Teams have knocked off the rust and will start to shape into midseason form this week. The competition level will rise for some of the top returning teams with a big tournament and the start of conference play.

This week includes the Forest Lake Ranger Classic, which features some of the top teams in the state, including the host Rangers, Anoka, Bloomington Jefferson, Champlin Park, Hastings, Rogers and Rosemount. 

Forest Lake, not one to back away from a tough schedule, played 11 games against teams ranked in the top seven of the final Minnesota Fastpitch Coaches’ Association poll last season. The Rangers return to play in one of the toughest conferences in the state this season — the Suburban East Conference.

Suburban East rivals Forest Lake, Park of Cottage Grove and Woodbury all reached the Class 4A state tournament. The Rangers start the season by facing the Royals and Wolfpack in their first two games.  

Though both matchups are certainly worthy of Top Game designation, we’ll turn to the Class 4A fifth-place game rematch between Forest Lake and Park of Cottage Grove as our pick for the Top Game of the Week.

Tab over to see details on each game.