By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
After finishing 2-16 (1-12 Southern Lakes Conference) last season, the Lake Geneva Badger softball team is under new management.
In her first head coaching assignment, Emily Stipek takes over the program from Glen York, who remains with the program as a varsity assistant.
Stipek played four years of high school softball for perennial power Kenosha Bradford, started every game, and was named first team all-conference twice and second team all-conference twice. She then enjoyed a successful career as a center fielder at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where she won the Warhawk Award for all-around play.
Stipek, 25, graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2011 as a physical education major with minors in health education, adaptive physical education and coaching.
Before coming to Badger Stipek worked for two years in the Juda School District and was the varsity softball assistant coach at Brodhead High School. Stipek was the head coach for outfielders and also coached junior varsity volleyball, seventh- and eighth-grade volleyball and girls basketball for fifth through eighth grades. She taught elementary, middle and high school physical education and middle and high school health. At Badger she teaches health, Trends 1 and physical education and is an assistant volleyball coach.
“Confidence and trust are the keys to success,” Stipek said about her coaching philosophy. She also believes in being smart, picky and aggressive.
Stipek said she is blessed to be the new head coach at Badger for two reasons. First, she said she has assembled a great coaching staff. York returns to provide years of coaching experience and knowledge of the Southern Lakes Conference.
“Glen is a great asset to the program,” Stipek said. “The girls, my coaching staff, and the conference all have a lot of respect for him.”
Stipek said York fosters great relationships with the girls and knows the conference inside and out.
“He has been nothing but a great contribution to the program,” she said. “I respect him very much and am honored to have him on my staff.”
York remains a champion for the program even as an assistant.
“I’m excited about the opportunity the new coaches are bringing to the program,” he said.
“Having a small coaching staff has always been a weakness,” he said. “The new staff will greatly enhance the success at all levels.”
York said the leadership transition has been smooth.
“We finally have added the needed coaches to better compete,” he said. “I’m glad to be a part of this great program.”
York said he was happy to be able to facilitate a transition to a young, experienced and talented coaching staff that will lead the program into the future.
Stipek brought along Duane Collins from Brodhead to serve as another varsity assistant. Collins is also an assistant coach for the 18U Badger Blitz softball team and has a daughter playing for UW-Green Bay.
“His knowledge of the game, especially with hitting, will really improve this program,” Stipek said.
The program also added its first-ever pitching and catching coach in Brynn Wessberg. Wessberg is in her first year teaching English as a Second Language at Badger and pitched at UW-Oshkosh. She will be assisting at all levels in the program.
“She is a huge addition to our program,” Stipek said. “She is going to be a huge part of our success now and in the future.”
Stipek said it is rare to have such an experienced and specialized coaching staff.
“I am very honored and fortunate to have the coaching staff I am going to be working with at Badger,” she said.
The second reason Stipek said she feels blessed is the arrival of two incoming freshmen who will have big impacts on the varsity program. Jordan Stritesky will be the starting pitcher and has been impressive so far.
“They will contribute knowledge of the game and intensity,” Stipek said.
Morgan Moore will be the starting catcher and could be the third Badger catcher in a row to start four years if she reaches her potential. Jamie Mikrut was a four-year starter who graduated last year, and she followed Rachelle Gremo.
Stipek said senior pitcher Molly Schumacher has done an unbelievable job accepting her role as the No. 2 pitcher and has been like an experienced mother to Stritesky, helping her out whenever she can. Stipek said Schumacher will still be an important asset to the team. Her experience will help guide Stritesky through tough practices and in learning how to bounce back from a tough inning or a bad outing.
“Molly is a great leader and role model for all the girls and has been working hard to keep a spot in the starting lineup,” Stipek said.
Stipek said she has some concerns about starting a pair of freshmen at pitcher and catcher, the two most important positions on the field, but Stritesky and Moore have proven their strengths over and over so far. They just need to see how they react to intense game play. Stipek has no doubt they should be competing at this level.
“We just have to make sure they stay confident and make sure the rest of the team who has experience helps them out throughout the season,” Stipek said. “They have shown me they can handle tough criticism and play at a high level and they have shown immense knowledge of the game.”
Question marks dot the rest of the line-up card as Stipek said pitcher and catcher are the only set positions so far. Other seniors who return this year are Caitlyn Nugent and Ashley Sanew. Stipek is counting on them leading the way.
Juniors Frankie Bobula, Ashley Nielsen and Lily Quinn and sophomores Kiley Johnson and Megan Batz are key returners from last year as well.
“We are going to be able to go with a lot of different lineups,” Stipek said.
“They will get experience as all around athletes,” she said. “We talk about earning their jerseys and their spots and they are really working hard for playing time.”
Stipek said the team’s willingness so far to learn, grow and bond as a team has been their strength. She said they call themselves a family and have already had several team-bonding activities. Stipek said they still need to work on communication and hitting technique.
“They need to be smart at the plate, choose the right pitches and communicate with each other,” she said.
Stipek said her goal for the season is for everyone to improve and meet their potential as athletes and to earn more respect for Badger softball.
“This is a new year and a new team,” she said.
“I am so excited to see where this season will go,” she said. “I can’t wait to hear the words ‘Play ball!’”
Badger starts its season Tuesday at Elkhorn.
