Leonardo da Vinci once said, "Water is the driving force of all nature."

If this is true, then people can be described in one of two categories. They can either be a fountain or drain. Prescott High School softball has a town full of fountains.

The fountains began flowing with tears, but those tears transformed into sweat over the next 30-plus years.

There is no better example of sweat equity than "Biggs" Frey Memorial Field at the Jackie Riley Softball Complex in Prescott.   

Mike "Biggs" Frey died from an unknown heart condition in the early 1990's while skiing in Colorado. To honor and remember his name, his friends and family raised the money to build the current Cardinal softball field.

Prescott Community Recreation Director Angela Magee's maiden name was "Riley." She and her three sisters all played softball for the Cardinals and when their mom, Jackie, died from a battle with cancer, the family donated $25,000 to the complex about six years ago to honor her. The Prescott Fastpitch Association also secured a grant through the Minnesota Twins' Community Fund.

The infield dirt is fluffy and pristine. The outfield grass, though still brown and trying to roll out of bed after a long winter, has a perfect grade. Just add water. And sweat.

The concession stand comes complete with a considerately covered side-porch to shade the fans from the sun and sprinkles.

The porch was empty during the 2025 home opener for Cardinal softball last week. Fans, needing a healthy dose of the sun’s Vitamin D, were soaking in the rays. It was a lonely day to be a cloud. The only contrasting item on the blue ocean of air above was wafting smoke from the "glizzies" sizzling on the grill. A "glizzy" is a term the high school girls on the field know well. The older fans sitting in chairs and tables provided by the complex and the dads in the press box running the video scoreboard would call them hot dogs.

Speaking of the giant video scoreboard behind the left field fence, it's one of only two video scoreboards on a softball field in the entire state of Wisconsin. The other one is at Goodman Diamond where the Badgers play Big 10 softball.

"Ptacek's IGA and other sponsors came up huge with that scoreboard," said Prescott Activities Director Matt Smith. 

"Prescott is definitely a softball town," said senior first baseman Rory Zuehlsdorf. "We wouldn't have any of this without the people in our town."

"It's the people that make it special," said Head Coach Nick Johnson. "You have to have people willing to do those things. We've been pretty lucky."

The nature of water also applies to luck. Those sweating the most, working the hardest, always seem to be the luckiest. It's tough to find a high school coach that works harder, or spends more hours coaching, than Nick Johnson from October to June. Johnson starred on the hardwood for the Cardinals in the late 1990's. He went to Ripon College and helped the Redhawks to two NCAA tournament appearances.

Johnson just finished his 14th year as the head coach of the Prescott boys' basketball team. No boys' high school basketball coach in the state has won more games since 2011 than Johnson. From 2014 to 2018, Prescott won 59 straight conference games. The Cardinals were state runner-up in 2017. The next year, they were state champs.

When Prescott Head Softball Coach Abbie Morris left after the 2020 Covid-year, Smith brought Johnson into his office.

"Nick, you gotta go for it, man," Smith told Johnson making the sale.

As a player, Johnson was solid in basketball, but where his spark shined the brightest was on the diamond. Johnson led the DIII nation in hitting in 2003, batting a video game-like .545. He was named the Midwest Conference Player-of-the-Year and Pitcher-of-the-Year. He was a two-time All-American and inducted into the Ripon College Hall of Fame in 2013. Johnson played four years of minor league baseball after college.

"He was like a fish to water," said Smith of Johnson coaching girls' fastpitch softball. "It doesn't matter if it's boys or girls, it's easy to play for him with his attitude and approach. He jumped right in and his success speaks for itself."

Johnson, now in his fifth year coaching girls' softball, took his Cardinals to a state runner-up finish during his first year in 2021. Last year, the Cardinals were state champs.

The list of Wisconsin high school coaches winning state championships in two different sports is likely a short one. The list winning a state title in two different sports with both genders has to be miniscule.         

"I love coaching hoops and I love coaching softball," said Johnson. "It's awesome. It really is. I've been really lucky to have the players and coaches we've had. I know every coach says that, but it's the truth."

"He doesn't yell," said Zuehlsdorf. "He’ll come up to us and ask why we did something and then ask what we should've done. He has such high expectations for us and he pushes us every single day."

"I love him," said senior catcher Leah French. "Everyone respects him and he keeps everyone calm. He's just a great coach." 

It was a packed house for the Cardinal softball home opener last Tuesday against Middle Border Conference-foe St. Croix Central. 

For those arriving just before first pitch, parking on the side of the street by the football field was the only option. It was a glorious day. The leaves on the trees were beginning to pop, wiping the crusty winter sleep off their eyes ready to watch some softball from beyond the outfield fence. Walking across the Jackie Riley Softball Complex was a welcomed task. The birds seemed to be excited, too, chirping their own national anthem.

Upon arrival to "Biggs" Frey Memorial Field, the only thing more obvious than the state-of-the-art video scoreboard is how smooth catcher Leah French is behind the plate. French looks as if she was born in catching gear. She sticks out like a lighthouse on the Lake Superior shore.

"Obviously I'm biased," said Johnson, "but I've only seen one high school catcher better than Leah and that girl was the Big 10 freshman of the year at Northwestern. Leah's in that category. She's special. Even if there's nobody on base, she never gets lazy. She blocking every ball like it's the bottom of the seventh and a runner on third."

"I've always played catcher," said French. "That's the only position I've ever played."

If French is a lighthouse behind the plate, she’s been a white-hot star with the bat. The first 10 days of the season were busy for Prescott with six games. French rang in her senior season batting .565 with four homeruns, 10 RBI, and nine runs scored. Her slugging percentage is 1.174. She has yet to strike out.  

"It's crazy how good her swing is," said Zuehlsdorf.

Zuehlsdorf should know, she's hitting .519 with six doubles and a homerun herself.

"We're all mashing right now," said French. "Kelsey (Sterud) is so fast, Rory (Zuehlsdorf) is hitting lasers, and Jeanne (Rohl) just hits everyone in. It just works."

French has a majestic, picturesque swing and she's not too bad with her descriptive words, either. "Mashing" is exactly what the Cardinals have been doing. In just over a week into the season, they've racked up an eye-popping 75 runs in six games. Their lone loss was a 10-9 defeat at Northwestern this past Saturday.

It's a good thing the Cardinals do have a video scoreboard because the regular electronic scoreboards only allow for single digit per inning numbers.

After French sent the neon softball back-spinning over the 220-foot sign in centerfield last Tuesday, she cordially shook her head coach's hand with a beaming smile rounding third and then crossed her arms flapping her hands back and forth like a Cardinal in flight.

"We always do fun little celebrations and I think the Cardinal wave is going to be the thing this year," said Zuehlsdorf.

Fly Cardinals fly.

"Fly Cardinals fly, I love it!" said French.

According to da Vinci, water may be the driving force of nature, but Leah French is the driving force behind Prescott softball right now. It appears opposing pitchers may be the ones sweating this season.