Young Eagle squad wins six games in a row to win section title

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

From 2013-19 the New York Mills Eagles made North Mankato a bit of a second home as they advanced to seven straight state tournaments, including back-to-back state titles in 2017 and 2018. Their incredible streak came to a close, in part, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down high school sports during the spring 2020 season. 

Since that time the Eagles have made several deep runs in the section playoffs, but were unable to get over the proverbial hump to punch their ticket to the state softball tournament—that was until this season. 

Heading into the season longtime head coach Bryan Dunrud said the Eagles always have a goal to put themselves in a position to advance to state. One thing that prepares the team for the section playoffs is a challenging schedule sprinkled with Class AA and Class AAA teams at a number of tournaments throughout the season. This past season the Eagles participated in the Jackson County Central and Litchfield Tournaments, which included a number of large schools, and they also played a non-conference game against the Class A fourth place team Red Lake Falls. 

“At the beginning of the season, one of our goals is always to put ourselves in a position to advance to state. Each year we put together a difficult schedule to try and prepare ourselves to play at the highest level and this year was no different,” said Dunrud. 

While the Eagles had high hopes for the playoffs and entered the section tournament as the fifth seed, they fell to fourth seeded powerhouse Border West in the quarterfinals to drop to the elimination bracket. With their early loss in the playoffs, NY Mills needed to win six straight games in a very deep section tournament to make a return to state. 

“As we started playoffs, we were playing good softball, but we knew we were playing in an extremely difficult section and we would need to play our best softball. When we lost to Border West, we knew we could play with any team, but that is when we started to put things together and played our best softball of the season and begin to believe that we could advance on if we played our best,” said Dunrud.

The Eagles quickly rebounded after their 5-2 loss to the Buccaneers with a commanding 8-3 win over Brandon-Evansville to make it to the second week of the section tournament.

With a win or go-home attitude, the Eagles then defeated Parkers Prairie 13-7 and got a bit of revenge against Border West by a score of 6-3 to come within three games of state.

One of the defining wins of the season came on May 28 when the Eagles defeated Swanville 5-3 in nine innings to qualify for the section championship game.

Leading 3-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, Swanville was able to tie up the game at 3-3, before the Eagles picked up a pair of runs thanks to an Annika Dunrud RBI and another RBI single by Aubree Salo to give the Eagles a 5-3 lead. 

Rosemary Laudenbach closed the door on the Bulldogs in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure the 5-3 win and give the Eagles a chance for a return trip to state. 

NY Mills went on to defeat West Central Area in back-to-back games by scores of 5-2 and 3-1 to punch their ticket to North Mankato. 

“After losing to Border West, we knew we were in a win or the season was over. The energy that we played with, the pitching and defense we played throughout the playoff run made this extremely special. We had timely hits and everyone contributed, this was a total team effort and this made all of the time and effort put in throughout not only this season, but the previous seasons and summers worth it,” said Dunrud. 

While qualifying for his eighth state tournament was memorable for Dunrud, this seasons state trip was extra special for the NY Mills head coach as his daughter Annika was the starting short stop for the Eagles.

“As a parent and coach having a daughter have this opportunity was extremely special to me. You always dream of having this opportunity for your team and to have Annika experience this with her classmates and teammates was extremely rewarding to my family and I both as a coach and a dad. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end our high school time together than this playoff run with this group of girls,” he said.

Annika was one of four seniors on this year’s team, all of whom were key parts of the most recent success for the Eagles. 

“We graduate four quality seniors, Bella Huwe, Annika Dunrud, Rosemary Laudenbach and Taya Koljonen. They have provided a platform for others to follow into future seasons,” said Dunrud. “The opportunity to go to state and see what it is like and learn from other great teams and players will truly help our program grow and give the future players memories to reflect upon in upcoming seasons to know what it takes and what it is like to compete at the highest level.”

The Eagles opened the state tournament as the seventh seed and took on a familiar foe in second seeded Red Lake Falls. The Eagles fell to Red Lake Falls by a score of 2-0 earlier this season and the opening round game between the two squads was just as close. The game was scoreless entering the sixth inning, but Red Lake Falls was able to score five runs to come away with a 5-0 win. 

In the consolation bracket NY Mills once again found itself against a familiar opponent in third seeded Barnum who the Eagles lost to by a score of 13-4 in the Litchfield Tournament in May. NY Mills once again came out on the short end of the game, but just 5-1 this time around. Ironically, NY Mills played three of the seven other teams in the Class A state tournament this year and played two of them once again at state.

Despite the loss, Dunrud said the Eagles gained some valuable experience on the field, and also came together as a team as they took on some of the best squads in the state for the first time in seven years.

“It has been seven years and this was a new and exciting experience for all of the players involved. Some of the girls had been to the state tournament before when they were young and had an opportunity to watch, but for them to have this experience playing was a great program builder and so fun to watch,” said Dunrud. “The girls really came together and brought so much positive energy both on and off the field and truly got along and enjoyed being together. This made this run of incredible softball a joy to be a part of and it will be something that I always remember.”

One thing that made the season extra special was the fan support throughout the year. Whether it was driving to North Mankato to watch an early morning softball game, heading to Swanville throughout the section tournament, or even just lining the streets to wish the team well before heading to state, Dunrud thanked the fans for making this season so special.

“The fan support was good throughout the season and it only grew as we moved on into the playoffs. Having our fan base present to support us and cheer always provides an extra spark and helps the girls realize that they are not only playing for themselves, but also others that have played before them and that they are representing the community. It was so much fun to see all of the energy and to have opportunities to take pictures and reflect with former players and community members before and after the games. Thank you to all of the fans that added to this memorable playoff run and made the experience that much better for all of our players and coaches,” said Dunrud.

While the Eagles will lose four players to graduation, Dunrud said the growth of the team on and off the field was remarkable throughout the year. With several large classes coming through the program the longtime coach hopes that the renewed energy in the dugout will help the team continue to find success on and off the field for another generation. 

“The growth of this team throughout the season was incredible. The energy level and cheering for each other provided such memorable moments on bus rides, tournaments, in practices, and especially the playoff run,” he said. “Each year we hope to be playing our best softball when playoffs begin and this year that is exactly what we did. Our players stepped up in the biggest moments and it was truly special to be a part of. As coaches, we could not have asked for a better group of girls and we are so proud of the way they conducted themselves and how they competed and brought their best every day to practices and games. Truly a special group of girls and they earned and deserved all of the success that they received. Thank you to everyone for being a part of this.”