By: Zack Olson
Now, when most people hear that a team is called a “young team” – meaning mostly freshman and sophomores – they would think that team is in for at least a rough first season or two. That is only partially true for the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh’s Softball team. They are a young team, composed of only one senior – Grace Stevens. The rest are five juniors, four sophomores, and seven freshmen. Between last season and this current season, the Titan’s lost many of their upperclassmen to a graduation. But the majority did not come back due to either Covid-19 (causing issues with playing games) or just lockdowns.
The Titans were looking at a rebuilding season for 2022, but evidently that is not the case at all. As of writing this on April 12th, the Titans are on an eight-game winning streak that was built all within a single week. In those eight games, only two were full seven-inning games, the rest were over in five innings, and one was in over in six. They are first in the conference. As I mentioned, during my guest appearance in The Windup Talk Show that aired on the 12th, they have been destroying anything that gets near them.
While Coach Beyer has stated that he has been still figuring out who fits where, be it in the field or batting lineup, he and the team seem to have it nailed down. With junior Hannah Ritter who was 3rd Team All-America last year and was just added to this year’s National Player of the Year watchlist, sitting at the third spot on the line-up, the Titans have been getting set up for runs left and right. This team has been nothing short of a surprise powerhouse this season, and all this after going to the national tournament last season only to lose a large number of veteran players. Now, while the batting has been absolutely insane, the fielding has been just as good and the pitching has been the biggest factor in those five-inning shutouts. The combo of junior Maddie Fink and freshman Sydney Nemitz on the rubber, they have a combined for 105 strikeouts. Nemitz just got WIAC Player of the Week for April 4-10, so both sides of the plate have been nothing but spectacular. One recent rising star is freshman Sophie Wery. In this one-week bonanza she not only hit her first home run in the form of a grand slam, but also two other home runs in critical moments in two other shutouts. Wery also leads the team in RBIs with 28. For a freshman that is just crazy to see, but that is just one player on a team that just cannot seem to be stopped. With 14 games left, so long as the weather behaves, I for one will be trying to go to as many of their games as possible because they have all been a treat to watch, even if they are short (in a good way of course). If you have a chance, I HIGHLY recommend going.
