In a region of Minnesota dominated by pitching, the Lyle/Pacelli softball team proved no different this season.

Junior Louise Mudra delivered a 3.60 earned run average with 141 strikeouts in 127 2/3 innings, making her way to a spot on the 2003 All-Area Softball Team. Catcher and classmate Rebecca Mino made just four errors as the primary backstop and recorded a .977 fielding percentage. The duo accounted for 40 of L/P's 94 runs scored this season, including a team-high 25 by Mudra.

"You take them out, that's the heart of our team right there, offensively and defensively," said L/P first-year coach Missy Blaser.

Mudra hit .589 as Lyle/Pacelli's leadoff, reaching with an on-base percentage of .620. She was successful in 33 of 37 steal attempts and had 43 hits -- all singles. Mino led L/P with 25 RBIs, adding a .379 average with four doubles and five triples.

Mino and Mudra both earned All-Southeast Conference, All-Section and All-State honors.

"They're the two top players in the area," said LeRoy-Ostrander/Grand Meadow coach Dawn Baudoin.

Southland freshman Michelle Landherr emerged onto the scene with a strong postseason run and earned All-Area first team honors because of it. She threw her first career no-hitter in the Rebels' sub-section opener against LOGM and eventually drove Southland into the Section 1A finals.

"She really matured and came on for us at the end of the season," said Southland assistant coach Jim Guthmiller.

Hayfield's 10-11 season was commandeered by senior pitcher Cassie Kraetsch, the only upperclassmen on the Viking squad. She pitched every inning for Hayfield this season, surrendering an ERA of just 1.98. An unearned total of 37 runs, however, was her demise.

Kraetsch struck out 101 in 124 innings and walked just 22 batters, earning All-Hiawatha Valley League honors and the team MVP award.

Senior Emily Wencl tossed all but four innings for her Blooming Prairie squad, finishing with a 1.83 ERA and an 11-12 record. Batterymate Amanda Schlund, a junior, was the Blossoms' leading hitter with a .383 average that included a .400 clip in Gopher Conference games.

"I thought they worked really well together," said BP coach Chad Gimbel. "Emily went out there a couple games when she was hurt, but she was able to fight through that because she knew her teammates needed her. Amanda got more and more confident and started taking charge out there."

Infielders

Southland junior shortstop Megan Schroeder joins Austin's Kylene Erstad on the left side of the All-Area infield after gaining All-State honorable mention honors as a sophomore. Also a leadoff hitter, Schroeder helped to jumpstart the Rebels into the Section 1A finals.

"She's a little sparkplug," Guthmiller said. "She gets on base and gets things going for us. Once she got her defensive jitters out of the way early in the season she settled in and played well."

Ashley Swancutt saw limited action as an infielder for LOGM this season, but only because she was too valuable to the pitching staff. Swancutt, a senior, led the team with a .350 batting average and earned All-Southeast Conference honorable mention honors.

"We needed her as a pitcher, but she would've been our defensive leader if we'd played her in the field," Baudoin said. "We had her all over the place for us, anywhere we needed her."

Outfielders

Southland senior Amanda Landherr was an imposing figure both in the batter's box and in center field. Landherr earned All-State recognition as a junior and was All-Three Rivers Conference material as a senior.

"She was our defensive stalwart in center field," Guthmiller said.

LOGM sophomore Jen Ronne rounds out the All-Area outfield, earning All-Southeast Conference recognition along with team MVP and defensive awards. Ronne hit two home runs this season -- one off Mudra -- and had two doubles for the Bulldogs.

"She was our longball hitter," Baudoin said.