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Pitching duo expected to lead W-F

Indians to face quality nonconference teams

By Greg Seubert


Seventh-grader Bryna Boettcher operates a pitching machine during a recent Weyauwega-Fremont softball team practice. Greg Seubert Photo

One win.

That’s all the stood last year between the Weyauwega-Fremont softball team winning a Central Wisconsin 8 Conference championship and finishing second.

Whether the Indians can win this season’s championship remains to be seen, but coach Todd Breuer believes his team can contend for a title if things fall into place.

It all starts with junior pitchers Kiley Akey and Cadyn Ehrenberg, an effective one-two punch on the mound that helped the Indians get to the sectional round of the WIAA state tournament in 2015 and 2016.

“Both of them have been working hard during the offseason,” Breuer said. “I think Cadyn’s gotten more movement on her pitches since she’s been a freshman. Her velocity was pretty strong and it’s still up there. Kiley’s developed one or two more pitches that she likes. We’ll see how they are this year.”

Akey, Ehrenberg and Hailey Krause are back for a team that won 22 of its 28 games last year and finished a game behind Pacelli in the CWC-8 standings with a 12-2 mark.

The Indians have a few holes to fill, including Akey’s sister, Karissa, now playing softball at Upper Iowa University; Rachel Knorr; and Jordan Rucks.

“It is what it is, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Breuer said. “You have to look at it as an opportunity for these other kids to step up and get a starting job. It’s a challenge and it’s what high school athletics is all about. You’re not always get a kid like Karissa Akey. I truly enjoyed coaching her all four years, but she’s off to the next level. I’ve got a great group of kids here and I’ll do the best I can with what I’ve got. The girls are going to do the best they can.”

Kati Kettleson keeps her eyes on the ball during the Weyauwega-Fremont softball team’s first week of practice. Kettleson and the Indians will open Central Wisconsin 8 play Tuesday, April 4, at home against Pacelli. Greg Seubert Photo

Only 16 players are out for the sport, which means the Indians won’t have a full slate of junior varsity games.

“We’ll play some JV games after the varsity games,” Breuer said. “There are three, four, five girls who are not going to get a lot of playing time. I think a JV program is so important, but we don’t have one, so we do what we can.

“I’m not too surprised, with our numbers down in basketball,” he said. “I hope it’s just cycling right now and we start to come back up. We had some good numbers on our U12 team this summer. I can’t control who comes out or who doesn’t come out.

The Indians played five games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports and are scheduled to travel to New London Tuesday, March 28, for a nonconference matchup with the Bulldogs.

W-F will also travel to Merrill Friday, March 31, before hosting Pacelli Tuesday, April 4.

The Cardinals clinched the CWC-8 championship last season by handing the Indians a 3-2 loss, but W-F eliminated Pacelli from the state tournament with a 4-1 win in a Division 3 regional final.

“April is going to be tough for us,” Breuer said. “We play Pacelli and Shiocton twice. Something tells me I have to pick Shiocton as the favorite right now. Sydney (Wilcox) came in with Kiley and Cadyn and with what Pacelli has in Brook (Nogorski) and it seemed like she had been coming up short all the time. I have a feeling it’s going to be her year. Shiocton lost a lot of kids a year ago and have a lot of kids coming back this year that played a year.”

The schedule also includes a nonconference game late in the season with Laconia, the team that has ended the Indians’ season the last two years with 1-0 sectional semifinal losses. The Spartans went 29-0 last season and won a Division 3 state championship.

“If we want to be the best, we have to beat the best,” Breuer said. “I don’t think it can hurt us. We have a great nonconference schedule. We come back from Florida and have New London and Merrill on the road. Winneconne. Mosinee. Those are all great teams that should make us better.”

Weyauwega-Fremont 2017 Softball Schedule

Varsity
• Monday, March 20 – vs. Indian Hills at Bay Lake, Florida, 5 p.m.

• Tuesday, March 21 – vs. Brentwood (Tennessee) (DH) at Bay Lake, Florida, 10 a.m.

• Wednesday, March 22 – vs. Maryville (Tennessee) (DH) at Bay Lake, Florida, noon.

• Tuesday, March 28 – at New London, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, March 31 – at Merrill, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 4 – vs. Pacelli, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, April 6 – at Amherst, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, April 7 – at Lourdes Academy, Oshkosh, 4:30 p.m.

• Monday, April 10 – vs. Shiocton, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 18 – vs. Manawa, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, April 20 – at Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, April 21 – vs. Winneconne, 4:30 p.m.

• Monday, April 24 – vs. Bonduel, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 25 – at Shiocton, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, April 27 – at Pacelli, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, April 29 – Weyauwega-Fremont Invitational (Kewaskum, Westfield, Whitnall), 9:30 a.m.

• Monday, May 1 – vs. Amherst, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, May 2 – at Iola-Scandinavia, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, May 5 – vs. Iola-Scandinavia, 4:30 p.m.

• Monday, May 8 – at Manawa, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, May 11 – vs. Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 4:30 p.m.

• Monday, May 15 – at Bonduel, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, May 16 – at Laconia, Rosendale, 5 p.m.

• Friday, May 19 – at Mosinee, 5 p.m.

Junior Varsity
• Wednesday, March 22 – vs. Franklin Regional (Pennsylvania) (DH) at Bay Lake, Florida, 8 a.m.

• Friday, March 24 – vs. Elk Lake (Pennsylvania) (DH) at Bay Lake, Florida, 8 a.m.

• Tuesday, March 28 – at New London, 6 p.m.

• Friday, March 31 – at Merrill, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 18 – vs. Manawa, 6:30 p.m.

• Friday, April 21 – vs. Winneconne, 6 p.m.

• Monday, April 24 – vs. Bonduel, 6 p.m.

• Thursday, April 27 – at Pacelli, 6 p.m.

• Monday, May 8 – at Manawa, 6:30 p.m.

• Monday, May 15 – at Bonduel, 6 p.m.

• Friday, May 19 – at Mosinee, 5 p.m.

 

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