Springs sports are heating up with Thursday marking the first official day of competition for Minnesota high school softball teams. While Hermantown’s season opener isn’t scheduled for another three weeks, the Hawks are looking forward to the potential full slate of home games this spring could bring.

“Last year was quite the opposite for us. We were stuck in the gym for a very long time, so we’re really hoping to get out on the field early,” senior center fielder Baylee Edwards said. “I’m so happy to be able to have so many games at home this season and not play 15 games a week, have them spread out.”

“We don’t like to get too excited about the weather, right? Because it can change at any time. I hear we could get some snow already on Sunday. So we try to just stay focused on what we can control and hope for the best, and get outside as soon as we can,” head coach Michelle Sweeney added.

Last season the Hawks soared into the Section 7AAA semifinals, falling short of the championship game by just one run dropping 8-7 to Grand Rapids. While they have graduated a large group of senior starters from that squad, they’re feeling confident in the core that is returning.

“We’re going to be a really young team, but we can all fill in the spots that we lost. We did lose quite a few seniors, but we have a lot of girls who are willing to work hard, so that’s nice,” senior pitcher Lindsey Ewer said.

Hermantown’s season opener is scheduled for Tuesday, April 9 against Duluth Denfeld at Wade Fields. Their home opener is April 16 against Superior at Rose Road Field.