All-Minnesota Softball Player of the Year: Carter Raymond of Randolph

Dennis Trom knew better, but he couldn’t shake a nagging concern when it came to his star pitcher.

The affable Randolph softball coach has been senior Carter Raymond’s high school coach for five years, and Raymond was coming off a junior season of a lifetime — a 27-1 record, a 0.51 ERA and 310 strikeouts while pitching the Rockets to the Class 2A state championship.

Trom wondered how Raymond would handle accompanying expectations. He figured out right away he needn’t worry.

“Every year, I come up with a team slogan before the season,” Trom said. “This year, Carter came up with it. ‘Pressure is a privilege.’ She nailed it.”

Entering the Class 2A, Section 1 championship game, Raymond was 22-0 on the mound with a 0.45 ERA and 286 strikeouts. She is the seventh pitcher in state history to go over 1,000 career strikeouts.

Raymond admitted to a little apprehension starting this season with so much expected of her. In 2024, she was named Gatorade Minnesota Player of the Year and the Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year. Before her senior year began, she committed to the University of Minnesota.

“There was a little pressure after last season,” Raymond said. “But I had a talk with my dad and he reminded me of why I do this. He reminded me to just have fun and relax and enjoy my last season playing with my friends.”

Right after the heart-to-heart, Raymond went out and shut out Zumbrota-Mazeppa 8-0, tossing a two-hitter.

“Everything just settled in after that,” Raymond said. “I think I struck out 17 in that game.”

Raymond is the most high-profile player in just about every game in which she pitches. She draws endless stares and attention from opponents on the road and big local crowds at every home game, filled with young, adoring softball players seeking brief acknowledgment from their idol.

“I love that the younger girls look up to me. I want to be a role model,” Raymond said.

To those who know her, it comes as no surprise that Raymond has been just as good this year as last. While she’s physically talented, drive elevates her as much as her 63-mph fastball.

Simply put, she hates to lose as much as she loves to win. It’s the same for her younger sister Charli, a sophomore who is already a four-time state champion wrestler as well as a softball player at Simley High School.

Trom recalls stoking a little banter between the two sisters, whom he jovially egged on.

“I know Charli and I’m always bugging her to come back and play for Randolph,” Trom said. “I know she’s a great wrestler, too, so I asked Carter who would win if they wrestled. Carter looked at her, took a second, and said ‘I could take her.’ Charli just rolled her eyes.”

Who would win is not the point. The Raymond sisters — there are two older brothers, Skyler and Cash — show unwavering support, but losing to the other is unthinkable.

“We’re not allowed to play games anymore,” Carter said. “It gets too competitive. The pieces on Battleship have gone flying a few times. We might play Skipbo [a card game akin to Uno], but only once. After that, it gets too intense.”

Frustrating at the card table, perhaps, but it’s a safe bet that the tunnel vision Raymond brings to the circle is appreciated by her teammates and coaches.

“Carter, she wants that pressure. She’s the ultimate warrior,” Trom said. “What she’s done has been nothing short of phenomenal.”

This year, the state championship games have been moved from North Mankato’s Caswell Park to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium at the University of Minnesota’s campus, where the Gophers call home.

That fact has Raymond stoked.

“I’m super excited about that,” Raymond said. “How great would it be to finish my high school career in the same place where I’m starting my college career?”

Another summer pitching with the Minnesota Force club program will be followed by her first season playing softball for the Gophers, where her freshman year roommate will be fellow pitcher Kylinn Stangl, who leads two-time defending Class 3A champion Mankato East.

There’s still the matter of another state tournament ahead for Raymond. Randolph is 23-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A. After her performance in 2024, expectations from Randolph’s die-hard Sea of Orange fan base (“We have amazing fans. This is a special place,” Raymond says) are high as they hope for a third state championship in five years.