Photo courtesy of Devereaux Photography: The 2026 Lakeview softball team consists of Makenna Anderson, Addison Boe, Kenna Braun, Emma Brusven, Teegan Fiene, Nora Forslund, Khya Gawarecki, Avery Hinz, Kiara Hinz, Taylor Hinz, Adison Hinz, Nicole Schwartz, Kendra Velde, Morgan Velde and Paige Walker.

COTTONWOOD — Looking to continue its recent upward trend from the last few years, the Lakeview softball team aims to finish with an above .500 record ahead of the 2026 season.

Lakeview softball has been moving in the right direction, and again is returning a majority of its roster from a season prior in hopes to continue building off last year. The Lakers finished their 2025 campaign 10-11 overall, which was a jump from going 8-11 in 2024 and 5-12 in the 2023 season.

“[Going into] this season, we talked a lot about improvement upon last year and keeping our momentum going. We have improved every year since I’ve been head coach, and we want to keep that going,” head coach Linnea Stibbe said. “We want to be over that .500, and they have a strong path to do it. Stay focused, and it’s [about] bringing that energy every game. It’s mind over matter, and it’s just the next pitch. We are working hard on that.”

Particularly, Lakeview is returning its entire pitching staff this season, who have already produced efficient production through the Lakers’ first few games. Additionally, Lakeview’s top-two hitters from last year are also back, in Taylor and Kiara Hinz.

Makenna Anderson has already begun to make noise this season in the pitching circle as a freshman, coming off an impressive eighth-grade campaign. Last year, she pitched the second-most innings with 45 with a team-high 40 strikeouts on a 2.299 ERA.

Through Lakeview’s first six games, Anderson has pitched three complete games and is already standing at 35 strikeouts. Notably, she pitched a complete-game shutout on April 16 against Dawson-Boyd in a 9-0 win and retired 14 batters.

“Her [Anderson’s] mental toughness has come a long way, and continues to grow where she can be on the mound and reliable for us. Also, I want to keep her in the lineup, because she’s fast, she’s got a good bat, and keeps it moving,” Stibbe said. “The more experience she has, the better she’s improving. On the mound, we had a kind of inconsistent strike zone, and she battled through it. Her and I, and other coaches will chat between [innings], we’ll make little adjustments, and she goes out and she implements.”

Emma Brusven, Teegan Fiene and Avery Hinz are the other players that saw pitching time last season, who are back this year and have started to see some time in the circle as well. Both Fiene and Avery Hinz had 25 strikeouts last season in their 47 and 19 innings pitched, respectively. Brusven saw 16 innings and had 17 strikeouts.

On the offensive end, Taylor and Kiara Hinz led the way last season at the plate, and will look to do the same this season. Last year, Taylor Hinz had a team-high 27 hits and a .509 batting average and .581 on-base percentage, along with 19 runs and 28 stolen bases.

Kiara Hinz followed with 25 hits on a .391 batting average, with a team-high 33 stolen bases and shared a team-best 19 runs with Taylor Hinz.

The rest of the Lakeview roster last season also hit decently well overall, looking to get even stronger this year as the Lakers’ are looking to build on last season’s talent and chemistry by returning nearly the same group this year.

The Lakers lost two seniors last season with Makenzie Herrick and Aubreigh Rausch, who will leave a bit of a gap to fill on the offensive side. The two finished last year with 18 and 14 hits, respectively.

“We didn’t graduate a lot, but we also have a young team yet. So, it’s continuing to develop those younger girls that are with us,” Stibbe said. “We’re going to keep training the girls who maybe are just role players right now, so that when we lose a girl, or two, or three to graduation, they instantly flow right into the next season. That’s what works. It’s leaning a lot on our older girls and their expertise, and it’s bringing the younger ones up with them.”

Being able to return nearly the entire roster offers a positive opportunity for the Lakers to continue excelling at what they’ve been able to do in recent seasons.

Lakeview has started the 2026 season with an even record of 3-3. After starting out the year on a strong note with an 11-0 mercy-rule win over Murray County Central, the Lakers dropped their next three straight, two of which came by just two runs. But, Lakeview quickly responded to the adversity by winning the next two over Tracy-Milroy-Balaton and Dawson-Boyd.

“We started off really strong, and then we came in to some teams who had better pitching than we’d seen, and it took us too long to make some adjustments. But, the best part about that, is we started making adjustments,” Stibbe said. “As long as you make adjustments and you continue with the little things, we are going to continue to grow this season … We’re battling back, and those adjustments get made from game to game.”

As Lakeview looks to finish with a winning record this season and avenge its early playoff loss from last year, where the Lakers fell 15-5 to Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian in the Section 3A South subsection first round, the team will be led by its senior trio in Fiene, Kiara Hinz and Paige Walker.

“We actually took a different approach this year, we do not have captains. I asked the team to be united in that front, and we want everyone to be a leader, in whatever position they’re at and leading those around them,” Stibbe said. “They’ve stepped up to the plate with that, and it’s just a lot more unity and cohesiveness as a team. It’s been working really well.”