Eastview Softball Team Joins Search for Missing Eden Prairie Woman

The Eastview High School softball team has joined the search effort to find Mandy Matula, a 24-year-old Eden Prairie High School graduate reported missing on May 2.

Matula was a teammate of Lightning assistant coach Ashley Johnson on the University of Minnesota-Duluth softball team, the Star Tribune reported. On May 5, Eastview players, parents and coaches pitched in to help law enforcement search for Matula in an five-county area northwest of the Twin Cities.

“It’s really an eye-opening experience for all of us,” coach Trevor Monroe told the paper. “As a coaching staff, we talk about keeping things in perspective. We definitely are doing so at the moment.”

The team has also provided support for freshman infielder Jamie Reynolds and her older sister, Jess, who has had four liver transplants.

“It’s not about softball,’’ Monroe said, ‘‘but about becoming better, stronger people.”