NORTH MANKATO — Champlin Park senior outfielder Ava Parent saw her spot in the order heading into the bottom of the seventh inning and immediately began hoping for a chance.

It came with the bases loaded, two outs and the chance to be a hero.

Champlin Park (23-2) and White Bear Lake were tied 2-2 in the Class 4A semifinal at Caswell Park when Parent stepped up to the dish. She battled Bears ace Lilly Martin — terrific all game — tooth and nail, fouling off one pitch after another.

“I kept fouling pitches off and it was a high-intensity situation,” Parent said. “I just had to stay disciplined, and that’s exactly what I did.”

Finally, the Wisconsin commit found a pitch she could drive, striking a single to the outfield to send Champlin Park to the title game in the program’s first state tournament appearance. The second-seeded Rebels will meet fellow title game debutant Bloomington Jefferson at 9 a.m. Friday at the U.

“It means so much,” Parent said. “Champlin park softball has never been to the state tournament, let alone the state championship. So, it’s super incredible and we’re all excited to get going.”

White Bear Lake pitcher Lilly Martin throws a pitch during the Bears’ 3-2 loss to Champlin Park in the Class 4A state semifinals in North Mankato on June 4, 2025. (Jace Frederick / Pioneer Press)

White Bear Lake (19-7) didn’t make it easy. Thursday morning’s quarterfinal upset of third-seeded Farmington marked the sixth-seeded Bears’ 12th straight victory, a run that also included a sectional upset of Stillwater.

The Bears were playing their best softball at the right time.

And they came out of the gates fast in the semis with runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 advantage. The second run was scored by Maddy Belisle, who reached via one of her three hits in the game and essentially manufactured the score on the base paths from there.

But the offense dried up from there. White Bear Lake tallied single hits in numerous innings against Champlin Park ace Marissa Rothenberger, but couldn’t string anything else together.

“We started hot and kept swinging the bat,” White Bear Lake coach Jill Leverty said. “We couldn’t get the last couple to fall, but other than that, I thought we did pretty good.”

It looked like that might be enough offense to hold, too. Particularly given how Martin was rolling. The Rebels had just one hit through the first four innings.

“We were all stressing out a bit,” Parent admitted.

But it was the No. 9 hitter, Layla Nguyen, who broke the seal for the Rebels in the fifth with a two-out, two-run single that knotted the contest.

“They might not have played their best, but each of them picked each other up when they needed it,” Champlin Park coach Bryan Woodley said.

Rothenberger — who threw a complete game, allowing just one earned run — opened the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff double. A walk and a single eventually set the table for Parent, who, to the surprise of no one, delivered.

“She’s always clutch,” Woodley said. “I think she’s the best centerfielder in the state. She’s just a great all-around player.”

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A special agent with Homeland Security Investigations is jailed and accused in federal court of coercing and enticing a 17-year-old girl into sex acts, which he photographed and filmed.

Timothy Ryan Gregg, 51, of Eagan, was charged Monday in U.S. District Court with producing child sexual abuse material after federal authorities say images and videos of the two engaged in sexual activity were found on her cellphone on May 29.

Timothy Ryan Gregg (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

Gregg made an initial court appearance Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Dulce Foster and was ordered to remain in federal custody at the Sherburne County Jail pending further court hearings.

Gregg’s attorney, Ryan Pacyga, told the Pioneer Press on Wednesday that Gregg “had no idea he was dealing with a minor” and “we have proof that he 100 percent had been told, repeatedly, that the alleged victim is an adult. He was repeatedly lied to about her age, which is a game changer under the law and was devastating for him to find out that she is not yet 18.”

According to court documents, which were unsealed Wednesday:

The girl’s father told police that he found on her cellphone, which she had left behind in a car, multiple sexually explicit images and videos, including some of her and a man engaged in sex acts. The man was identified by law enforcement as Gregg, who also serves as a task force officer with the FBI.

The cellphone showed that Gregg, who was listed in the girl’s contacts as “Labubu,” and the teen had sent text messages to each other and naked photos. Gregg also sent her photos and videos of the two engaged in sex in a hotel room.

The girl told law enforcement that she had met Gregg through the dating/meet-up app Tinder. She said he picked her up multiple times, mostly on Sundays, and that they went to a hotel, where he took photos and videos of them engaged in sex.

A check of hotel records by law enforcement showed that Gregg rented a room four times in March and twice in both April and in May, all on Sundays. Hotel employees said that Gregg would rent the rooms by himself and then bring a guest inside the hotel through the parking ramp.

Gregg used his “official ICE/HS email address to make the hotel reservations,” the complaint states.

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“The U.S. Attorney’s Office will always hold defendants in positions of public trust to account, particularly when they commit crimes against vulnerable children,” acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Wednesday in a written statement. “I am proud of the swift and decisive action of the FBI and the Rochester Police Department, who responded immediately and worked together to take Gregg safely into custody.”

Alvin Winston Sr., special agent in charge of FBI Minneapolis, said the case against Gregg “represent a gross violation of both the law and the responsibilities entrusted to those who wear a badge.”

Meanwhile, Pacyga, Gregg’s attorney, said he has had a “long, distinguished career in law enforcement and has dedicated his life to public service. He is more than what he is accused of here, and we will see him through this.”

NORTH MANKATO — Bloomington Jefferson softball coach Jim Hanson Jr. had a couple of players who knew they wouldn’t see much playing time this spring on the fence about whether to even play this season.

He convinced them to, telling them they could potentially be a part of a magical ride.

Was he ever right.

Jefferson will play in its first-ever state title game Friday after upsetting top-seeded Forest Lake, 3-2, in the Class 4A semifinals Wednesday. Jefferson will meet Champlin Park at 9 a.m. Friday at the University of Minnesota, where one program will win its first state title.

“I thought we could do it,” Hanson said, “and now we’re here.”

Forest Lake built leads of 1-0 and 2-1 early, but fourth-seeded Jefferson broke through in a meaningful way in the top of the fifth when Alexandra Oerther and Grace Rolek delivered back-to-back, two-out RBI singles to flip the advantage.

All three runs Jefferson (23-2) scored on Forest Lake ace Avery Muellner, a St. Thomas commit, were unearned. That was the story of the game. Two incredible teams making an abnormal number of mistakes in the field and on the basepaths, which can often be the case on such a stage.

“Forest Lake is an awesome team and a great program. … We made a ton of mistakes, they made mistakes, so it was one of those things where you keep plugging away. You look at the score and you say, ‘Hey, it’s 3-2,’ ” Hanson said. “We just keep trudging forward whether it’s perfect or not. Today was probably the most mistakes we’ve made all season.”

Forest Lake (25-2), which made its sixth straight semifinal appearance after downing Edina in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, wasn’t able to muster a serious threat against Jefferson’s Brooke Borwege over the final three frames.

“We came here knowing that we’re going to play good teams, and sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way. I think that was represented a bit there,” Muellner said. “But we fought our hearts out.”

CLASS 3A

Sixth-seeded Byron made a surprise run through the Class 3A state tournament and will play in the final Friday. Byron had 11 hits in its semifinal win over second-seeded Chisago Lakes.

Mackenzie Steele, Kaydence Fjerstad and Sydney Portner all had multiple hits for the Bears, who built an early 6-1 advantage in the semifinal and never looked back.

It was a different story in the quarterfinals.

Cretin-Derham Hall led Byron 2-1 with two outs in the top of the sixth inning of the Class 3A quarterfinals Wednesday morning before a couple of swings changed all of that.

Steele hit a double to knot the game, and Kaydence Fjerstad hit a two-run homer to power the Bears to a 4-3 upset of the third-seeded Raiders.

Byron tallied just four hits all day off Cretin-Derham Hall ace Brooke Nesdahl, but two of those left the yard. Meanwhile, Cretin-Derham Hall recorded eight hits, all from the top six batters in the order.

Hannah Yaeger went 2 for 3 while knocking in two runs for the Raiders, who loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh, only to have Byron pitcher Natalia Behrens induce a ground ball to get out of the jam.

Class 2A

St. Agnes’ bid to reach a third straight state semifinal was cut short, effectively, in the first inning Wednesday.

Seventh-seeded Jackson County Central ripped off seven runs in the top half of the opening frame in an outburst powered by four hits, two walks and an error as the Huskies beat the second-seeded Aggies 10-0 in five innings.

The first five Jackson County Central (23-4) batters reached in order on: a walk, an infield hit to the pitcher, a fielding error, a strikeout where the batter reached on a wild pitch and a walk.

The first hit to the outfield came from the Huskies’ No. 6 hitter, Brielle Tufvesson. Her single plated a pair of runs.

That was more than enough run support of Huskies pitcher Hadley Wachal struck out 10 while surrendering just one hit. Gianna Regep had a single for the Aggies (22-3).

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Officials with the Minnesota Department of Corrections on Wednesday asked for patience from friends and family members of people who are incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater while they work out the details of the facility’s pending closure.

“The DOC is committed to ensuring a careful and thoughtful approach that takes the needs and wellbeing of incarcerated persons into consideration,” Commissioner Paul Schnell wrote in a memo posted online.

“This will be a complex process with many moving parts. It is unlike anything the DOC has undertaken before,” the memo continued. “We know you have lots of questions, and we ask for your patience as we navigate this enormous change.”

State leaders in May agreed to a phased closure of the Stillwater prison, citing safety and costly maintenance concerns at the 1914 facility. Plans call for the prison to be shuttered by June 30, 2029.

Reopen Appleton?

After the news of the closure broke, two state legislators sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz and Schnell asking them to “seriously consider” reopening the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton “as a permanent part of our correctional system.” The medium-security private prison, owned by CoreCivic, closed in 2010.

“The facility has a capacity of 1,600 beds, the same as Stillwater, and could be brought back into use much more efficiently than building a new facility from the ground up,” Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Alexandria, and Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, wrote in their letter. “This would also result in significant cost savings for taxpayers, as the facility is already well maintained.”

Westrom and Anderson noted that state DOC officials could pursue a number of different options, including a state contract, a long-term lease or even purchasing the facility.

Schnell on Wednesday dismissed that idea, saying that the purchase and operation of the “long-vacant Appleton facility is not regarded as an effective or efficient use of state resources.”

“The phased closure of MCF-Stillwater recognizes the age and condition of the facility and the state’s current fiscal constraints,” Schnell said in a statement. “State and federal prison systems around the country are closing antiquated prisons and consolidating the number of prison sites to maximize efficiency and resource utilization.”

A DOC study conducted in 2017 focused on adding capacity at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Faribault, “which is the most cost-effective option for adding modern correctional facility infrastructure in the future,” Schnell said.

“The Appleton facility presents a range of challenges, including the facility’s location relative to other DOC facilities, the ability to secure sufficient staffing and the cost of training an entirely new staff cadre, purchasing and updating the equipment and supplies needed for daily operations, and the logistical challenges of coordinating shared services across the state’s correctional system,” he concluded.

Mental health services

Westrom and Anderson also noted another option: Using the Appleton prison to expand mental health services should the state not require the full number of prison beds in the future.

“With increasing demand for mental health care across Minnesota, it’s worth exploring how the facility could serve both purposes,” they wrote. “That kind of dual use could help solve two problems at once.”

They also pitched Appleton, located in Swift County, as a great place to live.

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“For correctional staff who may choose to relocate, Appleton offers great outdoor recreation, a lower cost of living, and much more affordable housing than the Twin Cities,” they wrote. “This makes it a strong option for families and workers alike.”

The closure of the MCF–Stillwater, located in Bayport, is expected to be completed in two phases upon passage of the public-safety omnibus bill at the Legislature.

The first phase involves reducing operations and staffing over several months, moving inmates to other prisons, and conducting studies on logistics, closure impacts and the site’s long-term future. During the second phase, which is slated to begin in July 2027, the site will be vacated. Full closure is expected by June 30, 2029.