Highlanders strike out Bulldogs in regional finals

It’s a good day for some softball.

Standing second in the North Shore Conference in varsity softball, the lady Highlanders took home a big win last night ending the game at 11-1 during their regional final game against Cedarburg.

What started as an even game soon turned around for nonstop steals. With only one Cedarburg batter beaned and another with a dead ball free base, the game was all-out ruthless. Sam Schindler, freshman pitcher and the primary starter for the season, cinched the game to a close with the final hit.

Coach Dave Keel, varsity softball coach, also decided to use this game as a learning experience for the younger athletes, bringing up five people from JV to watch varsity. “We brought up the JV girls to learn the routines for next year so that they could be better athletes and in case of injury, one of them could step in,” Sammii Neman, junior, said. For the varsity roster, click here.

With the combined effort of the infielders catching pop-ups and bunts like nobody’s business, and the fast twitch muscles of the outfielders ready to catch anything in their vicinity, the girls pulled together a nice influx of steals and kept up their politely aggressive teamwork.

Carly Schulz, senior, reflected on the season. “My proudest moment this season was when we came back from a deficit vs. Grafton in the seventh inning to win the game. It was pretty early in the season, it was very cold, and we started the game not as intense as we should have been,” Schulz said. “About halfway through the game, though, we all just decided that we really didn’t want to lose, and we made the win happen. Come-from-behind wins are so much fun to be a part of, and to see my teammates that intense and excited was amazing.” Much of this is described in Emily Hanneman’s previous softball article, here, and in two succeeding articles on the softball team written by Sean Driscoll, “Girls Softball falls short in conference victory” and “Girls Softball expects to get a win against Cedarburg.”

She continued, “I love this team. Seriously. Every single girl on the team is so talented and kind and genuine, so it has been easy for everyone to get along. We didn’t have a problem winning games at the start of the season, but I don’t think we got into a solid groove until the third or fourth game. Then, we were able to play to our full potential. We made the transition from pulling together scrappy wins to winning due to authentic, natural collaboration.”

Tomorrow, WIAA sectional semifinals will occur at Homestead against DSHA, with time to be decided. Coach Keel said, “It’s going to be a tough game. I’m looking forward to a really good game.”