But 2024 Wabasso graduate Avery Carlson has gotten that chance, appearing in 36 games for Bethany Lutheran College’s softball team as of May 14 and having a strong presence in the lineup.

But what is perhaps more special is that she is doing it at the same time as her older brother, senior baseball player Will Carlson, and both teams have won the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference tournaments and made the NCAA DIII regional tournaments for their respective sports.

“It’s been amazing,” Avery said. “Last weekend we played [University of] Superior — Wisconsin for our last regular season series, and if we didn’t win the series, we wouldn’t have hosted. We knew the boys were hosting, and my parents were like, ‘Please, please win the series so that we can all be in Mankato.’ And we ended up winning and since then, it’s just been an amazing feeling. We’ve been able to share everything with my parents too. They were able to come to all my games this weekend and go to all of Will’s games. It’s been super fun and it’s been an amazing weekend for us.”

The teams both clinched their tournament appearances on Saturday, May 11, with the softball team winning 5-2 over the University of Northwestern before the baseball team came back in the ninth inning to defeat Crown College 6-3.

Bethany Lutheran College’s Avery Carlson leads off of third base during a softball game at Thomas Park in Mankato

“To win it on the same day, it was an awesome day for our family,” Will said. “Our youngest sister Sara also won a Wabasso tournament [on Saturday], so it was a really cool day for our family … My parents were very excited because they knew they’d be able to come and watch both games. It was about the second or third inning, I saw my mom and Avery both show up at the game, so I knew that they won. Then we decided we would take care of business and make it a very special day for us.”

The siblings both said how special it was to be playing at the same college with each other.

“That’s been super fun,” Avery said. “Hasn’t been able to make it to a whole ton of mine … but luckily they’ve had a few that I’ve been able to make it to when they play later or if they have some games during the week. He lives just right across town, I see him every once in a while at school, and we have just chatted a couple times catching up, but we have a pretty good connection here. It’s been fun.”

Will said that seeing his sister play as a freshman while he was still in college was a point of pride for him.

“It’s been awesome,” Will said. “I’m glad she decided to come here and she’s in volleyball too, and to see her get playing time in both of those sports in her freshman year is really cool. I played a little bit my sophomore year and started last year and this year, so I never had that experience, but to see her do that is awesome. I’m very proud of her and I know there’s a lot more to come there.”

Bethany Lutheran College’s Will Carlson walks back to the dugout during a baseball game at ISG Stadium in Mankato.

Avery, for her part, has traded in her pitcher position from high school in favor of an outfield spot, where she had not played since before high school.

“This year I kind of came as a pitcher and utility,” Avery said. “I didn’t pitch many innings, maybe a couple, but they threw me in the outfield a third of the way through the season and it’s been really fun to get back to my outfield days. I haven’t played outfield since I was a seventh-grader. That’s been really awesome and I’ve definitely seen some improvement there from when I’ve last played.”

For Avery, making the national tournament in her first year has been surreal.

“It’s been absolutely amazing,” she said. “I don’t know if the feeling has truly quite settled in yet … but it’s been so fun this entire tournament and this entire season really, but I’m so blessed with my teammates and all the fun we’re having.”

Avery didn’t necessarily expect an opportunity to play in year one, but after proving she could carve out a role in volleyball earlier in the year, it wasn’t so much a surprise to see her making an impact on the softball field as well.

Will waits for a pitch during a game at ISG Stadium.

“I got a lot of opportunities early, which is really cool as a freshman,” Avery said. “You come in and you work hard and you work for a spot, but obviously not super high expectations as a freshman. But when I get the opportunities, I just try the best I can and I have so many girls that have my back no matter what the outcome is. I’ve just been blessed by the opportunity this year.”

Will, who had made the regional tournament two seasons ago with the team, said he was looking forward to improving on the last trip where they took two losses to drop out of the tournament.

“It’s awesome,” Will said. “Two years ago was a great experience when we went. It’s kind of the same thing this year that it was then, this team is just one big family and we’ve had one goal in our minds the whole year, and that was to win the conference tournament and get back to the national tournament. Ultimately now our goal is to win a regional game. That’s something that Bethany hasn’t done and something we believe we really can do. So back to work this week and it’s been an awesome year so far and we’re not ready for it to be done.”

On the season, Avery is batting .269 with 14 hits, seven RBIs and 12 runs scored as a rotational piece for the Vikings. Will, meanwhile, is an established starter in the infield and is batting .293 with 34 hits, 22 RBIs and 26 runs scored. Will also made the Upper Midwest Athletic All-Conference team last season with a .333 batting average.

The BLC softball team faced Illinois Weyslan University in the first round of the regional tournament on Thursday, while the baseball team played the University of Wisconsin — La Crosse on Friday. The results for those games were not available at the time that this lifestyle section was sent to print. For results, visit blcvikings.com/sports/softball/schedule and blcvikings.com/sports/baseball/schedule.