During the 2026 season, the New Ulm Eagles softball team had only 2 starters from the previous year. Seven of them, starters, graduated from high school in 2025. The Eagles didn’t know how the season was going to go, but as time went on, everything was going well, how the Eagles wanted it to be.
In March, the varsity team went to Eden Prairie for its first dome scrimmage of the year. It was looking very promising for the Eagles team. Starting Junior Gracie Baker, who had played on varsity since last year, said, “We went into that dome ball scrimmage with lots of energy like we have played with each other before because we have.” After losing 7 seniors, they knew they had to earn their spots, so that’s exactly what they did.
When the weather got nice out and the snow went away, the Eagles were ready to be on the dirt again. The first couple of games didn’t go as well as they’d hoped. But they bounced back and started winning. Baker said, “We knew we had to forget those games and move forward because it’s looking back and becoming better every single day.” As they played the teams they had lost to, they came back to beat them the next time they played them.
It’s looked very promising for the Eagles, but 2 weeks before sections, Senior Lauren Schemsing went down with an injury. She’s been playing varsity softball since middle school. Lauren said, “It’s very hard ending like this, but I trusted these girls, and I knew they could come together.” And they sure did. They headed to Edina to play the Hornets and came together and won against a 4A school.
“Watching them play is hard, but I know they can do it,¨ Lauren said.
As the sections started, The Eagles lost on section Saturday, facing Jordan 2 times. But looking on the bright side, the Eagles went 12-6 this season, which was unexpected.
