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Class 1A power New Life Academy knows way to Mankato

By Brian Stensaas, Star Tribune, 06/08/11, 9:34PM CDT

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Three-time defending champion Eagles are three wins away fourth title

New Life Academy’s softball team is three little victories from accomplishing its season-long goal.

Again.

The three-time defending Class 1A state champion Eagles (21-4) were planning to arrive in North Mankato on Wednesday, go through a short practice at a nearby field and then settle in for their sixth straight state tournament appearance.

It’s a drill that has become, well, routine for coach Mick Ramey. But advancing this far never gets old.

“The first one is so special. Man, you can never recreate that first trip,” he said. “But even after going back all these times, I’m still nervous. We’re trying to keep the team loose. I never, ever want the girls to see that I’m nervous. We talk about confidence all the time.”

That’s an easy task when you have the credentials of New Life Academy, a private school in Woodbury.

Seniors Rebekah Schmidt and Katie Stodolka have been with the team the entire six-year ride. Schmidt this season has 291 strikeouts in 137 innings with an ERA of 0.66. She’s also hitting .397 with five home runs. Stodolka leads the team with a .459 average and 19 RBI.

“We have a little swagger and a little veteran seniority,” Ramey said.

Leadership and experience, though, can only get you so far.

“We’re going to focus on playing ball,” said Ramey, whose team needed eight innings to advance out of the section tournament finals. “All the other stuff is on the back burner. We’ve been so fortunate; we’ve received so many breaks over the years with one-run games and squeeze plays and things. If those don’t happen — one bad break — and you’re done.”

New blood

The Class 2A field also has some familiar faces with Park Center (23-4) returning to defend its 2010 championship. But in Class 3A it’s a different story.

Bloomington Jefferson (20-4) advanced out of always-tough Section 3 last week, upending defending state champion Burnsville in the final.

It is the first-ever state tournament berth for the Jaguars, a team coach Penny Witzenburg described as having “youthful exuberance” with no seniors.

“We’ve been knocking on the door,” Witzenburg said. “It’s a huge accomplishment. A lot of times, [our] section could be — and should be — the state tournament final.”

Long time coming

Shakopee is in the state tournament for the first time in 31 years.

“They’ve all had banner years, putting it together at the same time,” said coach Neil Johnson. “It’s been great fielding and great hitting. And we’re riding the arm of Ashley Walker, of course.”

Walker is 17-2 with a 0.98 ERA and 167 strikeouts in 128 innings for the Sabers (20-2). She’s also batting .556 with 39 RBI.

Changes

The state softball tournament seemingly never goes off without some sort of schedule reshuffle. This year, that happened before a pitch was thrown.

Because of graduation ceremonies, any second-round games involving Mankato East, Forest Lake or North St. Paul will be played no later than 3:30 p.m. Those games had been scheduled for Thursday evening.

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