2004 WI HS Softball Previews by Conference

Hortonville

Luxemburg-Casco - Head Coach Tom Giachino - LC will look to seniors Gina Rubens(SS, 2nd team all-conference), Sammy Mercier(OF, conference HM) and Danielle Mleziva(1st base) for leadership and consistency. Each senior is a returning starter dating back to their sophomore year. Returning pitcher, sophomore Kalli Schmelzer, received honorable mention in the Packerland Conference as a freshman. She walked 22 and struck out 93 in 97.1 innings last year and has a no-hitter to her credit. Kalli picked up two wins at the Poynette Jamboree last year! Schmelzer will be throwing to both Karli Woracheck and Brittany Skarda as the team has outstanding depth at catcher. A third returning starting infielder is sophomore Mariah Mleziva who will be at third this season. Leadoff hitter Steffi Kinnard(junior, .268 batting average) returns to that spot after steadily improving last year. The outfield will have Mercier, Missy Mleziva, Cassi Jacobs, Nicole Bruening and Sara Streckenbach competing for starting spots. Jennifer Champeau provides depth on the infield and in the pitching circle. Talented freshman pitcher Danielle Deterville will be throwing on both the JV’s and varsity this year.
For more click this link: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=GPGkewaunee

Big Eight
The Big 8 is as balanced and as strong as it has ever been. The statewide rankers have three of the teams ranked or getting votes - Madison LaFollette, Middleton and Madison Memorial. Junior pitcher Michelle Jones has improved tremendously over the winter and will lead LaFollette after leading the Lancers to the state tournament in 2007.

Madison Memorial -Coach Patrick Joyce, 5th Year - After losing All Conference Outfielder Christina Valdes to graduation (Boston University-Academics), the Spartans return 5 All Conference players...2nd Team Pitcher, Senior Lexie Johnson, Senior Kadijha Marquardt-Davis-Honorable Mention, First Teamers and all Juniors---Lindsey Umberger at short, Jackie Koykkar at second and Kristen Selbach behind the plate. We have 8 of 9 returning starters from a team that made it to sectionals last year. The team wasn't satisfied with their 18-5 record from last year. They are determined to improve and work harder this year.

Janesville Craig - Coach Dan Bayreuther, 18th Year - Assistants: John McGinniss, Nicole Zellmer and Gary Schieve - Janesville Craig returns six starters (Abby Geiger, Kelly Lyke, Brianne Gohlke, Anna Fagerli, Jillynn Mortensen and Gabrielle Cassady) from last year but is without 3 year starting pitcher Mandy Smith for seven games. Craig looks for Junior Audrey Freeman and Freshman Bailie Whittaker to handle the pitching duties. Other players working hard for playing time are: Whitney Oliver, Felicia Zajicek, Whitney Storbakken, Chelsea Smith and Abby Sullivan.

Big Rivers

Chippewa Falls - Jared Faherty 1st Year-

Eau Claire North - Perris Cooley -
Eau Claire Memorial - Brad Chapman -
Hudson - Dan Rasmussen-

Menomonie - Katie Hamilton 4th Year -

Rice Lake - Gary Haus -

River Falls -Paul Haugland-

Capitol North

Columbus - Coach Bublitz 2nd Year -

Poynette - Coach Bob Tomlinson, 29th Year - Assistant Coaches: Mary Larsen 27th Year; Ron Jordak 8th year; Howie Wiese 16th Year - - The Indians claimed their 19th conference title in 2008 after losing their first two games of the conference schedule to Columbus and Luther Prep. Poynette saw two seniors graduate in '08 and return the rest of the roster including Capitol North Player of the Year Madeline Dugolenski. One of the state's top catchers, Dugolenski has been behind the plate since the first game of her freshman season; has caught in two state tournaments including a title in 2005. Also returning is three-year letterwinner Elyse Rylander who can play any position on the field. Tomlinson will look for Rylander to anchor an infield position on the left side of the field in 2008. In the circle for the Indians are junior Taylor Hebel, an all conference selection in 2007 along with senior Carmelia Wilson. Those two combined last season as well and look to improve on last year's success. Returning in centerfield is sophomore Karlee Tomlinson who was an All Conference first-team selection in 2007. At first base the Indians will feature a couple of long players in 5-11" senior Ali Registad and 6" junior Shannon Saager. At second base sophomore Katlyn Saley will be back where she improved steadily as a freshman in '07. Other infielders vying for spots include junior Taylor Koepp who can play shortstop, third base or outfield. Other players looking to crack the Indian lineup include juniors Nicole Gordon. Karely Jamrock, Danielle Kiefer, senior Jamie Keller and a host of sophomores and a couple of freshmen. One of those freshmen was the leading hitter for Poynette during the fall league season in '07. Other pitchers include Vicki Gramse (soph), Lydia Caldwell (soph), Nicole Prey (freshman) and Jacqueline Kowald. Tomlinson sees Luther Prep, Columbus and Lakeside as the three teams that could battle it out for the Capitol North title but points out that the title will probably have to go through Poynette before it's determined. The Indians have been conference champions seven straight years in three different conferences and have won a conference title in all but one season since 1994.

Lakeside Lutheran - Coach: Matt Doering 6th Year - Senior Pitcher Greta Davis has been working hard during the off season and will be a tough opponent for teams in the Capitol North.

Watertown Luther Prep - Coach Bob Krueger - Luther Prep features the 2007 Capitol North Player of the Year in sophomore pitcher Lydia Free. Prep also returns a host of other players from a team that finished second in the conference in 2007 including Sarah Free and Emily Boldt.

Marshall - Head Coach Bruce Wuchterl- 3rd Year - This could be are break out year. We lost one starter form last years team in Courtney Noel are #1 pither who was a 3 year starter and a 3 time all conference pitcher with a Pitcher of the Year award last year. She will be hard to replace. Knowing that however, we do have two young pitchers in Andrea Schwenn and Megan Peterson. Both are sophomores. Andrea will be are #1 pitcher and Megan will be #2. They both are pitching very well right now and will be ready for the season. Playing defense behind them is Megan Lawson behind the plate she is a 10th grader and a 1 year starter. At first base is Kayle Dorshorst a 11th grader and a two-time all conference player. At second base is Sarah Wedeward a 11th grader a one-year starter, At shortstop we have Karmen Dorshorst a 11th grader, a two-year stater and an All Conference player last year. Handling third base will betwo-Shayla Schulenberg a 11th grader and a 2 year stater. Playing the leftfield is Kayla Mienholz who is a junior and also a two-year starter. In centerfield we have Crystal Schuster one-year starter and and All Conference performer. In rightfield we have Kelsey Mienholz a two-year starter. We have two or three kids that will compete for playing time. It will be a very fun year because we have a great bunch of kids that work hard and play hard and they are all very coachable. As for the Capitol South Conference, Waterloo will be the team to beat because they have won the title for so long. Until some one knocks them off they will be the favorite. We will be right on their heels for the the title though. The conferece will be very balanced this year with any team beating any one on any given day so you must come to play.

Wisconsin Heights - Head Coach Gena Clarson - 4th Year - The Vanguards, after graduating 5 seniors in 2007 Wisconsin Heights return five starters. Senior left fielder Callie Furry; juniors center fielder Kayla Clarson; shortstop Tayler Mickelson; pitcher Sharon Booth; and Sophomore 2007 1st team all-conference 1st baseman Brooke Brunner. Also returning is 3rd year varsity catcher Janelle Endres who will take over the starting catcher position.
Key newcomers:
Jrs- Krystal Canfield- (Pitcher,3rd), Rhea Helmenstine (Pitcher,3rd) also utility players Srs. Tasia Pinkham, Samantha Moore, Jrs. Abby Kahl, Danae Maier, Libby Gilles.
My expectations:
Losing 5 seniors last year to graduation and 2 key players due to season ending injuries the first week of practice any coach may be a little pessimistic, however I look at our team and we still have a strong core, Im extremely optimistic. We certainly will be doing some position shuffling and probably some fine tuning early in our season but Im sure they’ll do a great job of filling the holes and working out the kinks.
Our Strengths:
My pitching probably looks the best since I took over 4 years ago; we have three solid pitchers in Sharon Booth, Rhea Helmenstine and Krystal Canfield who transferred in from Minnesota a couple months back, she’s going to make a great addition to our team.
My team leadership has been very impressive in Sr. Callie Furry and Jrs Kayla Clarson and Janelle Endres All have been leading practices and conditioning. These girls are really pushing the under classmen to work harder while keeping everything upbeat and positive.
My goal:
To finish at the top.

New Glarus - Head Coach Robert Wahl 5th year - Head coach Robert Wahl is looking forward to the upcoming season as he continues to build the softball program at New Glarus. This year’s squad features eight returning starters, including starting pitcher Keriann Schmidt, who struck out a record 18 batters in a game last season. Schmidt also set the school record for strikeouts in a season last year. Kelsey Schmidt, sister of Keriann, will handle most of the catching chores. Schmidt, a starter as a freshman, brings experience behind the dish.The infield is packed with experience with Alicia Nettesheim, Kayla Hagen, and Taneesha Waldner returning on the infield. Nettesheim, an all conference shortstop last season, returns for her fourth year as the starting shortstop. Her double play partner will be Kayla Hagen, who will bring her solid fielding skills to the second base position. Taneesha Waldner will anchor first base with her solid defensive play.The Knight outfield is in fierce competition between seniors Kendra Mussehl, Brittany Narveson, and Emily Truttman. Junior Kesley Bartle is also in the mix for starting positions.
A strength of the Knights will definitely be at the plate. So far this season, the Knights have shown an ability to hit the ball, which will be crucial against the quality pitching of the Capitol Conference. Coach Wahl and assistant Dean Nettesheim have been impressed with the hitting of the girls so far this season. Across the board, the Knights feature a line-up that should produce plenty of runs.
In all, the Knights feature plenty of varsity experience and are hoping to be resilient and scrappy as they roll into the new season. Leadership and maturity will be keys as New Glarus and coach Wahl work to continue to build a program and a softball tradition at New Glarus. The Knights open on April 1 with a non-conference game at Pecatonica.

Belleville - Coach: Jon Benash 4th Year, Assistants: Bill Froehich & Joe Benash - Belleville returns everyone from last year's team that finished third behind
Waterloo and Marshall in their first year in the Capitol South. The Wildcats
will be led by junior Jenny Walejko. Walejko an All-Conference first teamer
last year will be joined by senior catcher Cindy Ziegler and battery mates
junior Courtney Adams and sophomore Leigh Baker who were all second team
All-Conference performers from a year ago. Although the seasoned Wildcats
return all 9 starters from last year, those starters will be pushed hard by a
group of very talented freshmen this year.

The Central Wisconsin Large Conference should be strong as usual. Although the disparity between the top and bottom teams will not be as evident. Bonduel will probably be the team to beat with the return of their starting pitcher and several of their top hitters. Pacelli and Wittenberg are always tough.

Bonduel - Coach Coach Dave Koeller (25th varsity season) - assisted by Dawn Scheelk - The Bonduel Bears will be looking to build on last season's 16-6 overall, 3rd place (12-4) finish in the Central Wisconsin - Large Conference. Eight returning letterwinners give the Bears a strong foundation. Bonduel will be especially solid up the middle, as starters return at shortstop with 1st-team all-conference selection junior Stephanie Kohn, 2nd-team all-conference pitcher junior Ashley Berger, and honorable-mention all-conference second-baseman junior Steph Staszak, Senior Cassandra Popp returns at catcher, and will likely split time behind the dish with junior Brittany Bodart, up from the JVs, with the other playing the outfield. Captain Deedra Wesenberg holds down the 3rd-base position for the 4th consecutive season, and letterwinners senior Amanda Moeller and senior Tarah Homan will compete with juniors Maranda Rusch and Kristin Watters to play 1st base. Senior Sienna Rauterkus returns for the third straight year at the key right-field position, and is capable of handling 3rd base if needed. Junior Kathryn Simon will be the main utility player in the infield or outfield and add to team speed. Homan and Staszak provide good backup pitching insurance.

Amherst - Coach Tim Pederson, 19th year - Amherst will return with nine starters from last year’s team. One of the team's major goals is to improve their pitching with Kate Glodowski and Jenna Pitt. Both girls pitched a lot last year and have gained valuable pitching experience. The batting order will be much the same as last year and hope the girls can improve on last year’s achievements. If they play strong defense and improve their hitting they will be very competitive. Last Year's records were 9–7 in the conference and 11–10 overa. Amherst graduated just one regular from last year's team, that being Nikki Rzentkowski who was a flex-player in 2007; Letter Winners returning Ramanda Maves C/OF 12 Returning Four Year Starter, 1st Team All-Conference ; Kate Toftum Inf 12 Returning Starter ; Gayle Cottrill P/Inf 12 Returning Starter ; Paige Selbo C 12 Returning Four Year Starter ; Claire Glodowski C/Inf 11 Returning Starter 2nd Team All Conference ; Kate Glodowski P/Inf 11 Returning Starter 1st Team All Conference ; Samantha Doll Inf 10 Reserve ; Taylor Strand Inf 10 Reserve ; Kendra Borski C/Inf 10 Reserve ; Marissa Trzebiatowski SS 10 Returning Starter Honorable Mention All Conference ; Jenna Pitt P/Inf 10 Returning Starter ; Lindsey Makuski Inf 10 Returning Starter

Newcomers: AshleeTrzebiatowski Inf 9, Taylor Lepak Inf 9, Sam Van Nuys OF 9 Team Outlook

Manawa -Coach Jim Roenz 4th Year - Little Wolf (Manawa) – Little Wolf went 10-6 in the conference in 2007 and 12-8 overall. They lost four letter winners to graduation in Jessica Simonis, Courtney Hass, Tara Korotka, and Winter Radtke. Returning letter winners include senior pitcher/infielder Ashley Smith; senior infielder Brooke Buschke; senior first sacker Kelly Guderjohn; junior pitcher/shortstop Ashley Braun; junior infielder/outfielder Brianna Draeger and junior catcher/outfielder Dana Dean. Some top prospects coming in are Brianna Gorman, Jackie Thompon, Alissa Reierson and Tiffany Deschler. Head coach Jim Roenz is hoping that this year’s team will be able to score some runs to support their pitching.

CWC Softball & Baseball Results/Standings Website: You can get the most up-to-date Central Wisconsin Conference scores and standings for baseball and softball by visiting the following website: www.iola.k12.wi.us/hs/cwcbaseballsoftball.cfm

Iola-Scandinavia Coach Tom Anderson, 17th year; Stacy Bestul, 9th year; and Robyne Gunderson, 3rd Year)

Rosholt (Coach Tom Fields,4th Year; Coach Kevin Limberg) - Rosholt after back to back 21-2 seasons and conference championships,loses 4 starters from last years squad, first team all conference players and 4 year starters Anna Zdroik (pitcher), Dream Carlson (2nd base), 2nd team all conference player Tanya Kluck (right field), and HM Emily Venne (1st base). There will be some holes to fill, but they bring back Jeanie Limberg 1st team all conf. and leading hitter in the conference (.467), and Emily Richter 2nd team all conf.Elizabeth Larson (ss), Nicole Wierzba (catcher),and Alyssa Macht (left field) as last year's starters.To fill the void in the cirecle will be the tandem act of Chelsea Richter 4-0
(0.28 era) as a starter last year, and Brianna Hahn who pitched very well at the JV level. Both have a ton of pitching experience, if we can fill those other holes with the talented array of players coming up through the ranks we should be right in the thick of things, but know the rest of the teams in the conference will play us tough.

NOTE: Up to date results and standings for the Central Wisconsin Conference small and large division softball teams can be found at: www.iola.k12.wi.us/cwc/results.htm

Waukesha South - Head Coach - Corey Kirsh, Assistants are Andy Weber, and Gina Nordrum and Shannon Resler
Blackshirt Varsity
C- Marissa Mader 10, 2nd year Captian; P- Katie Laveau 11, 2nd year; 1B-
2B- Nikki Larke 12, 3rd year Captain; 3B- Erica Johnson 10, 2nd year ; SS- Liz Mastalir 11, 1st year ; LF- Chloe Crandall 12, 3rd year; CF- Kassi Carlsen 10, 2nd year Captain; RF- Mel Wagner 12 2nd year

Pius XI - Coach Joel Claassen - With a 1st team all-state senior (Aly Krey) and two 1st team all conference players(junior pitcher Claire Blake / sophomore 3b. Chelsea Gulbranson)along with an honorable mention all conference (sophomore Kelly Laskee) look for Pius to compete for a Classic 8 conference championship. In fact nine returning players started at various times last year.The team will play its most difficult nonconference schedule this year. They open up on the road against Greenfield. Other games include Greendale, South Milwaukee, and of course the 3 game midseason "state tournament" at Ashwaebenon at the end of April.

Cloverbelt-East

Loyal - Coach James McBride - 1st Year

Colby D3 Coach: Adam Vaughan, 2nd year

Mosinee - Coach Todd Felch - Year

Greenwood D4 Coach Brenda Learman 4th year - The Indians return only one starter from last year’s team, Senior 2B Storm Gregorich (Honorable Mention All ECC). Sophomore 1B Jordan Ehlers, OF Jana Herdrich, C Rylee Gregorich, and IF Liz Smith also saw some varsity action last year. The Indians will have to overcome the lack of varsity experience. With only one senior and two juniors on the team, the underclassmen will have to fill some spots. The Indians will look to improve and gain valuable varsity experience every game.

Owen-Withee - Coach: Charlie Milliren, 17th year

Stanley Boyd D3 Coach: Kim Goettl 1st year, Assistant Coaches: Jackie Adams and Stacey Hendrickson The Lady Orioles return all of their starters as there were no seniors on the team last year. Stanley-Boyd will be fielding 6 seniors with the returning sophomores and new freshmen fighting for the open spots. With the past in the past, the Orioles look forward to a fresh season with a self-predicted improved finish.

Thorp D-4 - Coach Brad Ceranski - 11th Year - The Cardinals return all but one starter from last year’s 21-4 squad. Returning starters include seniors: 3B Cassie Lewan (1st Team All ECC), 1B Nadine Romag (2nd Team All ECC), OF Larissa Lewan, OF Katie Hamel and SS Brooke Eichelt. All will be asked to provide leadership to fill the shoes of last year’s lone senior 2nd Basemen / lead-off hitter Amanda Henke. Returning junior starters include: P/U Jeni Luzinski (1st Team All ECC), C Lindy Bergman (2nd Team All ECC) and OF Jessica Abramczak (2nd Team All ECC). Players that will be pushing for playing time and are returning 2007 varsity members seniors Alyssa Szczech and Jessica Haas, junior Katelyn Shesel and sophomores Ashley Pszeniczny, Katie Romag, Shauna Messing, Alicia Dircks and Melissa Horn. The team will look to improve each day and be playing their best softball at the end of the season.

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Once again the Cloverbelt West looks to be a very competitive conference from preseason reports. The favorites listed by the coaches are Altoona, C.F. McDonell, Gilman, E.C. Regis, and Osseo Fairchild. It should once again be an interesting battle for the top spots.

McDonell - Earl Larson 4th year -McDonell returns 10 letterwinners and 8 starters this season from a team that went 16-4 last season and tied for the Western Cloverbelt Championship with Altoona with a 13-1 conference record. The only position that was lost from last year’s team was the right fielder and Head Coach Earl Larson anticipates a lot of competition for not only that position, but others. Key players back are Jessica Freagon (SS), Alecia McIlquham (3rd), Ashley Meinen (P), Chrystal Steiger (1st), Leaha Brzozowski (C), Leisha Brzozowski (CF), Kristen LeaVesseur (2nd), and Mollie Meagher (LF). Larson anticipates a battle for a number of positions this year from a number of the juniors and sophomores, and possibly even a couple of the freshmen. The team presently has 24 players signed up with 4 seniors, 5 juniors, 6 sophomores, and 9 freshmen. Their goal is to once again challenge for the conference title but Altoona, Osseo-Fairchild, Regis and Gilman all have quality programs and a lot of very good returning players so the conference is going to be extremely tough once again this year.

Altoona Jim Turner 19th year, Assts. Char Lynum, Don Crane, Volunteer Asst.’s. Al "Whitey" Johnson, Pam Nimmo, Derek Hagen, John Sumner - Always a conference favorite, the well coached Lady Rails will be at or near the top again this season barring some catastrophic event. Lost all-conference and senior all-star players -Sara Gilman - Pitcher; and also senior all-star player Kayla Amundson - 3rd Base. Both girls were 3-year varsity players and 2-year starters. The Lady Rails also lost starting Right Fielder Sarin Strobush, also a 2-year starter. Lost a total of 6 senior graduates. Return pitcher Hillary Jenness (2nd team all-conference 1B) and Samantha Hanson, along with (1st team all-conference) catcher Aimee Reyzer. Also return infielders Brittany Gregorich, Ashley Robinson, Ashley Watt, and Tiffany Gregorich, who was out a major portion of last season with torn ACL. Return outfielders (2nd team all-conference) Gwen Frederiksen and EmmaLee Eckardt. Looking for some younger players to fill in the varsity positions open to help the team improve as the season goes along. Look for good competition throughout the conference season, and again hope to compete for the conference title. Non-conference schedule again includes LaCrosse Logan, Thorp, Pepin Tournament, and this year playing 2 games in the Poynette Fastpitch Jamboree.

Gilman - Coach Brian Phelps 15th year, Kurt Ryhner 2nd yr. Asst.,
Key loss for the Pirates will be All Conference and senior all-star Pitcher Lauren Cornell. Lauren was a three year starter and leaves big shoes to fill. All together the Pirates lose six seniors, with the other main contributor being first baseman Kayla Wojcik. The Pirates return the majority of starters from last year’s roster needing a new arm to step into the circle. The major problem the Pirates faced last year were injuries, at one point in the season six starters were missing in the line-up. With all those players returning and hopefully healthy a solid roster should develop. This season the Pirates will be lead by the four year starter, all conference, all district, and 3rd team all state shortstop Kelly Toporek who has committed to University Minnesota Crookston. With a big bat and great range the Pirates will look to Kelly for leadership on and off the field. Also helping the Pirates will be 2nd team all conference senior catcher Tiffany Schmitt who will also do some pitching. The remainder of the roster will be made up of the following players. 1st base Jen Kulesa senior out last season with ACL, Catcher-RF senior Ciara Latz, P-2nd base junior Ashlee Hauser played last season with separated shoulder, 3rd base senior Ashlee Schmitt, LF senior Kristen Klimeck, CF junior Jordyn Mallo, P-2nd–UT, sophomore Tiffany Amborn, Challengers for these spots will come from the 33 player roster.

Eau Claire Regis - Coach Rick Bush - 9th Year -Assistants Jeff Geissler 13 years, Rod Thorson 9 years, Larry Zorn 8 years - With the season fast approaching, the coaching staff at Regis in Eau Claire is preparing for another battle in the always tough Western Cloverbelt conference. Regis returns its veteran coaching staff along with new pitching coach, Mark Wirz, who moves over from conference foe Fall Creek. Mark spent 5 years there.First base coach Jeff Geissler,(13 years), defensive specialist Rod Thorson,(9 years) and statistician Larry Zorn, (8 years) all return. Head Coach Rick Bush has a 119-59 record in 8 years at the school.
The staff this season welcomes back only one senior but has a stellar group of sven juniors that are very athletic. Regis finished 7-7 in conference,12-10 overall. Regis lost a tough second round defeat in the regionals last year at the hands of Thorp, 5-4 in WIAA tournament play. Regis is led at the plate by Junior Rachel Marthaler (.364, 18 r.b.i.'s) and Junior Kara Poirier (.339, 11 r.b.i.'s). Pitching could be a strongpoint with Junior Marthaler (9-8, e.r.a. of 2.95) and Junior Brianna Plank (3-2, e.r.a. of 1.73). The conference race shapes up with Altoona, McDonell and Gilman as probable favorites. If Regis can develop consistency they could be in the chase.

Fall Creek - Coach Andy Niedzwiecki - The Lady Crickets return five starters led by All-Conference 1st team Senior catcher Brianna DeGrasse, 2nd team, Senior 3rd baseman Alix Gabus, and HM Lacey Horlacher. They have a mix of players in all the grades, but beyond the five starters they don't have a lot of Varsity experience. The Cricket coaching staff hopes their younger players improve as the year progresses and that their seniors provide the needed leadership for them. It will be tough for them to compete with the top five teams in the onference this year.

Cadott - Coach Kerri Moldrem 1st year - Currently waiting to see if enough Players show up for a fielding a varsity squad?

Osseo-Fairchild - Coach Sue Lundberg 10 years, Betty Ward Asst. - The Chieftans return a strong nucleus of players from last year's team that
finished 3rd in the conference behind Altoona and Chippewa McDonell, and lost in
the regional finals to Arcadia. Junior Pitcher Kaitlin Nix, senior catcher
Laura Olson, and junior ss Sara Lundberg lead the way for Osseo who did not lose any of their conference games last year by more than three runs. They are well coached by Sue Lundberg who is entering her 10th year at the helm and will be a contender in the Conference, and playoffs.

Arcadia –Coach Dave Bjorge 6th year - (25-1, 14-0, 1st Place) – Arcadia graduated six starters from their 2007 State Runner-up team including 1st Team All-State selections Sara Flury (C) and Sara Baumgartner (CF). Despite the major losses they still are the team to beat in the Coulee with the return of 2nd Team All-State selections Kayla Finner (P) and Larissa Sobotta (SS).

Black River Falls - Coach Mary Rykken - (14-9, 8-6, 4th Place) – The fourth place finish in 2007 was the lowest finish for a Black Rivers Falls softball team in a long time, but they will once again compete for a spot among the league leaders. They are led by three-time 1st Team All Conference selection Jenny Janke. Janke is one of the top pitchers in the conference and may be the most feared hitter and has the potential to dominate any game.

GET – Coach Dan Stuhr - (17-7, 10-4, 2nd Place) – The 2008 GET Redman will need to replace five All-Conference selections as well as their pitching combo of Jaci Prondzinski and Kate Fregin. This year’s team will be led by junior catcher Sam Weaver, a 2nd Team All-Conference selection in 2007.

Luther– Coach Mark Ross - (12-10, 9-5, 3rd Place) – The Knights 9-5 record in 2007 is their best Coulee Conference record since joining in 1998. The 2008 team hopes to improve on that record with the return three All-Conference selections in senior Rachel Niemi (SS), junior Courtney Hoeg (P), and junior Amy Dobrunz (C). Rachel is coming off a stellar season where she hit .429 and set a school record with 33 hits.

Viroqua - Coach Karen Laabs (5-16, 4-10, 6th Place) – Viroqua has been finishing in the bottom half of conference recently, but have the potential to move up this year with the return of Honorable Mention All-Conference Pitcher Trisha Gillman and two time Honorable Mention infielder Maria Johnson.

West Salem -Coach Brian Babiash -5th Year - (4-17, 3-11, tied 7th Place)- Replacing 5 seniors from last years team along with the one remaining outfield holdover lost with an ACL, will be a major undertaking. That leaves only senior Paige Babiash ss (Three time conference award winner) and junior Kirstie Langrehr 3rd as returners in their same rolls. Also returning is sophomore Emily Mellor 2nd who moved from 1st. Called on to fill two of the biggest rolls will be freshmen Marissa Skretney P and freshmen Megan Koepnick C. The team also welcomes back Jr. Rachel Kleinertz 1st who started as a Freshman and did not play last season. –

Westby - Coach Morgan Stenslien -(9-12, 5-9, 5th Place) – Westby returns an all-conference battery with Tanya Larsen (P) and Brittany Bakkestuen (C). This team has the ability to compete with the top teams in conference if Larsen can return to form she had her sophomore year leading Westby to a regional championship.

Eau Claire Immanuel -Coach Dennis Oster - 7th Year (98-29 overall) - The Lancers were 17-7 and 12-4 last year and finished second in the Dairyland Conference. They have won conference titles in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006. Returning starters from last year are Jessie Meyer (Sr.), Rachel Sydnow (Sr.), Rachel Schrader (Jr.), and Renae Markus (Soph.) - Lancers won their first-ever regional title in 2007 before falling to Hurley in the sectional. Six players return and several young players are expected to contribute this season. Aside from regaining the conference crown, the Lancers hope to improve on their post-season play with sights set on Goodman Diamond in Madison in June.

Dunn-St. Croix -
The Fastpitch Chronicle expects the top teams in the conference again to be Elmwood, Pepin, and Spring Valley. Elmwood lost their catcher, Sarah Howe and shortstop, Megan Murphy to graduation but return 1st team All-DSC pitcher Erika Wolf. Pepin lost both their pitcher and catcher to graduation but always find a way to field an outstanding team. The Valley and Head Coach Earl Gunderson returns 2nd team pitcher Steph Thompson and athletic utility player Kimmy Keehr (1st team all-DSC last year).

Pepin – Coach Matt Bellerive - 2nd Year - This is going to be an interesting year in Pepin. Although we have a good group of young kids returning, we lost our vocal leader on and off the field in Molly McIntosh. Molly being our pitcher and Mary Buvala being our catcher, both gone. Mary to UW Lacrosse and has earned the starting center fielders position!!!! Good for her!! It will be interesting to see who surfaces as a field general. We have four seniors this year that were all 4 all conference last year. Nikki Larson our starting 2nd baseman, Ellie Heywood our short stop, Frances Latene, who we will be moving from center field to catcher because of her athleticism, and Heidi Ridgeway. Also returning as a starter and will be filling the giant shoes of Molly will be Samantha Lerum. Samantha was our 3rd baseman all last year as a freshman and hit in the 2 hole for us. She has a good head on her shoulders and will be up to the task. Other returning starters are Kylee Haglund right field, Jolene Hince, and Jen (Turkey) Oberhart. New faces this year are Kellie Kosok, Brianna Kircher, and Taylor Lerum. As far as the conference goes I believe that Earl Gunderson and Spring Valley are the team to beat in the Dunn St. Croix this year with the return of Steph Thompson toeing the rubber and Kimmy Keehr catching it will be a challenge to beat them. Then I would go with Elmwood, Elk Mound, and St. Croix Central. It is always hard to say for sure though as every year everybody seems to get better and better. I know that we look forward to the challenge in Pepin this year and the girls are excited to get going on the huge task of defending their conference title!

Elk Mound – Coach Kari Kallio Guth 5th Year - The Mounders return five starters from last year’s 4th place team in the new combined nine team conference. Huge losses to graduation include four-year starters Sara Sivertson (3B, 2B, P) and Stephanie Klika (C). Both were second-team All-DSC selections a year ago. Stepping in the circle will be senior Brooke Prafke who is a three-year starter at 1B and 2B, but posted a 2-1 record in limited innings last season. She was an honorable mention pick last season at second base. Athletic freshman utility player Kayla Kurtzhals will most likely fill the void at catcher. Another key returner is senior Samantha Weix at short stop. She is a two-time 1st team All-DSC selection at short and one of last year’s captains as a junior. Other returning starters include juniors Amanda Newman (3B), Jenna Anderson (CF), and Kayla Hollingsworth (RF). There are no sophomores out this season so rounding out the team will be senior Kerry Flynn (2B), and freshmen Ivy Miemietz (1B), Azia Mueller (OF/C), Jenny Chladek, Jenna Spagnoletti, Amanda Ahlert, and Chelsy Sunderland.

The now dissolved East Central Flyway –Lakes conference has been absorbed by what was the Valley 8 Conference to form what will now be known as the Eastern Valley Conference. In the Valley 8, conference champion Fox Valley Lutheran will now be joined by Winneconne who shared or won outright 6 of the 8 conference championships in the 8-year existence of the ECFC-Lakes. Ripon, Omro, and Berlin from the old ECFC-Lakes will join Clintonville, Freedom, Little Chute, Waupaca and Xavier from the old Valley 8 as well. It looks like FVL, Little Chute and Freedom will be the pre-season favorites based on the players they have coming back. FVL did lose Steff Stoeger who was a great player at both pitcher at shortstop, as well as Jamie Matz who was a really good stick in their line-up. They do return Sutton Lecker, who gained a lot of experience last year pitching along with Stoeger and return 7 of their 9 starters from the Sectional qualifying team.
Freedom will have a new coach to lead that program, but return a quality pitcher in Jamie Schuh and have a good nucleus to play behind her so they will be a factor in race this year.
Little Chute: Ashley Schider returns to the circle for her senior season and will be one of the top pitchers in the conference. She also has several all conference players returning to give them some experience behind her and should contend as well. Winneconne lost a ton of talent and is looking to rebuild with youth. Player of The Year and 3rd Team All-State Pitcher Kaitlyn Herbst was lost to graduation as well as their entire infield and battery so they have a rebuilding job to do. Berlin, Ripon, Omro, Clintonville and Waupaca all will have new coaches this season and have some all-conference players returning on which to build upon. It all comes down to what kind of pitching that they have to determine where they will finish in the EVC. Xavier will continue to build as they look for their place in the new conference.

BERLIN: Head Coach Nick Briski (1st Year) All-Conference Players Lost:
Andrea Markowski,Kim Schuster

CLINTONVILLE: Head Coach Jim Klingbeil (1st Year) All-Conference Players
Lost: Amber Anderson, Sr., All-Conference Players Returning: Jaceena
Hanschel, Jr.

FOX VALLEY LUTHERAN: Head Coach Steve Lecker (2nd Year) All-Conference
Players Lost: Steff Stoeger, Sr; Jamie Matz, Sr., All-Conference Players
Returning: Sutton Lecker, So; Kristi Matz, So.,; Marissa Asman, So.,
Alexa Arndt, So.,; Steph Bakeberg, So.

FREEDOM: Head Coach Tim Dietzen (1st Year) All-Conference Players Returning: Jamie Schuh, Fr.; Britney Conrad, Jr.; Nicole Bowers, So.; Jill VanEperen, Fr.; Amanda Kortz, Jr.

LITTLE CHUTE: Head Coach Nikol Waters (2nd Year) All-Conference Players
Lost: Katie VanDynHoven, Sr.; Kelsey Techlin, Sr. All-Conference
Players Returning: Alicia Seggelink, Jr.; Ashley Hietpas, So.; Samantha
Schmitz, Jr.

OMRO: Head Coach Amiee Pierstorff (1st Year) All-Conference Players
Returning: Rayelle Diedrich 11, Brittini Raygo 11

RIPON: Head Coach Jeff Krentz (1st Year) All-Conference Players Lost:
Mandy Mlodzik , Ashley Sweet Kayla Block. Returning All Conference
Players: Kayla Lukoski 10

WINNECONNE: Head Coach Tim Whitford (16th Year) All-Conference Players
Lost: Kaitlyn Herbst - Player of the Year,Alyssa Collura, Kaytie Curtis, Stephanie
Salm, , Brittany Lee Returning All-Conference Players: Shannon Petrack
11, Karie Curtis 9

| WAUPACA: Head Coach Pat McCormick (1st Year) All-Conference Players
Lost: Sam McCormick, Sr.,; Whitney Oftedahl, Sr.,

XAVIER: Head Coach Lori Englund (2nd Year) All-Conference Players
Returning: Kristin Mantzke, So., Xavier; Marissa Hehli, Fr., Xavier.

Plymouth Will be hard pressed to earn a 4th straight conference title as '07 co-champ, Campbellsport, and league newcomer/perennial power, Waupun, return strong starting pitching and overall lineups. Kewaskum and Two Rivers also return good pitchers, while Plymouth must replace two-time first team All-State pitcher, Lindsey Grahn. Kiel graduated a strong senior class, while New Holstein and Sheboygan Falls fielded young teams last year. It should be an interesting year in the EWC!

Plymouth - Coach Gayle Grahn - 13-1 Lauren Pieper-IF (2), Katie Hanson-IF (HM), Hannah
Bowe-IF (HM)
Campbellsport: 13-1 Haley Serwe-P (1), Kate Salter-C (1), Brittany Narges-IF
(1),
Kewaskum: 8-6 Brooke Wodsedalek-P (2), Shaylah Haire-C (2), Brandi
Wagner-IF (HM)
Kiel: 7-7 Kristen Wieck-OF (2)
Two Rivers: 5-9 Stephany Milmoe-OF (1), Ani Steinhauer-P (2), Tabitha
Romdenne-IF (2), Amy Veldre-IF (HM)
New Holstein: 3-11 Taylor Keifenheim-OF (HM)
Sheboygan Falls: 0-14 Nicole Kuehl-IF (HM)
Waupun - Coach Tom Hagstrom - (11-4 Flyway) Ariel Griffis-P (1), Nicole Sturtz-IF (1), Holly Smits-P
(2), Jenny Rasmussen-C (2), Brittany Flegner-IF (2)

Green Bay West - Coach Bob LeCaptain

Green Bay East

Green Bay Preble-Coach Rick Halverson

Green Bay Southwest-Coach Trudy Lorberblatt

Sheboygan North

Manitowoc-Coach Chris Brown

Green Bay Notre Dame-Coach Ken Danforth

Sheboygan South-Coach Dave Pfeiffer - The 2008 team will be very young with 2 seniors in the starting line-up. Veronica Aguilar, Sara Thibodeau being the right and left fielder. Kelsey Bruder is our junior HM all-conference catcher. We will have our pitching rotation back (a junior and a sophomore). We look to improve with another year of maturity with our program. The FRCC will be a much more challenging conference adding the likes of DePere, Ashwaubenon, Pulaski, and Bayport and to the old Frvc.

Ashwaubenon - Coach Van Lanen - Year - Ashwaubenon will be returning 7 starters, from last years 19-4 team. 3 were 1st team all conference- 1b Sr. Erin Crist, C Sr. Kelly Arndt, and P Jr. Melissa Collins (3rd team all state)

Fox Valley Association

Appleton East - Coach Janel M. Batten 10th Year -

Appleton North - Coach Reed Rudie 6th Year.

Appleton West - Coach Christina Brown

Kaukauna - Coach Tim Roehrig 8th YearMenasha

Neenah -Coach Richard Frost 5th Year

Menasha - Coach Tom McQuillan - 8th Year -

Kimberly - Coach Bill Weyers - 6th year - 2008 version of Kimberly softball returns starting All-State pitcher Claudia Harke. The infield returns All-State 3rd baseman Dani Peerenboom. The rest of the infield will be young. Defense is the question mark. The new infield will need to step up offensively and defensively. Offensively the Papermakers return 3 of the FVA's top 4 hitters. Look for Appleton East, Oshkosh West and Kaukauna to compete with Kimberly for the FVA title. Appleton North has also been rapidly improving in the off-season.

Oshkosh West - Coach Dave Christman

Oshkosh North -

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Greater Metro

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Heart O' North

Indianhead

Hurley - Coach Jim Kivisto(20th Year - The Midgets have all but one returning starter that lost in D-4 state finals 4-3 to Williams Bay. Both offensively and defensively we should be strong as we only lost our 1st baseman to graduation. Again our schedule is very strong as we play eleven games against D-1,D-2,and D-3 teams. We might start off slow due to the weather we have up here, but by the end of the year we should be ready to make another run come tourney time. As far as the Indianhead Conference goes, it should come down to us and Glidden/Butternut for the conference title.

Butternut/Glidden - Coach Dan Furtak -3rd year ; AssistantJohn Kinnear -3rd year
Butternut/Glidden will be welcoming back eight starters from last years team which went 14-5 overall. Returning are: 1st team all-conference pitcher Devon Furtak(sophomore), 1st team all-conference catcher Steph Tank(senior), and Honorable Mention short stop Caiti Setterman(senior).With five other starters also returning and a group of young talent coming in we look forward to an exciting year for BGH Softball.

Drummond -

Melllen -

Mercer

Solon Springs

South Shore

Washburn

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Lakeland-East

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Lakeland - Central
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Lakeland-West

The West Lakeland conference should have Grantsburg and Frederic in the hunt for the conference crown.

Grantsburg - Coach Don Bjelland - Grantsburg graduated four super star all-state players in Mollie Bjelland,Jamie Lund,Miranda Kammeyer and Lindsey Hedlund. They will have some talented returning players and hungry newcomers. Returning starters will be Seniors Alyssa Ryan, Sasha Chell, Amanda Durand and Michelle Davidsavor. The battery will be young with two Sophmore pitchers Michelle Lund and Heather Davison. Grantsburg will have to prove themselves as the season progresses. This new team and their coaches are exited to start and dare not be taken lightly.

Frederic - Coach - Frederic has some strong returning players with a lot of experience. They could be in the thick of things in the race for a conference title.

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Lakeshore

Lakeshore Conference - This is a very tough softball conference. Waterford, a sectional runner-up last year, is the pre-season favorite as it returns seven all-conference players: Inf. Mikayla Chart, Alyssa Shuttenhelm, Chelsea Strosina and Katie Basting, pitcher Dani Burke and outfielders Taylor Azarian and Katie Simonson. Defending Division II state champions Union Grove, hit hard by graduation, return three all-conference players: Infielder Christina Aponte and Natalie Schattner and outfielder Lindsay Mikulecky. Westosha Central, returns four all-conference players: short stop Kim Wachholder and infielder Katlyn Kasper, outfielder Jessica Hrncar and pitcher Jessica Clark. . Both Wilmot ( Jacky Bigger - outfield and Leah Sheahan - outfield) and Lake Geneva Badger ( Rachelle Gremo - catcher and Jessica Las - infield) return two all-conference players each and also return their starting pitchers. Rounding out the conference is Kenosha St. Joes and Div. three state qualifier Racine St. Cats.

St. Catherine’s - COACH: Mary Kasinski, 4th season

Union Grove COACH: Ryan Boylen - 1st Year - We will lose a lot this year coming off our D2 State Championship run from a year ago. We lose 5 senior contributors and 3 All-State selections, including our Pitcher Kristyn Hansen who is now a walk-on at UW-Madison, and our Catcher Sam Howe who is playing at UW-Green Bay. This being said, we definitely have holes to fill, however, we have a strong Junior class this year and filling those holes is not impossible. We have two Juniors returning who where 1st team All-Conference in Christina Aponte and Lindsey Mikulecky as well as a 2nd team selection in Nathalie Schattner. In addition to these returning Juniors we also have a strong incoming junior class who went 14-4 last year at the JV level. We are young in the fact that we have only 3 seniors on the team but we will be talented. We will not have a dominant pitcher who will carry us as did Kristyn nor a dominant hitter like Sam Howe, however, I think we will have more depth than we did a year ago. Our 1-9 hitters all, on paper at least, should do well. As I said, we are inexperienced, however, we have the talent to go far. Junior Stephanie Stoll and Freshman Emily McClelland will fill the void left by Kristyn at pitcher. Lindsey Mikulecky will move from the outfield into catcher to fill the gap left by Sam Howe. Nathalie Schattner will move from 2nd to short to fill the hole left by Maria Osmundsen. McClelland will then fill the vacated position of 2nd base when she is not pitching. Trust me on this Emily McClelland will be a stud by the time she is a senior provided we can put some meat on her bones. Christina Aponte will once again man the hot corner where she excelled in the State Tournament. Jacqie Servi will provide us with a big athletic first basemen. The outfield positions remain unset but we have several good players looking to fill those holes. Some of these players include Haly Fink, Carley Brownlee, Katie Wilks, Robyn Mueller, Ryannon Snow, Amber Ponticelli, and Brandi Kruenzisch. This will be worked out when and if we ever get to go outside for a practice. Key backups include, Alyssa Prochnow, Jeanna Demant, and whoever does not win a starting spot in the outfield.

Wilmot - Coach -Robert Movrich - The Wilmot Panther softball team has reason to be optimistic about the upcoming season. They return two all-conference players in junior catcher-outfielder Jacky Bigger and senior center fielder Leah Sheahan. Also in the mix will be four year starter senior short stop Kelly Bolton. Both Bolton and Sheahan have drawn interest from Lakeland college. In the circle, returning for her second year (7-14 in 07), is sophomore pitcher Melissa Webster. According to coach Movrich, Webster has worked extremely hard in the off season and despite a foot injury, should be ready to go and have a great year. Two seniors, Kasey Smith and Lynzi Gartner, will occupy the other two outfield spots. The infield will have returning letter winners junior Brielle Bland at 2nd base and senior Jenna Ruggiero at 1st base. Three newcomers that will see extensive playing time are sophomores Sid Rozell at 3rd base and Afton Swartz, who can play anywhere. One interesting addition is senior Holly Becker. Becker, a former track star, possesses tremendous speed and can create havoc on the bases.

Waterford - COACH: Jill Stobber, 10th season -

Lumberjack

PARK FALLS CARDINALS - Coach Ken Dischler - 12th Year - The Park Falls Cardinals return 14 letter winners and all starters -- plus one -- for the 2008 softball season. Park Falls finished 15-6 last season, starting one junior, five sophomores and three freshmen. Those starters return, along with junior Bekka Slack, an all- district performer as a freshman who missed her sophomore season while recovering from an ACL injury. Slack hit .431 as a freshman with 26 stolen
bases, fielding .907 at third base with a team-high 31 assists. Last season, the Cards were paced in hitting by freshman Devin Schmidt, who returns for her sophomore season at second base. Schmidt earned all-Lumberjack Conference and all-district honors with a .426 average, and earned honorable mention on the WFSCA all-state team. Eleven of her 26 hits were for extra bases.
All-LC and all-district performers Kelsey Christianson and Andi Schemberger
are back. They split time last season between catcher and first base.
Christianson, now a senior, hit .388 with three home runs and slugged .701.
Half of her 26 hits on the season were for extra bases and she gunned out
seven of 10 runners attempting to steal against her. She earned third-team
honors as a catcher on the all-state team. Schemberger, now a sophomore, hit .380 and drove in 23 runs, second on the team behind Christianson’s 28.
Another all-LC and all-district performer back is junior Kelsey Walasek in the
circle. Walasek earned honorable mention all-state honors with a 14-6 record,
1.66 ERA and 182 strikeouts in 131 innings. She hit .383 with 12 of her 23
hits going for extra bases, including a team-high four triples. She drew 28
walks and had an on-base percentage of .578. She led the team in assists with
45 and fielded 1.000 in the circle. Between strikeouts, putouts and assists,
she had a hand in 59% of the team’s putouts. All-LC performer Maddie Lamb, a junior, is back for her third season at shortstop. She hit .292, scored 24 runs and led the team with nine sacrifice bunts. She fielded .880 in LC play.
Sophomore Libby Slack stepped in at third base last season for her sister and
finished with a .321 batting average. She blistered the ball at a .706 clip
over the season’s final eight games, which included two regional games and a
sectional tilt. Tiffany Zwicke and Jess Withey started last season in right field and center field, respectively. Zwicke hit .292 with seven doubles and Withey batted .265 and fielded .923. Left field was shared by Britt Engel and Laura Pechacek. All four are juniors. Kendall Carden, now a senior, Theresa Ellner, now a junior, and Brittany Meyer, now a sophomore, also return as letterwinners for Coach Ken Dischler and assistants Bill Walasek and Bill Mallak. The Cards may call on senior Teresa Grassel, junior Michelle Pierce or fireballing freshman Taylor Walasek for spot duty in the circle this season.

Northland Pines - Coach Marty Pietila, 2nd year

Tomahawk - Coach John Larson

Medford - Coach Virgil Berndt, 18th Year - With a tough extra-inning regional final loss ending our 2007 season, we are looking forward to getting back on the diamond. Medford is coming off a conference championship season and will be looking to repeat. That will be a tough task this year. Several key losses to graduation and a Park Falls team that is loaded with talent will be some of the challenges the Raiders will face. Key returning players: All Conference players Morgan Beyer 3B, Brooke Butkus SS, Jennifer Johnas 2B, Ashley Herrell Utility. Other returning letter winners: Grace Gelhaus C, Ashley Jochimsen OF, Katelyn Hartl OF, Katie Keefe OF, Kelsie Bolz OF Also returning to the line up in 2008 will be pitchers Hanna Rohland and Hailey Kozey. Both were expected to be our leaders in the circle in 07, but injuries forced them to miss the entire season. They should provide us with some quality depth in the circle and both will be key on offense as well. We also have some quality nderclassmen that are ready to push these girls for some playing time. With a little luck and some hard work the Raiders should put a very competive team on the field this year.

Phillips - Coach Mike Smart -

Lakeland - Coaches Wade and Mary Wentland

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Marawood

Athens - Coach Craig Diedrich - 8th Year - Returns 4 starters from last year’s 16-4 team. The returning players include: 1B Caylie Yessa, OF Jessi Wegmueller, 3B Miranda Komarek and C Jena Zinkowich. The Bluejays will rely on a solid defense this year, which will be lead by two 1st Team All-Conference and hard working infielders Yessa and Komarek and Wegmueller a 2nd Team All-Conference outfielder will move into CF to bring stability to the outfield. Like every year there are positions to fill those looking to move into a starting role are: Danielle Bunkelman, Olivia Punke, Kim Graun, Suzie Bunkelman, Michaela Henrichs, Sam Steinke, and talented Freshman Tanya and Taylor Literski and Heather Schreiner. The Bluejays have the sites set on another Marawood North Conference title, but realize that the Marawood North has improved greatly from top to bottom.

Wisconsin Rapids Assumption - Coach Jim Getzloff - 14th year Asst. Coach Dan Jinsky - 5th Year - Assumption returns 6 starters and 8 letterwinners from last years team that finished 21-3 after getting beat in the Sectional final by Oshkosh Lourdes. Returning will be 1st team All - Conference Seniors Katie Moran and Stephanie Garza along with Junior Brittney Brock. Junior Jada Straub was 2nd team and Sophomore Chelsey Brandl was HM. We do have three quality pitchers back with Brock and Straub and Sophomore Jenna Moran. Brock and Straub will fill in at second base when not pitching. J. Moran will be at first and sister Katie Moran at SS. Brandl will move from RF to 3rd and Garza behind the plate. Defensively, we should be very strong on the infield. Competing for Outfield jobs will be Senior Katie Hepp, junior Bekah Elsen and Sophomores Chelsea Hohl, Kirsten Clark, Liz Martin and Ellen Weiler. Freshman Nikki Milkey will also push for an outfield job. Hopefully we can make another run for the Conference title if we can stay healthy. Stratford and Pittsville will be the teams to beat.

Newman - Coach Dan Smet-4th Year - Assistant Coach Danny Rozwadowski, 4th Year

Prentice - Coach Rebecca Anderson - 2nd year, Assistant Cindy Bohl - 2nd year The Prentice Buccaneers are entering the 2008 season with an up beat attitude and a very young team. We have one senior, four juniors, and three sophomores returning from last season. Including last year's 2nd team all-conference shortstop and this year's starting pitcher, sophomore, Lauren Arndt. Our loan senior, Nicole Straveler, returns to hopefully again lead us in stolen bases. We are joined by eight freshman and a brand new sophomore. We are excited by the numbers as we played many games last year with just 9 girls. We ended last season tied in 4th place in our conference and are looking to improve on last year's record of 4 and 8.

Edgar - Coach Judy Nelson

Abbotsford - Coach: Mandy Pankratz, second year; Tonya Klabon (interim).

Stratford -Coach: Jason Tubbs, second year.

Spencer -Coach: Denny Christenson, 8th year.

Northland Lutheran - Coach Ryan Weichmann

Pittsville - Coach: Dan Hoffa,

Auburndale -

Granton - Coach Wendy Proffitt, 4th year.

Marshfield Columbus -Coach: Joan Raschke, fourth year.

Predicted order of finish North 2008:
1. Athens
2. Marathon
3. Edgar
4. Newman
5. Prentice
6. Rib Lake
7. Abbotsford

Fastpitch Chronicle - Predicted order of finish South 2008:
1. Stratford / WR Assumption
2. Auburndale
3. Spencer
4. Pittsville
5. Granton
6. Columbus
7. Northland Lutheran

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Marinette & Oconto

Wausaukee - Head Coach Sue Stoltenberg - we are going for our 5th consecutive conference championship this year and our 8 consecutive regional championship. It would sure be nice to get out of the sectional for a change.

As far as the M&O conference goes—we again have a huge number of coaching changes. Peshtigo will prove to be our biggest challenge. They have a new coaching staff but a strong pitcher in sophomore Caitlyn Wenzel. We will fire back with our own tough sophomore pitcher in Karlie Francour. It will be a great duel. We only have 2 seniors with varsity s.b. experience—1st team all-conference catcher Abbie Jewett and retuning outfielder Abby Hultquist. Our Infield will have to be revamped—but I am very confident on the young kids sliding into the varsity position. We will be the team with the target on our backs again this year.

Coleman - Head coach Travis Falkowski- Coleman will not be fielding any seniors

Crivitz—good athletes—lost starting pitcher through graduation. (may have a coaching change)

St. Thomas Aquinas Academy—Shirley Martin Head coach - This team has good athletes—will be much improved over last year—

Peshtigo—Strong pitcher—new coach

Gillett—will be down this year—as of 2 weeks ago—no coach

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Middle Border

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Midwest Classic-Classic Division
The Midwest Classic Conference is split into two divisions based on competitive balance. The Classic Division (upper half) is made up of Burlington Catholic Central, Dominican, Martin Luther, Racine Lutheran, and Shoreland Lutheran. The Midwest Division (lower half) will be made up of Heritage Christian, Kenosha Christian Life, Living Word Lutheran, and Wayland Academy.
Here is a preview of the 2008 Classic Division.

Burlington Catholic Central – Coach Bill Greskiw (13th Season) – Catholic Central shared the Conference title last season and will be a favorite again this year. The Hilltoppers lose to graduation 1st team All-Conference pitcher Allison Smith, but her younger sister, Michelle (Jr.) is slotted to take the rubber this year. A pair of seniors who each earned All-Conference honors last year will be at the top of the lineup this year. Both Morgan Aldrich and Annie Henrichs each put pressure on the defense with their ability to get the bat on the ball and speed on the bases. Another key returning player for Coach Greskiw is Junior, Sam Oldenburg, who earned 2nd Team All-Conference last year. Sophomore, Kelly Smith will also showed promise at the end of last year and will be a solid contributor for Catholic Central. The tools are in place for Catholic Central to contend for the State Title in Division 4.

Dominican – Coach Ben Weiler (4th Season) – Dominican will look to replace their pitcher from last year, Mary Claire Metscher. Catcher, Lara Lijewski also was lost to graduation. Finding a new battery as talented as these two will be a challenge for Coach Weiler. The lone returning All-Conference player for the Knights is 2nd Team Infielder Lauren Roszak.

Martin Luther – Coach Jon Bartz – Martin Luther will be a solid fastpitch program this year. After replacing many fine athletes last year, Coach Bartz returns a solid nucleus that will only be better this year. Two freshmen manned the middle infield last season and with a year of experience will be players to be reckoned with. Miranda Reinke was 1st Team All-Conference at shortstop last season and 2nd Team All-Conference, Kendall Povlick played 2nd. Reinke has pop while Povlick hits for a very good average. The other All-Conference returner from last year is Alyssa Meier. Meier covers a ton of ground in the outfield for Martin Luther. Senior Kristen Anhalt returns as the pitcher for the Spartans.

Racine Lutheran – Coach Becky Demuth (5th Season) – Coach Demuth will have the Crusaders ready to go this year. After going 1-7 in conference last year, Racine Lutheran will improve on that record this year. Kaitlyn Ruckmann will pitch for the Crusaders this year. Ruckmann worked hard this offseason improving her speed and control and will be a force to be reckoned with this conference season. 4-year starter Brittany Meyer does a great job at Shortstop as well. In the batter’s box she is an extra base hit threat every time. Last year she was 2nd Team All Conference.
Shoreland Lutheran High School – Coach Tim Treder (5th Season) – Shoreland Lutheran looks to defend its share of the conference championship as well. The Pacers finished 18-4 and won conference last year for the 1st time since 1989. The Pacers return five All-Conference players. Sophomore, Katie Morman is one of the brightest talents in Division 3 and the entire sophomore class regardless of division. She has great range at shortstop and is a tough out at the top of the lineup. Last year Morman finished with 41 runs scored in 22 games. Senior, Rochelle Willkomm (1st Team All-Conference Utility) will be firing from the circle for her 4th straight year. Willkomm forces a lot of ground balls and developed both a curve and a drop this offseason. The other half of the battery also earned 1st team All-Conference honors last season. Junior, Brittanny Bahr manages the game well defensively and is a complete hitter--hitting both for average and power. Also providing big contributions for Shoreland will be juniors, Kim Gall (IF) & A.J. Naumann (OF) who were named to the 2nd Team as sophomores. Shoreland has the talent to make noise in the race for Division 3.

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Midwest Classic-Midwest Division

Wayland Academy - Coach Judy Hill - Wayland went undefeated in Midwest Division of MCC in 2007. Returning five all-conference players, all from the infield:
Soph pitcher Megan

Badger North	Cloverbelt-West	Lakeland - East	Northern Lakes	Southwest Wisconsin
Badger South	Coulee	Lakeland - West	Olympian	Southwest Wisconsin - Activites League
Bay	Dairyland	Lakeshore	Packerland	Trailways - North
Big Eight	Dunn-St. Croix	Lumberjack	Parkland	Trailways - South
Big Rivers	Eastern Valley	Marawood	Ridge & Valley	Wisconsin Flyway
Capitol North	Eastern Wisconsin	Marinette & Oconto	Rock Valley	Wisconsin Little Ten
Capitol South	Fox River Classic	Middle Border	Scenic Bluffs	Wisconsin Valley
Central Lakeshore	Fox Valley Association	Midwest Classic - Classic Division	Six Rivers - East	Woodland
Central Wisconsin-Large	Greater Metro	Midwest Classic - Midwest Division	Six Rivers - West	Superior High School
Central Wisconsin-Small	Heart O' North	Milwaukee City - Zussman and Martin Divisions	South Central
Classic Eight	Indianhead	Mississippi Valley	Southeast
Cloverbelt-East	Lakeland - Central	North Shore	Southern Lakes