On this snowy, winter-like spring day more pre-season previews are in order. Tonight’s list of team previews will be the last of the ones submitted by coaches this year. We ran at about a 12% return rate which is 1 percent higher than 2018.
Kaukauna
Division 1 – Enrollment this year is 1165
Conference – Fox Valley Association
Head Coach – Tim Roehrig – 19th season (406-68 – 9 Conference titles – 16 regional titles – 2 sectional championships – 2 State tournament trips – 2 Final Fours – 2 state Championships
Head Coach Tim Roehrig entered his 19th season at the helm of the Ghosts with 406 wins. Only 21 coaches are known to have accumulated 440 wins or more since softball was sanctioned by the WIAA . The Ghosts have won two state titles under his leadership. Roehrig welcomed back all conference performers Ally Isslemann, Kaitlyn VandeHey and Hhloe Hinkens back in March. So far this season the Ghosts are off to a 3-0 start with wins over Kimberly (6-0), Appleton North 4-3) and Oshkosh West (3-1). “We have a huge group of very talented, young players that have competed at the highest levels in the United States. We are young but talented. Over the next two years fans will see a huge group of players that have really played a ton of softball since they were six years old.”
DC Everest
Division1 – Enrollment this school year is 1724
Conference – Wisconsin Valley
Head Coach – Mike Mathies - 11th year – 171-87, 1 conference title, 8 regional titles,
Everest graduated nine players from the 2018 team so they will be young and will have to work on several things to be in the hunt in the Wisconsin Valley. Head coach Mike Mathies sees Stevens Point as the team to beat in the conference but says that Wisconsin Rapids will be good. He sees Chippewa Falls and Hudson as tough players at the sectional level.
Wauwatosa East
Division 1 – Enrollment this school year is 1197
Conference – Greater Metro
Head Coach is: Ed Raue – 9th year – 75-120 (53-74 at East)- One Sectional Championship, 1 state trip
Assistant Coaches: John Lindstrom, Ashley Lindstrom
All Conference players returning at East are: Analiese Glawe (pitcher); Riley Breider – OF; Shea Murphy third base; Emily Muetze – Of; and Claudia Hay in the outfield. Head Coach Ed Raue says his team strength should be that every player returns from a team that was a regional champion last season. “We just need to show some big game experience,” he said. He sees DSHA and Menomonee Falls as conference contenders this year.
Whitefish Bay
Division 1 – Enrollment this school year is 959
Conference – North Shore
Head Coach – Hunter Good – First Year
Assistant Coaches: John Spector and Summer Koehn
First year head coach Hunter Good welcome first team all-conference utility player Ava Alt back along with second team infielder Hayden Nelson and second team outfielder Gretchen Stock. “We have many returning players and will have a strong outfield. We need to work on consistent hitting top to bottom. He sees Germantown and Menomonee Falls as tough foes this year.
West Allis Central
Division 1 – Enrollment this year is 1073
Conference – Woodland West
Head Coach – Peter Nycz – 4th year (17-61)
Assistants: Dave Mlachnik, Taylor Zube, Brandon Riet, Mary Martens and Sam Berndt
“Our strengths this year will be our offensive production. We should have a very deep lineup with a nice combination of hitting for average and power. We are missing our best power hitter in sophomore Rayne Conroy-Hubbard due to an injury from basketball season. We are looking for players to step up. We will be solid defensively and have some nice team speed. We need to work on the pitching part of the game. Returnees are: Jo Kassa an all-district honorable mention performer, MaKayla Molleson, Arianna Brunner, Jorja Murray and Brooklyn Hopkins.
Rice Lake
Division 2 – Enrollment this School Year is 687
Conference – Big Rivers
Head Coach – Ryan Sutton – 3rd Year – 36-17 – 2 regional titles, 1 sectional title, 1 Final Four – 1 State Title in 2017
Assistant Coaches: Tyler Moore, Dave Repka and Fuss Fell
Rice Lake won a state Division 2 title in Ryan Sutton’s first year at the helm after taking over for longtime Rice Lake coach Gary Haus. This year he sees Chippewa Falls and Hudson as the strongest players in the conference. He returns Maddy Falstad, Zoe Stenseth and Adrianna Young to the team from last season.
Wisconsin Rapids Assumption
Division 5 – Enrollment this school year is 121
Conference – Marawood
Head Coach: Rob Schill – 4th Year (50-13)
Assistant is Scott Lieberg
Assumption made it to the state championship game in 2019 and returns Elle Lieberg, Sammy Nelson, Kendall Schell and Elle Shaw to a team that will be strong again this season. “We will have our Player of the Year pitcher back this spring. We lost four “big time” seniors and we may struggle a bit early at the plate but we will get things figured out,” said the coach. He says that we should watch for Wausau Newman which is a young team.
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