St. Anthony softball takes path of most resistance to state

At the helm for all six Class 2A softball state tournament appearances in the past eight years, St. Anthony Village coach Lamar Brendemuehl thought he had seen most everything.

That is, until his Huskies battled back through the section playoffs losers' bracket and won the championship in walk-off fashion. Both were firsts in Brendemuehl's successful tenure.

The path of most resistance led St. Anthony back to the state tournament. The Huskies (21-6) open at 9 a.m. Thursday at Caswell Park in North Mankato (19-5) against LeSueur-Henderson.

Once reliant on dominant starting pitching, this Huskies' outfit "needed offense to support our pitchers," Brendemuehl said. They got plenty. St. Anthony Village scored 241 runs in 27 games (8.9 runs per game). Rosie Robberstad clubbed a program-record 10 home runs this spring.

The Huskies proved adaptable in the playoffs, winning twice by 2-1 scores, including the deciding game against Visitation.

Coming to bat with the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh, St. Anthony received singles from Emma Bradt and Maija Beguhl. A wild pitch moved them to second and third. After an intentional walk to Kelly Lawson, Robberstad came to the plate with one out.

Her shallow fly ball was scooped up by Visitation's charging left fielder. But Bradt tagged from third base and slid home safely for the victory.

Cleaning up fielding errors and shortening their swings to avoid strikeouts, St. Anthony Village players primed themselves for two successful rematches.

Returning to state, the Huskies hope to build on last season's consolation title and capture an elusive state championship.

"We've been a little more unconventional this year," Brendemuehl said. "But they've shown they've got a little magic."

Mounds View, the state's top-ranked boys' tennis team, received the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A state tournament, ahead of Wayzata, Elk River and Minnetonka. Team competition began Tuesday at the Baseline Tennis Center at the University of Minnesota after this edition went to press.

On the individual side, Maple Grove's Zachary Adkins and Sam Hochberger and Elk River's Joshua Gearou qualified for the Class 2A singles draw. Three 2A doubles teams are also playing: Mounds View's Carter Jones and Henry Morris, Maple Grove's Charlie Adkins and Rory Calabria and Samuel Gearou and Nathan Chanthamontry of Elk River.