Hermantown Clinches Third State Softball Title

June
6

Dwight Cadwell

North Mankato – The Hermantown Hawks won their third state softball championship on Friday afternoon as the Hawks rolled through the state girl’s 2AA softball tournament. It was the third time that the Hawks have accomplished the feat. Other state championship seasons for the Hawks included the years of 1991 and 2002. Hermantown was also state runners up twice in 1992 and 2001.

The Hawks championship run began back in the Section 7AA playoffs. After falling in sectional play to Virginia, it was a run of dominating pitching by Megan Mullen that
set up the Hawks for chance at the state title. It was a 3-2 come back win over Esko followed by two shutouts over Virginia giving the Hawks a return trip for the sixteenth time in school history to the state tournament. This amount of state apprearances
matches a tournament record, held by St Bernard’s.

Hermantown opened the 2009 state tournament at Caswell Park in North Mankato with a 1-0 win in dramatic fashion over section four champions, the Waseca Bluejays. It would be an extra inning battle as Hermantown won in the bottom of the twelfth inning on a heads up play by Julia Gilbert. Gilbert, with one out in the twelfth inning, would lay down a bunt single. Immediately
following this play,
a single to left field by Anna Engelmeier advanced Gilbert to 3rd base. Megan Foles, the Waseca left fielder, threw the ball into third base in an attempt to throw out the speedy Gilbert. Her throw to Allison Rudy, the Waseca third baseman, was not in time. Rudy then proceeded to throw the ball to second base because Anna Engelmeier was trying to stretch her single into a double. As the throw was going to second, Gilbert immediately raced home, beating the throw to the plate and scoring the only run of the game.

“Megan Mullen pitched one of her best games ever,” head coach Tom Bang would tell Northland Sports Online. “Gilbert did that all on her own, she saw the throw go to second and she took off and had a great slide into home,” Bang would say. Mullen struck out 22 Waseca batters in the win. She gave up only five hits in twelve innings and walked only one batter. Hermantown finished with ten hits. Gilbert, Engelmeier, and Mullen each had two hits in the win. Ellen Folman, Sam Downey, Rudi Summers, and Janae Baron would have the other hits for the Hawks.

The win then advanced the Hawks to semi-final action, facing
a familiar opponent, the Ottertail Central Bulldogs. The Hawks defeated the Bulldogs last year in the state quarterfinals. Hermantown once again downed the Bulldogs, moving on to the championship game with a 5-0 win. Hermantown scored runs in four different innings winning this semi-final match up.

It would be Gilbert in the top of the first with a leadoff single to start things for the Hawks. Gilbert was then thrown out with Anna Engelmeier reaching on a fielder’s choice. Engelmeier advanced to third on a single by Mullen. A ground out by Ellen Folman knocked in the first run of the game as Hermantown led by a score of 1-0 after one inning.

The Hawks added another run in the third when Engelmeier scored on a single by Folman, putting the Hawks in front by a score of 2-0. The Hawks again added a run in the fifth when
Celine Francisco, who was running for Olivia Carlson, scored on a fielder’s choice by Engelmeier. In the sixth inning, the Hawks would add two more runs. Sam Downey scored on a single by Carlson and Sam LaFontaine scored on a single to left field by Julia Gilbert, giving the Hawks a win with a five-run gap.

Mullen pitched her second shutout of the tournament, collecting nine strikeouts. She
walked only one and gave up only three hits in the 5-0 win. One factor not stressed after two games was that Hermantown left 19 runners on base which could have led to huge victories with a couple of timely hits.

With the win over Ottertail Central, it set up Hermantown in achampionship match with Minnehaha Academy, who beat Pipestone 3-1 in the other semi-final game. Pipestone, one of the
favorites entering the tournament, fell to the Redhawks, who were making their first state softball appearance.

Hermantown came into the championship game riding a 37 inning scoreless streak by Megan Mullen. Throughout the section seven playoffs and the state tournament, Mullen had been a force so dominant on the mound that is was inevitable that Hermantown would be crowned the 2009 state champions.

Hermantown struck first in the championship game in the bottom of the first inning when
Gilbert scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Megan Mullen, giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead after one inning. Mullen would prove to be a force on the mound again as she struck out seven Redhawks in the first three innings. Mullen would finish with 11 for the game and 42 for the tournament.

The Hawks added four more runs in the fourth inning when, with the bases loaded, Sam LaFontaine singed to left field bringing in Katie Thun who was running for Mullen after she had singled and reached third. Also scoring on Lafontaine’s single was Thun and Sam Downey. A throw from the outfield to the infield was thrown directly back into the outfield when Minnehaha tried to throw out Janae Baron at third base. The throw allowed both Baron and LaFontaine to score. The inning ended with the Hawks in front comfortably by a 5-0 margin. Hermantown would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Sam Downey scored on an error by Minnehaha and Sam LaFontaine scored on a single by Olivia Hansen.

In a fitting end to the tournament, it was Megan Mullen striking out the final batter Andrea Schraf to give Hermantown their third state title. The Hawks’ then rushed the field while their large contingent of fans gave them a standing ovation at Caswell Park in North Mankato. Mullen finished the season with 282 strikeouts, only giving up 8 earned runs in 171 innings pitched. Her season record finishes at a mark of 22-2 overall.

The Hawks finished with ten hits in the victory over Minnehaha Academy. LaFontaine led the way with three hits and two runs batted in. Julia Gilbert and Sam Downey each added two hits. Mullen, Folman, and Engelmeier would garner the other Hawk hits on the afternoon. Mullen picked up her third shutout win of the tournament, walking none in the two hit performance. Hermantown also had another significant accomplishment, being the only AA school not to commit an error throughout the entire tournament.

Julia Gilbert, Anna Engelmeier, and Megan Mullen were selected to the Wells Fargo Minnesota State Girls Softball All-Tournament Team. Others on that team
included Anna Marie Martino and Emily Engdahl from Minnehaha Academy. Bailey Bowman and Brooke Woehler from Pipestone, Carley Nelson from Ottertail Central, Kristen Fah from Becker and Micaela Trainor from Winona.

Northland Sports Online would like to congratulate Tom Bang and his coaching staff of Joey Francisco, Laurie Larson, Randy Hill and all the players and student managers on a great season and a memorable 2009 state girls softball tournament.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com