The girls worked hard and it’s going to be a long off season because I’m excited about where we’re going.”

Park head coach Tony Young

It was about as tough a way go out as can be imagined.

Sixth-ranked Rosemount jumped out to a 4-1 lead after one inning, then held on to edge Park 4-3 in the Class 4A, Section 3 elimination bracket final Tuesday at Fairview Sports Complex in Woodbury.

After being down by three runs after an inning, Park slowly climbed back in the game, scoring one run in the second and another in the sixth to close to within a run.

Then in the seventh, Addie Corkish led off with a walk. Two fly outs followed but Maddie Boothe hit a hard liner toward second which was scooped up and delivered just in time before Boothe reached the bag for the final out.

Park ended the season with a 15-9 record. The Wolfpack finished fourth in the always competitive Suburban East Conference at 11-7.

“We had opportunities in so many innings, and a couple of calls that didn’t go our way,” said Park head coach Tony Young. “That’s the way it goes in a tight game. Rosemount, I think is ranked No. 5 in the state. They’re a good team and we battled them, right to the end. We had opportunities all game long.

“It’s tough to end the season the way we did and for the girls coming back thus needs to burn in their belly and no more coming in as a five seed,” Young continued. “We need to come in as a lot higher seed and have people fearing who we are versus getting caught on our heels.”

Rosemount got off to a start Tuesday with four runs on a double, four singles and a walk before the Park pitching and defense stiffened. And that was it for the Irish as Park pitchers struck out three and allowed just three singles the rest of the game.

Park opened the game with two walks and a single by Ava Youngquist to get on the scoreboard. Alayna Adamez walked and scored in the second on a single by Peyton Moerke. That’s where the score stood until the sixth when Mackenzie Darsow slammed a one-out solo homer to cut Rosemount’s lead to 4-3.

The Wolfpack will welcome back most of this year’s young roster, losing just four seniors and three starters in Luren Osland, Peyton Moerke, Averie Kurtzbein and Kylle Bentson. The Wolfpack will return all three veteran pitchers, catcher Adamez and most of their infield and outfield regulars.

“The girls worked hard and it’s going to be a long off season because I’m excited about where we’re going,” Young concluded.

The SEC sent two teams to the Class 4A state tournament, No. 1 Forest Lake and No. 5 White Bear Lake. Rosemount fell to Eagan 8-3 in the Section 3 title game and No. 4 Stillwater fell to White Bear Lake 5-3 in the Section 4 title game.