After a well fought 2015 regular season, the Royals softball team hopes to start where they left off.

Unfortunately, last season the Royals fell short of the State Tournament as they had to beat the Buffalo Bison in back-to-back games. The first game was close, as the Royals took the win 2-1. That win forced a winner-takes-all championship game to decide who goes to State.  In the championship game the Royals blew a 3-1 lead and ended up losing 6-4, sending the Bison to State.

The Royals lost a many key players including: Jessica Crouser, Haley DenHartog, Emily Eiss, Lauren Feagler and Michelle Guenther.

Hannah Kleist, junior captain, believes that the Royals will still be able to compete against other strong teams.

“Even though we lost six seniors last year, we still have quite a few players with Varsity experience. A lot of teams in our conference also lost some key players so we should remain just as competitive,” Kleist said.  

The Royals start their season today, Tuesday, April 12, at Waconia High School at 4:30.

“Right now, we are just hoping the weather cooperates so we can start our season on time,” Kleist said. “We are looking forward to conference play because the lake conference is always tough and competitive conference. That is probably what we are most excited for right now.”