One thing any team playing Appleton East could bank on was that the Patriot/s would battle you tooth and nail. They'd simply flat-out compete.
The level of competitiveness in any team is generated first and foremost from the top down.With Janel Batten at the helm of the Appleton East softball program that was truly the case.
Batten, you see, resigned her teaching and coaching postion at East when she accepted the Athletic Director postion at Pulaski High School earlier this summer.
Through the fastpitch network I have established I had heard about the news and today chose to give Janel a call and chat a bit.
At Pulaski she will be a full time AD with no coaching duties. She will stay involved in the game with summer coaching opportunities but the high school game itself in the state of Wisconsin will miss her greatly.
Oh, I'm sure that East will have a suitable replacement but one can never really replace a highly successful and respected person in entirety. And of course, it will take a bit of time for whomever takes over to establish their own identity within the Patriots' program. It happens all the time.
As for me, I will miss watching her coach. I've always considered her one of this state's top motivators, top stragegists and more. I'll miss hearing about how hard her kids played under her direction.
Here is wishing Janel the best of everything down the road.
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