Last year, the Minooka softball team had a sluggish start in the regular season with a 14-15 record overall and a 6-6 record and 5th place finish in the conference. However, that didn’t stop them from doing amazing things in the postseason.

The girls ended up coming in 4th in state, upsetting Belleville East and Yorkville on the way. Beating Belleville East was a highlight of the season since they came back from a 4-run deficit in the rain to kick off their playoff run.

This season, Minooka is coming back with a vengeance. They were ranked 9th in the preseason polls and want to go even further than they did last year. They are dead set on going all the way and winning the state championship, despite other teams trying to stop them.

“We definitely think we’re going to have a huge target on our back,” junior Chole Kohnhorst said. “We think teams are definitely going to be coming at us hard. Last year, we were just pushed aside, like ‘Oh it’s Minooka, we’re going to beat them.’ But I think this year it’s going to be completely different for them.”

There will be some familiar faces in the dugout this season, including Kohnhorst, Kaliegh Serra, Peyton Lowden, Megan Medlin, Olivia Hristov, Mackenzie Mazzocchi, Riley Hickey, Anna McClimon, and Sophia Dziuba. They’re all back for another shot at becoming champs.

Having huge expectations for this season has motivated the team to play better than ever. 

“Yesterday, we were all very driven at practice,” Serra said. “We were all very motivated to get into the season and do very good.”

Minooka will open the season on March 23 against Ottawa at their home field. They hope that the game will be the start of a championship season for the team. But if one thing is for certain, it’s that this will be a season to remember for Minooka softball. 

“Unfinished business. That is our motto this year,” head coach Mark Brown said. “Last year we made the final four but lost our last two games.  This year the girls have a goal, not only to get back down to the state finals, but win it all this year.  Softball in this area is so good and it is so dang tough to win it all. But this group of girls know what it takes, and they are hungry, and hungry dogs run faster.  Make sure you all get out to the softball field to see this special group of girls.”