Prep athletes of the week: Move pays off big for Northfield softball pitcher

The move was made largely to be closer to her club softball team, the Minnesota Sting. But it sure paid off for her new high school team.

Hostettler, a hard-thowing righthander, pitched the Raiders to the Class 3A championship in the first state tournament appearance in team history. She pitched a one-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts in a 10-0 quarterfinal victory over Detroit Lakes. She allowed four hits and two unearned runs while striking out 14 in an 8-2 victory over Becker in the semifinals. Then she held top-ranked Mankato West to three runs and two hits with 10 strikeouts in an 8-3 victory in the finals.

Hostettler had played for Winona the previous season, but her family moved to Northfield this year to minimize the distance between her and the Sting, which trains in Lakeville.

"It's a lot shorter drive," Hostettler said.

Landing in Northfield, a program on the rise, proved to be the right move for Hostettler and a windfall for the Raiders.

"We were talking about that on the bench," Hostettler said through a smile after the championship game. "It worked out pretty well."

The Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year guided the Crimson to its first Class 4A softball state championship. She pitched all three games, including a no-hitter in the quarterfinals, and went 3-for-8 at the plate with two home runs.

The lanky 6-6 senior completed a wire-to-wire run as the No. 1-ranked player in Class 1A by winning the singles state championship. He defeated Rikard Wilken, a foreign exchange student at Redwood Valley, 6-2, 6-1 in the finals.

Three events, three state meet gold medals for the Polars junior. She won the Class 2A 100-meter dash in 11.90 seconds, the only runner under 12 seconds. She also won the 200 (24.44) and ran the second leg on the winning 4x100 relay team (48.24).

The senior high jumper tied a 38-year-old Class 1A state-meet record when he cleared 6-10 on his second attempt to win the event Saturday at Hamline University. He tied the record set by Ken Larson of Fulda in 1981.

The senior entered the Class 2A state meet as the defending 110-meter hurdles champion and claimed that title again, winning in 14.23 seconds. He also won the 300 hurdles in 38.11 and ran on the Mustangs' second-place 4x400 relay team.

In his first match of the state tournament, the freshman had to rally from a 5-2 third-set deficit to win. Flush with confidence, he won six consecutive matches, helping the Mustangs to the Class 2A team title and winning the individual singles championship.

JIM PAULSEN

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