Pair of aces has Freedom high school softball team on a roll, plus other takeaways

FREEDOM − A pair of blossoming aces has the Freedom softball team in position to contend for a repeat state championship this season.

The defending WIAA Division 2 champs are off to a great start again and are 11-1 overall. The team's lone loss came in the first game of a doubleheader split with Luxemburg-Casco on April 14.

The Irish have won nine consecutive games since that loss and haven't allowed a run in six straight games. The catalyst for the success is a great defense and the 1-2 pitching combo of Peyton VandeLoo and Kailey Stordeur.

The sophomores have filled the gap nicely of graduating senior Naleyah Bork, who was one of the top hurlers in the state last season.

VandeLoo is 7-1 with an ERA of 1.07 with 76 strikeouts. Stordeur is 4-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 25 strikeouts.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the duo is that Freedom head coach Tim Dietzen thinks they can get better − a lot better.

"They’re not close to being a finished product and I think they both would tell you that themselves," Dietzen said. "They’re taking steps in the right direction to get to where I expect them to be. I don’t think that they’re there yet. They’re young. And they have a lot of learning about the art of pitching.

"When we're more healthy, we can start five infielders that are all seniors. That's a lot of experience and I basically tell (VandeLoo and Stordeur) that they don't have to strike girls out. Give them some groundballs because you have a great infield behind you. Just use them."

Dietzen also feels the team hasn't realized its full potential. The Irish have been battling injury problems − something they didn't encounter last season − and the team's bats have yet to reach peak form.

Seniors Rylie Murphy and Lauren Scheibe are having solid seasons, with Murphy batting .415 with 11 stolen bases and 10 RBIs and Scheibe hitting .375 with 10 RBIs. Freedom has a good core of younger players doing well at the plate such as sophomores Carrington Klug (.533 average), Kaia McVay (.452) and Marlee Smith (.432), and freshmen Kourtney Moeller (.500) and Addie Murphy (.471).

"I think the hitting will take off," Dietzen said. "Nobody’s really hitting the ball yet. We haven’t had a HR yet, and we're looking forward to the weather turning so we can start hitting."

Dietzen added getting his girls back healthy should provide the boost needed for a lengthy playoff run.

"We've had so many injuries this year. Seems like we have five or six girls in the training room," he said. "Everybody has been trying to play through them, but it's affecting their play. We've had broken toes, pulled muscles. Sadie (Jarmolowicz) has an ACL tear. We have sore elbows, shoulders, stuff we didn’t have all (last) year. Seems like we’re snake bit."

Dietzen also expects his seniors to step up in a leadership capacity when the time comes to make a championship run.

"Last year we had three seniors that were so driven and hungry," he said. "They wanted to win so bad, so as coaches we didn't have to yell too much at them during practice because when it wasn't going good, they did. That's a good thing to have. If your own peers are calling you out for not bringing it or being zoned in, I'd rather have that than have me do that."

Polar Bears seeking new football coach

Hortonville has a vacancy for its football head coaching position.

Polar Bears activities director Sam Engelland announced the opening on Twitter. The Polar Bears were 10-17 in three years under previous head coach Ben Stumpf.

Kimberly, Winneconne athletes highlight area track honor roll

Winneconne senior Joey Perry and a number of Kimberly boys athletes highlight the area track and field honor roll this week.

Perry is the leader in several events including the 200-meter dash, the 400, 300 hurdles and high jump. Kimberly had athletes atop three events and two relay events, including the 100 (Jack Statz), 200 (Jack Schreiber), pole vault (Alex Reichenberger), and the 400 and 800 relays.

The honor roll is curated from the Mile Split website (wi.milesplit.com) and include the state's top performer in each event, along with area athletes who are listed in the top 25, regardless of division.

GIRLS100 (Brooklyn Sandvig, Chippewa Falls, :11.75): 6, Sierra Hoffman, Little Chute, :12.44; 20, Karissa Birch, Shiocton, :12.65.200 (Brooklyn Sandvig, Chippewa Falls, :24.23): 14, Joey Perry, Winneconne, :25.79.400 (Brooklyn Sandvig, Chippewa Falls, :55.86): 7, Joey Perry, Winneconne, :57.54; 14, Alexa Kinas, Kaukauna, :59.74.800 (Charlize Trinitie-McKenzie, Cedarburg, 2:14.59): 7, Claire Helmila, Freedom, 2:19.39; 8, Sophie Yetter, Winneconne, 2:19.44; 11, Jillian Krueger, Kimberly, 2:20.86; 25, Rachel Dietrich, Neenah, 2:22.61.1,600 (Sara Mlodik, D.C. Everest, 4:54.52): 11, Lilie Fouts, Xavier, 5:07.94; 13, Sophie Yetter, Winneconne, 5:09.43; 23, Sydney Fauske, Kaukauna, 5:15.30.3,200 (Ella Anschutz, Muskego, 10:32.18): 21, Lilie Fouts, Xavier, 11:17.75; 23, Sophie Yetter, Winneconne, 11:23.33.100 hurdles (Anna Szepieniec, DeForest, :14.56): 13, Miranda Winkler, Kimberly, :15.68; 14, Amber Gerrits, Kaukauna, :15.70.300 hurdles (Anna Szepieniec, DeForest, :43.82): 3, Joey Perry, Winneconne, :45.72; 19, Lydia Merrick, Freedom, :47.38; 20, Kendal Stingle, Shiocton, :47.43.400 relay (Muskego, :49.17): None.800 relay (Muskego, 1:43.84): 14, Kaukauna, 1:48.00; 20, Shiocton, 1:48.90; 22, Neenah, 1:49.02; 23, Hortonville, 1:49.07; 24, Kimberly, 1:49.09.1,600 relay (Verona, 4:04.83): 7, Neenah, 4:09.88; 9, Freedom, 4:10.81; 14, New London, 4:12.77; 15, Kimberly, 4:13.08; 23, Xavier, 4:15.05.3,200 relay (West De Pere, 9:32.74): 4, Freedom, 9:54.33; 8, Neenah, 10:02.24; 9, Little Chute, 10:03.14; 18, Kimberly, 10:07.62; 25, Kaukauna, 10:10.78.Shot put (Meghan Schultz, New Berlin West, 44-2.25): 16, Emma Nilson, Fox Valley Lutheran, 37-6.5; 20, Mikayla Koenig, Appleton East, 37-3.75; 21, Olivia Santos, Manawa, 37-1.75.Discus (Ayianna Johnson, Jefferson, 162-4): 5, Kristin Behnke, Kimberly, 125-1; 9, Tori McGowan, Hortonville, 124-0; 11, Emma Nilson, Fox Valley Lutheran, 123-7; 16, Nolie Anderson, St. Mary Catholic, 120-8; 17, Olivia Santos, Manawa, 119-6; 20, Katie Jenson, Kaukauna, 119-0.Long jump (Brooklyn Sandvig, Chippewa Falls, 18-2.5): None.Triple jump (Anna Szepieniec, DeForest, 39-0): 7, Alexa Gordee, Fox Valley Lutheran, 36-4.5; 10, Alexa Kinas, Kaukauna, 35-10.5; 22, Megan Schuman, Brillion, 35-4.5.High jump (Kallie Volk, Three Lakes, 5-5): 2 (tie), Lydia Merrick, Freedom and Joey Perry, Winneconne, 5-4; 11, Danielle Bruecker, Wrightstown, 5-2.Pole vault (Eliza Aitken, West De Pere, 12-6): 4, Campbell Roberts, Kimberly, 11-9; 10, Cailey Peterson, Wrightstown, 11-0; 18, Nora Waddell, Appleton North, 10-6.BOYS100 (Simon Alexander, Denmark, :10.64): 22, Jack Statz, Kimberly, :11.08.200 (Simon Alexander, Denmark, :22.04): 5, Jack Schreiber, Kimberly, :22.23; 13, Alejandro Pagan Vega, Kimberly, :22.39; 16, Daniel VanDyke, Kaukauna, :22.42; 19, Grant Dean, Neenah, :22.5; 25, Jack Statz, Kimberly, :22.57. 400 (Andrew Regnier, Waunakee, :48.23): 20, Judah Hammen, Kaukauna, :51.17. 800 (Andrew Regnier, Waunakee, 1:49.35): 23, Andrew Milhans, Kaukauna, 1:59.37. 1,600 (Owen Bosley, Homestead, 4:11.13): 3, Riley Huss, Little Chute, 4:19.55.3,200 (Owen Bosley, Homestead, 8:54.19): None.110 hurdles (Finn Patenaude, Middleton, :14.61): 4, Cade Stingle, Shiocton, :14.81; 6, Liam Richards, Appleton West, :14.99; 10, Ethan Criter, Kimberly, :15.09; 12, Ben Olvey, Xavier, :15.14; 13, Ayden Hart, Winneconne, :15.24; 15, Connor Schiessl, Kimberly, :15.32; 18, Cavan Dobberstein, Fox Valley Lutheran, :15.35.300 hurdles (Andrew Regnier, Waunakee, :38.76): 2, Ayden Hart, Winneconne, :39.58; 6, Cade Stingle, Shiocton, :40.05; 7, Ethan Criter, Kimberly, :40.14; 11, Liam Richards, Appleton West, :40.44.400 relay (Sun Prairie East, :43.25): 5, Kimberly, :43.54; 13, Fox Valley Lutheran, :43.86.800 relay (Kimberly, 1:27.65): 13, Neenah, 1:31.57.1,600 relay (Shorewood, 3:27.12): 2, Winneconne, 3:27.22; 3, Kimberly, 3:28.62; 6, Neenah, 3:28.88; 7, Freedom, 3:29.91; 23, Kaukauna, 3:32.49. 3,200 relay (Oconomowoc, 8:19.03): 4, Winneconne, 8:22.49; 6, Kaukauna, 8:23.51; 12, Neenah, 8:27.05.Shot put (Ben Smith, Hortonville, 67-7.25): 2, Ben Youngworth, Kimberly, 60-6.5; 3, Matthew Rusch, Fond du Lac, 59-10.25; 4, Sam McGivern, Kimberly, 58-3; 15, Blake Dietzen, Neenah, 52-3.25; 16, Hunter Sprangers, Kimberly, 51-11.75; 18, Blaike Loker, Kimberly, 51-6.5.Discus (Ben Smith, Hortonville, 209-11): 3, Ben Youngworth, Kimberly, 175-8; 4, Matthew Rusch, Fond du Lac, 169-1; 12, Brady Immel, Winneconne, 160-7; 15, Blake Dietzen, Neenah, 159-7; 16, Hunter Sprangers, Kimberly, 159-5; 18, Logan Peters, Wrightstown, 159-0; 21, Bryce Hale, Kimberly, 156-2.Long jump (Keany Parks, Kenosha Bradford, 23-2.25): 10, Kyle Wisniewski, New London, 21-8; 13, Liam Richards, Appleton West, 21-6; 24, Cavan Dobberstein, Fox Valley Lutheran, 21-2.5. Triple jump (JV Myles, Germantown, 46-3): 16, Ian Oberstadt, New London, 43-2.High jump (Emmanuel Johnson, Racine Park, 6-10.25): 11 (tie), Brady Hoffer, Kaukauna, Nathan Gorman, Manawa and Mason Tienor, Kaukauna, 6-2. Pole vault (Sam Crenshaw, Bangor, 15-3): 5 (tie), Alex Reichenberger, Kimberly, 14-0; 13, Eathan Lund, Hortonville, 13-6; 21, Isiah Schuh, Weyauwega-Fremont, 13-3.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Freedom Irish high school softball team rolls with young pitching aces