Bloomington Jefferson girls softball team wins their first state title: "It's super special"
A new Minnesota softball state champion has been crowned.
Forest Lake had been to the state title game four of the last six years. Their lone win came in 2022. Before Friday's game, Bloomington Jefferson had never won state, but they were the runners-up last year.
It was a pitcher's duel. The second inning was the Lakers' best chance to score on a hit to left field. But the runner was gunned down at home by Heiress Brown.
Jefferson pitcher Grace Rolek needed to escape a jam in the sixth inning. She did. A swinging strikeout kept the game deadlocked at zero.
It went to extra innings. Avery Muellner was great in the circle for Forest Lake, but the Jaguars' Rissa Clifford delivered a big hit. An RBI double in the eighth. Olivia Oerther scored all the way from first. She was shaken up sliding into the catcher, but stayed in the game.
Jefferson finished it in the next half inning. Rolek escaped a jam to cap the win 1-0, the final in eight innings. The Jaguars' first-ever state title.
"It was for my team," said Rolek, who pitched all but the third inning, racking up eight strikeouts. "I knew that they had my back. I just wanted to do the best that I could for them. I knew that my defense was gonna be there, so I just knew that I needed to do my job and give everything that I could and that everybody behind me would do the same."
"I can't even describe the feeling," said senior infielder Emily Ly, who had two of Jefferson's four hits in the game. "It's kinda something where you just have to be there. You just had to be there. It just feels like you're on top of the world."
Jefferson had just one loss all season. The team thinks they made a statement.
"Our rankings, we were never ranked number one at all this season," said senior catcher Remi Rudquist. "I think being able to prove everyone wrong and bring this trophy back to Bloomington is amazing."
"Jefferson's back, baby. Jefferson's back," said head coach Jim Hanson. "It's super special. I'm glad we could bring the school a state championship and we're here to stay."
