Albert Lea ends season winless

The Albert Lea Tigers softball team saw a mixed bag of positives and negatives Thursday in a season-ending loss to the Owatonna Huskies in Rochester.

Ninth-grader Anna Anderson went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in her first varsity start, and junior Erin Everhard hit the Tigers’ only home run of the season as they fell 14-4 in the first round of the Section 1AAA tournament.

The Tigers ended the season with an 0-18 record and finished without a Big Nine Conference win for the first time since the 2005 season.

Tigers coach Dan Harms said its hard to find a silver lining after a winless season but that he was impressed with some of the team’s younger players, including Anderson and Everhard.

“They’ll both be back,” Harms said. “That’s something to take into next year.”

Harms said Anderson is “extremely fast” and earned the leadoff spot after having a great week of practice.

Harms said the Tigers finished the season with around 80 errors — more than four per game — which “plagued” the team. The Tigers committed eight errors on Thursday.

The Tigers will lose four seniors to graduation including Emily Stoneking, Bethany Sekora, Alayna Wood and Tanelle Roberts.

Owatonna 14, Albert Lea 4

AL 003 010 — 4 4 8

O 731 201 — 14 11 0

WP — Shanna Thom 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

LP — Erin Everhard 6 IP, 11 H, 14 R, 10 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO

Albert Lea hitting: Anna Anderson 2-3, 2 RBI; Erin Everhard 1-3, HR, 2 RBI; Bethany Sekora 1-2, 2B.