Though the weather doesn't forecast much for warmth next week, competitions are scheduled for the Jaguars fastpitch and track teams. On Monday (April 6), the girls and boys track teams are slated for a meet at Paynesville. On Tuesday (April 7), the girls golf team has a golf meet at Melrose, with the boys golf team scheduled at Rockford.
The Jaguars fastpitch team has games at New London-Spicer (on Monday) and home against Osakis (on Thursday) for next week. The Jaguars are the defending Sub-Section 5A-West champions from 2008. After going 5-3 in their first eight Central Minnesota Conference games last year, the Jaguars got hot heading towards playoffs by finishing the league schedule 5-1 for a 10-4 finish, good for second place alone. Maple Lake won the CMC for the third straight season, unblemished at 14-0.
The Jaguars fastpitch finished 11-5 overall in the regular season last year before going 3-0 in the Sub-Section 5A-West tournament and 0-2 in Section 5A action. Their 14-7 record last year was the best for Jaguars fastpitch since 1998, when they set the school record with a 16-win campaign.
In terms of how they stacked up against the 145 Class A fastpitch teams in Minnesota, the Jaguars finished 2008 at #22, based on strength-of-schedule rankings.
I doubt any of the field conditions will allow competitions in the early part of next week.
The Jaguars baseball team isn't scheduled to begin their season for a couple more weeks. They went 15-5 last season on the diamond. In the Central Minnesota Conference, the Jaguars finished in second place with a 10-4 record. Pierz won the CMC with a 12-2 record. In Sub-Section 5A-South, the Jaguars went 1-1, losing to eventual Section 5A champion Browerville/Eagle Valley 7-0 in the semi-finals.