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HAYFIELD – When the Hayfield softball team takes the field, there will be music cranking from the dugout as players sing along with joy. You’ll see high fives, supportive words, home runs and big wins.

But you won’t hear them complain. 

However, the Vikings would have had reason to gripe as their field conditions were less than stellar until two years ago.

That’s all changing now as the Hayfield Fastpitch Association is making some big changes to the field the Vikings call home.

“It’s so much nicer and I don’t have to worry about rolling an ankle when I’m in the outfield,” said Hayfield senior Melody Walker.

Walker is one of five Hayfield seniors who have a combined 17 years of varsity experience between them with many more seasons of tee-ball and youth softball on the field. They’ve seen their homefield transformed over the last two years as it’s been resurfaced, and new dugouts and new fencing have been added. Before the improvements, the field had an uneven infield and there was nearly foot drop off when walking from the infield to the outfield.

“We’re so beyond grateful,” Hayfield senior pitcher Elaina Masching said. “We’ve all been playing on this field since we were playing tee-ball when we were four or five years old. To see people put their time, money and effort to help us get such facilities like this, we’re so grateful.”

The transformation of the field came when Hayfield co-head coach Craig Selk worked with the HFA to get Hayfield Schools to purchase the field from the city for a very low price. Selk continued the push for improvement by sending out letters to around 100 businesses in southeast Minnesota.

After a short wait, donations of $5,000 started coming in, and not long after the Vikings held a fundraiser that drew in $15,000 from community donations. This year’s team fundraiser has brought in $10,000.

“What we had before was a slow pitch softball field. The backstop wasn’t even legal, because we had that crazy 90 degree corner,” Selk said. “Now, everything that looks new, is new.”

Selk’s daughter Kenna, who is a senior shortstop on the team, has been a varsity player since she was an eighth grader. She said the team has all the motivation it needs to put together a strong season.

“This gives us a confidence boost, because we’ve always noticed how nice other team’s fields are. Now we feel like we have our own and we earned it,” Kenna said. “We’re definitely going to bring more intensity this year, because it’s our last year. It’s all or nothing. But we’re also having fun. We’re known for having fun, blasting music and dancing. We’re all best friends and we’re all close. I don’t think any other sport in our school has such a tight knit group like softball does.”

Senior third baseman Alexys Swygman said the softball has been No. 1 in her heart ever since Hayfield grad Jojo Tempel hit a walk-off home run to beat United South Central in a playoff contest in 2022. The team has matured together and they’re going to do their best to honor their new field.

“We’ve all grown up playing the sport together and we’ve all grown to love it a lot,” Swygman said. “Our classmates made the benches for dugouts and my dad’s been helping out to make the dugouts. It’s been really cool.”

In the last two years, Hayfield has compiled a record of 28-22 overall, and the team was one win away from the state tournament when it lost to Faribault Bethlehem Academy 4-1 in the Section 1A championship in 2023.

Craig Selk said that he’s had this year circled ever since he started coaching the team and the expectations have never been higher.

“The success came much earlier than I anticipated. For some reason when Elaina goes to Austin (in the Section 1A tournament), she goes lights out and she becomes this bulldog who refuses to give up anything,” Craig Selk said. “These last two years, I’ve never seen anything like that before. She put us on her back. She provided it and now the other seniors and our younger players are stepping up. Now the pressure’s on and I can feel the pressure just watching them practice. Everything is in place now.”

Masching said the Vikings’ support for one another is what makes them successful. 

“I’m a very uptight and stressed out person, so it can be stressful (pitching in big games),” Masching said. “But it’s nice to know that I have all of our coaches and the whole team behind me. I honestly just enjoy being on the team.”

Hayfield is scheduled to play its first game in its revamped field against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown at 4:30 p.m. on April 3. The Vikings have three home games scheduled over five days to start the season.

Senior Nora Bamlet, who has played varsity since she was in eighth grade, said the vibe is already different this season than it was in previous years.

“We worked for this field and people coming here to play us will respect us more,” she said. “We’ve been in the gym, working on our swings and having captain’s practices. This is what we’ve worked for since eighth grade.“