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Thunder rocks Buffalo's state-bound softball team

By Jim Paulsen, Star Tribune, 06/02/15, 5:55PM CDT

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A big-hitting mix of veterans and younger players have Buffalo’s softball team set to make a run at school history.


Kirsten Maygaard slides safely into second past the tag of Hopkins' Michelle Guenther. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune)

Thanks to coach Brad Zrust, the Buffalo softball team has a solid — some would call it essential — appreciation for classic rock.

“Before practice, we’d all be sitting around, talking and saying things like ‘Yeah, guys, this year we’re going to go to [the state tournament]’ and then Brad would turn on some old ’80s rock,” senior pitcher Payton Speckel said. “His favorite was [AC/DC’s] ‘Thunderstruck’ and we would be like ‘Yeah, this is it!’ ”

Now that Buffalo has survived the tough Class 3A, Section 6 playoffs, defeating Hopkins in the finals Thursday to reach its first state tournament in team history, it would make complete sense if Zrust invested in the whole AC/DC library.

The Bison roster is an amalgam of veteran leadership and youthful energy, each providing a vital ingredient to their overall success. Their calling card is hitting, with no real weak spot in the lineup. It’s unknown if Zrust chose “Thunderstruck” because his heavy-hitting bunch clubbed 19 home runs on the season, but it’s a highly appropriate anthem.

“We are a pretty decent-hitting ballclub,” Zrust said. “We’ve been that way all year.”

While the lively bats were expected, the cohesiveness of a regular lineup that consists of four seniors, a junior, three sophomores and two freshmen was less certain. The Bison graduated seven seniors from a 2014 team that went 15-8 and deep into the Section 6 playoffs. There was talent among the younger players, but how would they handle the jump to varsity competition?

“We had to replace four, five starters with younger girls with little or no varsity experience,” Zrust said. “I knew the younger girls had talent, so I was hoping that it would mesh together and we could have a good season. As a coach, you always have a vision of going to the state tournament, but, really, I never thought this would happen.”

Perhaps not, but he kept that thought to himself. Good thing, too, because the Bison went about their business, dreaming their dream, and slowly it began to coalesce into reality. Sometimes, it’s best not to know what you can’t do.

“It’s all about the older girls and their senior leadership,” Zrust said. “They’ve set the tone and shown the younger girls the way.”

That leadership starts with Speckel, who carried the load in the pitching circle. It moves through to power-hitting first baseman Liz King, who had clutch hit after clutch hit in section playoffs, including a go-ahead two-run double in the top of the seventh inning in the championship game. Don’t forget about Morgan Warner, a rabbit in center field who doesn’t get to bat much but contributes with stellar glove work and range that goes nearly foul line to foul line.

“It’s been impressive what the younger girls have been able to do,” Warner said. “They all know how to hit, they all play great defense. It’s amazing, really, how high they are on the talent spectrum for their age.”

Young, perhaps, but their play has been more like that of girls much older.

Freshman third baseman Emily Hansen is perhaps the Bison’s most dangerous hitter and fields her position expertly. Another freshman, left fielder Sarah Hudson, has improved in just about every game. The second-most important role on any softball team, the catcher, has been handled deftly by sophomore Autumn Senger, who plays the position like a veteran.

Toss in infielders Kallie Wycoff, a junior, and Mackenzie Johnson, a sophomore and freshman pitcher Morgan DeMarais, who relieved a tiring Speckel in the championship game and shut down Hopkins’ offense, and the Bison have created a pretty potent stew.

“They’ve had to prove themselves this season,” Speckel said. “But at the same time, they’ve definitely pushed us seniors even harder. As a team, I feel like we’ve all really come together to become a great team.”

One that achieved more than any Buffalo team before it.

King, smiling broadly in the aftermath of their first section championship, summed things up.

“We don’t know how to react to going to state. Some of the girls are crying, some aren’t,” she said. “But we know we have talent and we know we’re good.”

 

Jim Paulsen • 612-673-7737