Maple Grove softball settled in for one more title run

Sydney Smith played a key role in Maple Grove's runner-up finish at the Class 3A state softball tournament last season, earning distinction for her play in center field.

She also pitched an inning of Maple Grove's quarterfinal victory. Those state tournament experiences, while valuable, were of little help to her nerves last week. Now a full-time pitcher as a sophomore, Smith found the view from the circle to be quite different than from center field.

Smith struggled early in the Class 3A, Section 5 title game against a patient, selective Coon Rapids lineup. Crimson coach Jim Koltes said he then "talked to Sydney about her breathing. I told her not to be too anxious. Once she started taking control on the mound, you saw the rest of our kids kind of settle in."

Shaking off an early deficit, Smith retired the final 10 batters she faced to pace a 5-1 victory. The Crimson, ranked No. 2 in Class 3A, opens state tournament play against Bloomington Jefferson at 11 a.m. Thursday at Caswell Park in North Mankato.

Like Smith, Maple Grove needed time to settle in this season before taking off.

Five players — Michelle Gorsett, Taylor Meyer, Sammi Sadler, Sarah Southorn and Tess Wilner — emerged to replace graduated starters or to fill part-time roles. Senior Taylor Bratten, who also played on the Crimson's 2010 and 2012 state tournament teams, said she initially felt skeptical about Maple Grove recapturing its place among the state's elite.

"Last year we had a lot of great seniors, and we thought that was our chance to win it all," Bratten said. "But this year we've been playing great and the chemistry is there."

"We were together for several weeks with nothing to do but hit inside," Koltes said. "Kids found other things to do together. They went bowling; they went to the movies. That's what brought this group together."

Maple Grove (21-1) started the year 12-0 but Bratten said it was the body of work, not a particular victory, that made her a believer.

"It was just the way that we kept going at it game by game," she said.

Bratten called the glaring blemish on Maple Grove's record, a 17-1 loss to Eagan "an anomaly.'' She laughed it off in a postgame captain's address by saying, "Let's just never let that happen again."

So far, so good. Maple Grove enters the state tournament on an 8-0 run. Smith and the defense got tough down the stretch, allowing two or fewer runs in six of the past seven games. Bratten turned two double plays in the final against Coon Rapids.

Reprising the performance of now-graduated pitching great Cayli Sadler required Smith to "think about having to look up to her but not thinking I have to outdo her." Smith, who throws a mean fastball and changeup, boasts a 19-0 record with a 1.01 earned run average and 177 strikeouts.

Smith's rise has Maple Grove turning its focus to settling all accounts with a state championship.

"Getting to Mankato isn't the goal," Koltes said. "Doing something at Mankato is the goal. The girls are in it to win it."

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574