Last spring's Class 4A, Section 6 championship game between Hopkins and Edina took 14 innings and two days to complete, and both programs continue to feel the effects of that matchup.
Edina won the game, 13-11, and advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 1979. Hopkins missed the state tournament for the first time in three seasons.
Both teams left the game with new insights and motivations that will be on display when the teams meet again on Wednesday in our Top Game of the Week.
Hopkins coach Carl Yancy said the loss motivated his players to work really hard in the offseason and left them wanting a little bit.
Edina coach Keith Johnson called the game a confidence-booster for his players.
"That game was the best game I've ever seen them play," he said. "There was no doubt and no fear, and they didn't give up an inch...They grew a lot."
Hopkins (3-3, 2-1) will be without Natalie DenHartog, who graduated last spring and was named one of 25 candidates from across the nation who are in the running for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Freshman of the Year as an outfielder for the University of Minnesota.
But the Royals do have rising star Lauren Granger, a freshman catcher who is hitting .474 with three home runs and 10 RBI through five games.
Granger is one of the Royals' four captains, along with seniors Parker Stoddard (third base), Maci Shatirishvili (first base) and Morgan Hawley (center field).
Another youngster, eighth-grader Signe Dohse, has taken over as the Royals' No. 1 pitcher. Dohse still is learning how to play against older, stronger and faster competition, but Yancy praised her emotional maturity. Dohse is 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 17 walks and 19 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings pitched.
Edina (3-3, 1-0) returns pitcher Geneveive Ovsak and shortstop/pitcher Molly McHugh, a four-year starter who has provided plenty of anxious moments for Hopkins' Yancy, including the game-winning hit in last spring's section championship.
McHugh, a St. Thomas commit, is hitting .360 and Ovsak is 3-2 with 1.05 ERA and batting .300.
Wednesday's meeting is the first of two between the teams in the regular season, but both coaches figure they'll be meeting again at some point in the Section 6 playoffs. And, as the teams have regularly played three to five times a year for the past several years, both coaches can be sure as to what kind of game they will see on Wednesday.
"I'm looking forward to a tight game that's well-played on both sides," Yancy said.