Apr. 7—MURDOCK — The Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg softball team has hovered around .500 the past two seasons.
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This spring, the Fighting Saints hope to break through in both the Camden Conference and Section 3A-North.
KMS went 11-10 last season. Back at head coach is Traci Reimann. She has a 21-21 record heading into her third season. Assistant coaches are Bailey Wersinger, Sam Gjerde and Carly Fuhrman.
"(We're) looking forward to another aggressive season," Reimann said. "Teams are always tough in the conference.
"Also, (after) losing three seniors due to graduation, we have some holes to fill. Practice has started off strong with 15 seventh- and eighth-graders. We got good numbers coming up."
Three seniors gone from last season are Abby Holtkamp, Emily Wagner and Kaliyah Walker. KMS will also try to replace injured senior Faith Duke, whose .373 batting average last season was the best among returning players.
But, the Fighting Saints have four seniors on this season's roster who hope to pace the squad.
That starts with pitcher/infielder Taylor VanHeuveln. She had an 8-6 record with 98 strikeouts over 88 innings in 2025. She also had a .333 batting average with 20 runs, 18 RBIs, eight doubles, a triple and 12 stolen bases.
"(Taylor) has added more pitches to her rotation," Reimann said. "(She's) also a solid shortstop when not pitching."
Other returning senior starters are infielder Ashlyn Zimmer, infielder/outfielder Avery Magaard and catcher/outfielder Shelbie Anderson. Magaard is the top hitter in that group with a .307 average with 27 runs, seven RBIs, three doubles and seven stolen bases.
Another returning starter is freshman catcher/outfielder Lyla Oakes. As an eighth-grader last season, Oakes had a .379 average with 25 hits, 17 runs, seven RBIs, five doubles and six stolen bases.
Reimann is hoping for key contributions from senior infielder Mara Otto, junior pitcher/infielder Stella Doering and junior pitcher Kallie Leenstra.
KMS' season begins with five straight home games. The Fighting Saints open with BOLD on Tuesday, April 7, followed by Benson on Thursday, April 9 and Minneota/Canby on Tuesday, April 14. They host MACCRAY for a doubleheader on Thursday, April 16.