By Park standards, it was a bit of a down year.

But it says quite a lot about the state of Park High School softball when last year was considered a down year, yet the Wolfpack came within a few runs from advancing to the state tournament.

Park was 13-12 overall but ended the 2021 season with a 4-0 loss to eventual state champion Rosemount in the Section 3AAAA finals. The Wolfpack entered section play last season just 10-11, but got on a roll in section play, beating Eastview, Hastings and East Ridge to advance to the section finals.

This season Park’s team is a year older, but still young. Park had just one senior on the team last season, firstteam all-state centerfielder Corrina Loshek, daughter of head coach Bob Loshek. Corinna Loshek will be playing her softball for Winona State this spring.

This time around there’s again just one senior on the squad, star pitcher Gracie Bond. The rest of the team is a mixture of a very strong junior class, two sophomores and a pair of talented ninth and eighth graders.

Last year the Wolfpack finished fifth in the Suburban East Conference with an 8-9 record. The always-strong SEC was tough again last season with both conference champion Stillwater and runner-up Forest Lake advancing to the 4AAAA state softball tournament and Cretin-Derham Hall going in 3AAA.

“Holy Moily what a tough conference,” said Loshek, now in his 13th season of directing Park softball. “It’s amazing. It seems like every team is loaded with coaching. It’s like the all-star conference of coaching.”

The strong SEC teams will be back again this season, but so will everyone for Park with the exception of centerfielder Loshek. Headlining the returners for the Wolfpack is star pitcher Grace Bond.

“It’s Gracie’s ball on the mound,” said coach Loshek. “It’s her mound. Hopefully she’ll be able to lead us back to the section championship game, and a little bit further.”

Bond certainly put in the work during the off season. She’s back stronger than ever and worked especially on her change-up ball.

“I worked on that a lot over the winter,” said Bond. “And really pinpointing my spots.”

Bond will get the majority of starts on the mound. Backing her will be junior Skyler Crocker and freshman Ava Youngquist.

The strong junior class will make up most of the team this season with standouts Emma Ambroz, Crocker, Autumn Degler, Bryleigh Dana, Edie Walton, Riley Rasmussen, Juliana Field, Peyton Kaplan and Noelle Krumrie all returning. Also back are sophomores Briana Lee and Grace Conaway. New to the team are ninth graders Lauren Osland and eighth grader Ava Youngquist.

“I think we’re going to be really good,” said Bond. “We definitely didn’t like how the season ended and it could have gone either way. And with our experience we know what to expect, we know what’s coming. All the juniors now have aged-up. I think it’s going to be a really good year.”

Park’s strong play late in the season, especially in the section tournament last year, has made the Wolfpack optimistic for this season.

“Hopefully the key is to learn from what happened in sections last year where not only did we make a run, but we played really well in the championship game,” said Loshek.

Park has a plethora of capable catchers in returning starter Dana, Conaway and Ambroz and possible one more on the roster.

Park’s infield and outfield will be made up of mix of interchangeable juniors and sophomores, most of which have seen plenty of varsity action and can handle a variety of field positions.

“It’s the same basic group that’s coming back,” said Loshek. “They’re young and so they’re going to be inexperienced. But then later on, you’ve got seniors coming back that will be very experienced. And all these kids can play anywhere. It’s a good mix, they just have to keep getting better.”

Park has a sparkling history in softball, with 16 appearances in the state softball tournament since 1984, including a state championship in 1993 and state runner-up finishes in 1992, 1999, 2002 and 2018. The Wolfpack had three straight state tournament appearances from 2016 to 2018. Four years ago, Park went 26-3, tied for first in the SEC and was the state softball runner-up. The Wolfpack followed that with a 17-5 record in 2019. 2020 was a washout because of Covid.

“It’s this group’s turn to start to lead and start to take over the next realm of Park softball,” said coach Loshek.

Loshek sees the closeness of the team as a strength this season. Weakness could be a bit of a lack of a deep bench.

Park’s Lauren Osland throws to second during infield practice backed by teammates Ava Youngquist and Edie Walton. Photo by John Molene