Braun field in Cloquet is ready for play

Like many softball fields across the Northland, Braun Park in Cloquet was covered in snow. 

The Cloquet Girls’ Softball Team had help in March from Kiminski Paving, but their field was still buried this week. 

“Just 48 hours ago, we came here and there was three feet of snow across half our field,” said Head Coach Tyler Korby. “I looked at it and we probably thought we had just a sliver of hope, maybe 5% chance. And, you know, we were like, ‘oh, we’re going to play’.”

Determined to start the season on time, the girls got to work clearing snow from the field.

“We had about 40 of our whole team here, J.V. and Varsity, and then we also had all of our coaches, some parents and other people came out and helped us,” said Catcher Alexis Goranson.

The group effort was needed to clear the snow. 

“It was cool to see everyone lend a helping hand because if we didn’t have everyone, we would not have had enough time to get it done,” said Korby. “We’re kind of racing against the sundial to get it done in time, and we just pushed out just enough water off yesterday and now we drug it up today.”

With everyone pitching in, the field is ready for the first game of the season on friday. 

“Balls coming from the dirt are way different than the gym,” said Shortstop Roena Diver. “So we came out here today and practiced, and it was hard. It was a rough start, but we’re going.”

The team feels thankful for the opportunity to play after such a large group effort. 

“To see it was really awesome,” said First Baseman Jordyn Sorenson. “They just all understood that we had to get it done if we wanted to play Friday and they really put their brains to that and got it done.”