’m confident that we have a strong group of athletes and they will accept a role that helps the team be successful.”

Part of the reason for the optimism is the historical strength of Baune’s program, which has consistently produced a high level of talent, including in 2019 when they finished 4th in state.  It was Baune’s sixth trip to state with the team overall.

Becker will begin its second stint in the Mississippi 8 Conference with some familiarity with the other teams, as they played against many of them in non conference games in 2019.

“Both the conference and section are somewhat unknown after a year off,” says Baune.  “We played many of the M8 schools two years ago and were very successful with a 7-1 record, but two years later things may look very different.”

The one certainty for his team is that there will be plenty of athletes vying for time on the varsity, with as many 20 players in the mix for playing time after just the first week of practice.

A quartet of capable Captains will lead the cast, including Seniors Emma Eickhoff (pitcher), Krista Paulson (shortstop) and Brooke Hendrickson (outfielder).  Junior Cadence Koste (catcher) was also named a captain and could share duties behind the plate with Makenna Zerwas.  Other players returning with experience include Jenna Kringler and Kurstyn Patnode.

Baune rattled off a whole list of other potential candidates as he and the coaches work to get to know the talents of the team as soon as possible in preparation for the season.

Despite not having a school season a year ago, the girls were still able to play summer ball and that experience will be counted on with this season’s shortened spring training schedule.

“Many of our girls were able to play part of a summer season and continued playing into the fall . . . our parents also organized a dome team that played at SCSU this January and February,” says Baune.  “That experience will be important.”

Baune expects pitching to be a strength of the team, with SCSU recruit Eickhoff leading the way.

“We have been very fortunate to have some great pitching over the years and I think that tradition will continue this year,” predicts Baune.  “Eickhoff, Patnode, and [Sophomore Maddie] Sherman will be a strong group that will give us a chance to compete in every game.”

Offensively, he hopes there is enough talent there early to sustain the team until it accumulates more experience at the plate.

“I think we’ll have a strong top of our line-up and hopefully some of our younger athletes will get experience during the year and contribute to a solid batting line-up by playoff time,” says the coach.

While his team has yet to set their official goals for the season, Baune expects that the girls will want to compete for a Mississippi 8 Conference title, while winning the section is always a team goal.

“Our teams have always had a lot of fun supporting each other and I’m sure that will continue this year,” adds Baune.

In addition to the conference schedule, the team will face some excellent non conference foes in Elk River, Maple Grove and Eastview.

How it all comes together is the big question that Baune is hoping to answer in the early weeks of the season.  As he and the team try to focus on the task at hand, he is hoping that the chance to finally set foot on the field will help the girls navigate the unknowns.

“Last year was a difficult year to miss because we had a very talented group of softball players and they were such a cohesive group, but I believe that this group has used the lost season as motivation and that they are even more determined to have a successful season,” says Baune.  “I hope that fan restrictions won’t be too tight and that people can make it out to catch a game this spring!”

If they do, there’s a good chance the spectators will see the experienced players working hard to lead a new squad in creating another chapter in the Becker softball tradition.