Senior Mackenzie Evenson said she trains for softball all year, while her practice lasts from spring to fall, one of the major reasons she think she was selected for the softball national team.

Evenson said she was selected from all Midwest high school softball players to play for the Team Max Bat Softball Ladies National Team last summer.

“I’m pumped. I’m the only other person from Minnesota to be chosen (for the national team), so it’s a big honor,” Evenson said.

According to Evenson, a board of college coaches comes together to talk about high school softball players and invites them to camps across the country based on their high school and club team statistics to create the national team.

“The camp I went to was in Chanhassen, and there were girls invited from all over the Midwest,” Evenson said. “They make you do drills and scrimmages and they have a point system so they can judge you. They invite the top three girls from the camp to be on the national team.”

Evenson said the 11 best high school softball players from across the country make up the national team.

Former varsity softball coach Al Wachutka said he feels excited for Evenson.

“I think it’s awesome for her,” Wachutka said. “It gives her the opportunity to play softball elsewhere with kids from all over the nation to see where you fit in. I think it’ll be a great experience.”

Wachutka said Evenson’s success comes from her hard work.

“She has worked hard for it. More so than almost any other player I have because she spends time offseason actually working on things whether it’s at the batting cage or extra pitching practice or looking for other opportunities. Most of the other players don’t do that,” he said.

Evenson said she feels excited to say her hard work has paid off, especially since it shapes her future with the sport.

“I worked for this for a good fraction of my whole life and I didn’t think I’d actually make it this far but it’s really cool to say that I did,” Evenson said. “I’ve played for about 10 years. I hope to become a coach when I’m older so I can help others improve their game.”

Evenson said she plans to play softball after college but does not yet have any collegiate plans set in stone although playing on this team will help with college recruiting.

Wachutka said Evenson’s versatility on the field also helped her develop her skills and grow as a player.

“In Mackenzie’s case she played multiple positions,” Wachutka said. “Each position has a unique set of skills. Every time she was asked to play a different position, there were new sets of skills that have to come in.”

He said his coaching style was to give the players ample time to develop those skills when put into a new position.

Currently, Evenson said she trains every other day, following a workout plan given to her by the coaches from the national team. They recommend a gym and a batting cage for all players.

“It doesn’t matter if you go to a different gym (than the one they recommended) to do the workouts as long as you’re improving and recording what you do,” Evenson said. “You give them updates of what you’re doing for exercises and if you’re not performing better they can take you off the team.”

She said she has only been able to meet the other girl selected from Minnesota because her other team members live in different parts of the country.

Aside from the honor, being selected for the team has another level of benefits, Evenson said.

“If you’re in certain tournaments, you can ask for a coach, who are even D1 coaches, to come and help you with whatever you need to work on before the tournament,” she said.

Evenson said practices with the whole national team begin in late December and are located in Arizona where the team will play in tournaments for four days.

“I hope it makes me play at my highest level,” Evenson said.