With the 2009 season officially wrapped up it's time to look ahead. This has been a great recruiting year for us and I think we have gone out and found some talented individuals who fit in well with the philosophy of our program.
In addressing our needs, we looked looked for players who:
1. Are passionate about softball,
2. Want to get better and possess the work ethic to match that,
3. Have the desire to compete at a high level,
4. Have the talent to help us reach our goal of becoming national champions.
We clearly needed to address our catching situation having graduated Robin Lake who started almost every game behind the plate as a senior. We feel fortunate to have three catchers coming into the program which includes one all-state honoree and two all-conference catchers in Bonnie Kowalcyzk (Menomonee Falls, WI), Leah Hettwer (St. Francis, MN) and Jennifer Marinaro (Nashwauk, MN). Bonnie is a multidimensional player with a strong arm to control baserunners and will give us left-handed power presence at the plate. With her experience playing for the Wisconsin Bandits and success of her high school team, we feel she will provide and immediate impact offensively and defensively.
With the addition of Shannen Schmidt (DePere, WI) and Darcy Roach (East Grand Forks, MN) we have not only added two players who give us additional depth on the mound, we add two pitchers to a staff who can help our program continually grow. We feel they both will be able to contribute as freshmen but there is also plenty of room for them to develop in the years to come.
The last area where we felt a void is centerfield after graduating three year starter Chelsey Weiss. We have a number of options with our returning outfielders which may include moving Theresa Tauer back to the outfield, thus opening up the third base position. Because of this, Rachel Perushek (Mesabi Range CC, Virginia, MN) can potentially fill either one of these needs. Her athleticism gives her versatility. Only time will tell where she fits in best. Her competitiveness and will to win can have a very contagious effect on her teammates. Another addition who will give us some options will be Brittni Johnson (Northland CC, Thief River Falls, MN). Brittni spent most of her time at Northland in the pitching circle but has the ability to play in the outfield.
In addition to these players we also welcome Allison Spiering (Mounds View, MN) and Jannon Stewart-Garcia (Minneapolis, MN). Spiering can play a multiple of positions including outfield, second base and catcher and Stewart-Garcia will bring us some speed offensively and will compete at third base or second base.
With this talented group of individuals along with the return of 7 starters it looks like an exciting year to come.
