By Tom Anderson, Head Coach
The Iola-Scandinavia High School girls’ softball team is hoping the weather cooperates soon so they can start their 2025 softball season. The Thunderbird varsity and junior varsity teams will travel south to Westfield on Thursday, March 27, to hopefully get in a couple of games.
Iola-Scandinavia won the CWC-East crown in 2024 with an 11-3 record. The Thunderbirds edged out Amherst and Manawa who each had 10-4 records. The T-Birds 2024 season came to and with a regional championship game loss to Manawa, 3-0, to finish with a 14-10 overall record.
We lost five seniors to graduation: Maci Heschke-1B, Myah Heschke-C, Abby Isermann-RF, Maddie Much-P, and Julia Munoz-P. Munoz earned first-team all-conference honors while Myah Heschke earned honorable mention all-conference. All five seniors earned WFSCA (Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association) academic all-state honors graduating with a 3.5 GPA or above. Much and Munoz were also selected to play in the WFSCA senior all-star games last June.
Meet the team
The 2025 softball team consists of the following players: Seniors – Libby Maus, Kylee Noack and Jordynn Sullivan; Juniors – Brooklyn Berrens, Rayanne Clendenning, Brylee Jueds, Maya Munoz, Ava Printz, Katie Rosenthal, and Natalie Schwirtz; Sophomores – Gwen Fredy, Charlotte Isermann, Maddie Karolus, Jenna Kurki, Sophia Munoz, Emma Printz, Grace Schomberg, and Cayleigh Woyak; Freshmen – Sydney Bestul, Addie Grimm, Braelyn Jueds and Maggie Maus.
We have six juniors who saw a significant amount of playing time for us in 2024 at the varsity level. They include Brooklyn Berrens-SS, Rayanne Clendenning-LF, Brylee Jueds-DP, Maya Munoz-2B, Ava Printz-CF and Katie Rosenthal-3B. Berrens was first-team all-conference, first-team all-district, and third-team all-state last season. Brylee Jueds was honorable mention all-conference.
We have several players who have not seen a lot of varsity playing time in the past and will now be battling for that playing time. They include seniors Libby Maus, Kylee Noack, and Jordynn Sullivan; junior Natalie Schwartz; sophomores Charlotte Isermann, Maddie Karolus, Jenna Kurki, Sophia Munoz, Emma Printz, Cayleigh Woyak; and freshman Braelyn Jueds. Those players not seeing a lot of playing time on the varsity level will play on the junior varsity team. However, a few of these players have the potential to eventually move up to the varsity team at different points of the season.
This year’s lineup
As it is with each season, we have a lot of questions. With the loss of those five graduated starters from last year’s team including our number one starting all-conference pitcher Julia Munoz, we have a few positions to fill. As always with softball, solid pitching and catching is key. At this time, junior pitcher Rayanne Clendenning will be called upon to do the majority of our pitching this season. However, sophomore pitchers Charlotte Isermann and Emma Printz could see their varsity pitching load increase during the season if need be. At catcher, we may move junior Brooklyn Berrens back to catcher, but she is versatile enough to play just about anywhere to help the team. Sophomore Maddie Karolus and freshman Braelyn Jueds could also see time behind the plate.
Last year, our infield was young and inexperienced and it showed at times. Hopefully, with a year under their belt, we can see great improvement this season. Juniors Katie Rosenthal (3B) and Maya Munoz (SS) return as infield starters from last year. Junior Brylee Jueds saw limited time at first base last year. We also have several other players battling for playing time in the infield.
Depending on what happens at our infield positions, we will fill out our outfield positions. At this time, Ava Printz should return to anchor our centerfield spot. It is important that all our players are versatile enough so they can fill out any position that becomes open.
Conference race
As always, this should be an interesting conference race this season. Manawa and Weyauwega-Fremont should be the two strong favorites going into the season. Both the Wolves and the Warhawks return their top pitchers. Olivia Witkowski earned first team all-conference honors for Weyauwega-Fremont and Olivia Zielke earned second-team all-conference honors for Manawa. Both teams also return several really good position players.
Amherst, Bonduel, Shiocton, and Wittenberg-Birnamwood along with us should continue to be solid and should be in the mix for the conference title. The conference as a whole continues to be deep and pretty balanced.
Softball Hotline
For up-to-date information on our games throughout the season, call the I-S Softball Hotline, 715-445-2411, Ext. 5000. Cancellation of games, especially due to weather, will be announced immediately on the hotline.
