By Becky Walz,
With nearly its entire team back on the diamond, the South Winn softball team is looking to do big things in the Upper Iowa Conference this season.
Leading the squad will be five seniors and seven juniors for second-year head coach Ken Buchheit. Joining him in the dugout as assistants are Calsey Lensing, Taylor Buchheit, Sierra Breitsprecher and Mary Frana.
With nearly its entire team back on the diamond, the South Winn softball team is looking to do big things in the Upper Iowa Conference this season.
Leading the squad will be five seniors and seven juniors for second-year head coach Ken Buchheit. Joining him in the dugout as assistants are Calsey Lensing, Taylor Buchheit, Sierra Breitsprecher and Mary Frana.
Finding themselves
Building a squad around its nine returning letter winners, South Winn had an up-and-down season, going 9-7 to finish fifth in the UIC.
As the season concluded, the Warriors were tested by Postville in the Class 2A Region 6 opening round, winning 3-2 in eight innings. The Red and White went on to face North Linn in the quarterfinal, falling 10-0 in six innings. SW ended the year 12-17 overall.
As a team, the Warriors hit .308 at the plate, with a .411 on-base percentage and a .385 slugging average. Overall, they scored 151 runs on 203 hits. That included 28 doubles, seven triples, three home runs and 129 RBI. The pitching staff had a 4.08 ERA, the opponents batting .260 against them.
Foundation
The Warriors have 14 players on the roster this summer, led by a host of letter winners.
At the top of the list is senior pitcher Eryn Luzum. Last season, Luzum threw in 15 games and had a 4.07 ERA with 88 strikeouts recorded. Hitting, she had a .333 average and .492 on-base percentage with 15 hits, including three triples.
Returning to her infield position, Ruthie Frana led the Warriors in RBI with 21 with five doubles and 22 hits for a batting average of .364 and an on-base percentage of .457.
Alison Heying is back with a .424 batting average, a .534 on-base percentage and .610 slugging mark. As a sophomore she had 25 hits, including four triples and three doubles to go with 19 RBI to earn her all-UIC honorable mention selection. Heying also led the Warriors in stolen bases with 24.
Taking the pitcher’s circle 19 times last season, Morgan Kleve is back for her junior campaign with a 3.90 ERA after striking out 65 a year ago.
Also returning with a letter are Liz Engelhardt, Morgan Kriener, Ella Willey, Hailey Riehle, Izzy Kipp, Lindsey Thuente, Janessa Zweibahmer, Avery Humpal and Isabella Opperman.
Those to replace
The Warriors of 2022 will have some key figures to replace this season. At the top of the list is centerfielder Mary Frana who made 23 starts last year and earned herself a first team all-UIC nod. They are also without all-conference honorable mention Emma Houdek and Breanna Dvorak.
Anyone’s game
It will be another tough year in the conference, with several teams battling it out on the diamond for the league title. Among the usual suspects for top picks are Turkey Valley and North Fayette Valley. Coach Buchheit can see the Warriors in the top three vying for the top spot with a good outlook on the season.
“We have girls with a lot of great attitudes looking to try new things and work hard. I think we have a tough schedule with a lot of games including a tough non-conference and weekend tournament schedule to help prepare us for the conference teams that will return a lot of their star pitchers,” concluded Coach Buchheit.
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