Of course we want to win state, but really it's just to do our best when we go down there and that was the whole goal to get there and now, we just have to keep doing our best and get as far as we can.”

Alayna Adamez

For four excruciating innings it was nervous time in Park dugout and sidelines.

The Wolfpack trailed rival Rosemount 1-0 after one, 2-1 after two and 3-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth in the Section 3 Championship in Woodbury.

And then, just like that, the Wolfpack caught fire at the plate, scoring eight runs in the fifth and sixth innings for a 9-5 win and earn the team’s 16th trip to state and the first trip since the 2018 season. Park won the state championship in 1993 and has been state runner-up in 1992, 1999, 2002 and 2018 in the Wolfpack’s last trip to Mankato.

“These girls needed to settle in,” said head coach Tony Young. “We’ve been in this game before. But I don’t think they ever expected to win like they did this year. We had to work on the mind set a lot for them to believe that they could. And we’ve come a long ways, pitching, hitting, defense. Ava had one of the best years as a pitcher in our conference and Alayna, she’s hitting home runs like I’ve never seen before. So, we have a lot of special things going on. It’s a good time to be a part of Park softball right now.”

Park had lots of heroes in the section finale, but special mention has to do to senior catcher Alayna Adamez who put her name in the MSHSL record book by hitting her 17th home run of the season. Adamez’s mark breaks the season record of 16 set by two players.

“Not done yet, not done yet,” said Adamez who went 3-for-4 with two singles and another home run, drove in three runs and scored three times. “(The goal) honestly is just keep putting the ball in play. Of course we want to win state, but really it's just to do our best when we go down there and that was the whole goal to get there and now, we just have to keep doing our best and get as far as we can.”

It was truly a team win in the finals. The Wolfpack got solid pitching form senior Ava Youngquist, timely hitting, especially from Adamez and Mackenzie Darsow and the usual stellar Park defense.

“We were ready to go,” said Darsow. “We were just ready to attack this team and win. Once we got on that pitcher it just kept going and going and then we strung a ton of hits together and that’s how it ended.

“Amazing,” Darsow said when asked her feelings. “It’s been a dream since I was little.”

Ninth-ranked Park finally put the ghosts of Rosemount in the rear-view mirror and will now play in the 2026 State Class AAAA girls softball tournament. The Wolfpack (21-4) drew the fourth seed in the tournament and a date with old rival Stillwater (18-5) in the quarterfinals.

Said Youngquist. “I’m so excited.

Other first round games were top seed Forest Lake (25-2) vs. eighth-seeded Brainerd (17-9), second-seeded Farmington (22-1) vs. seventh-seeded Champlin Park (15-8) and third-seeded Bloomington Jefferson (24-1) vs. sixth-seeded Edina (21-2).

A win in the opener means Park would likely take on Forest Lake in the semifinals Wednesday starting at 2 p.m. The tournament quarterfinals, consolation and semifinals will be played at Caswell Park in Mankato June 2-4. The championship games are set for Jane Sage Cowles Stadium in Minneapolis on Friday, June 5.

Forest Lake advanced with a 5-0 win over Andover in Section 7 while Stillwater crushed Mounds View/Irondale 9-2 in the Section 4 title game.

Park’s Adamez led off the second with a single and scored on a single by Kennedy but that was it offensively for Park for the first four innings.

That all changed in the fifth inning. Addie Corkish led off the inning with a single, Addison Jasper bunted to advance Corkish, Ava Youngquist walked and Mackenzie Darsow drove in three runs with a home run to give Park their first lead of the game at 4-3.

Adamez then singled and scored on a hit by Maddie Bishman to make it a 5-3 Park lead.

“Definitely I feel like we had some ups and downs throughout the game, “said Maddie Boothe. “But we were able to stay together as a team and that’s what ked us to come out on top. It’s the best feeling in the world. This is amazing.”

The Wolfpack then added four more runs in the sixth inning to take total command of the game. Jenna Squillace led off with a double, Jasper walked, Youngquist singled and Adamez put the finishing touches with another three-run home run.

Youngquist ended the game with a flourish, setting the Irish down 1-2-3 in the seventh with two fly outs fouled by a game-ended strikeout.

Youngquist gave up 10 hits in seven innings but seldom yet the Irish string anything together. She walked two and struck out three.

“I think that when we had the momentum it was a lot better and I believed in our team every second of that game,” said Youngquist. “We came together as a team at the end and the defense was impeccable. They backed me up when I made mistakes. I’m so excited (to go to state).”

Rosemount easily dispatched fifth-seed Apple Valley in the section 3 elimination bracket final, winning 8-1 to advance to the section championship. But in the end, it was Park who advanced.