Returning starters/contributors?

River Falls Coach Leah Fletcher: We only graduated three players last year, so we have a large portion of our roster returning for this season.

Spring Valley Coach Matt Ducklow: Return eight of our nine starters from last year: Megan Harvey (P), Shalikco Timm (C), Addison Neidermyer (1B), Danika Schmitt (2B), Kate Cipriano (SS), Addison Nelson (3B), Reese Vivoda (OF) and Evah Butts (OF).

EPC Coaches Liz Hauser and Assistant Bryan Bechel: This year we have seven returning starters.

Prescott Coach Nick Johnson: Talli Roth (C/1B), Cadyn Hillebrand (SS), Izzy Thoen (2B), Grace Ptacek (P/OF), Kennedy Holub (OF), Quinn Unser (C/DP).

Ellsworth Coach Tom Diercks: We graduated a lot of experience from last year, including all our pitchers. This year we will be looking for the younger ladies to step up and take over, not to fill their shoes but to create their own legacy. Our returning major contributors are: Maggie Pechacek, Brooke Olson, Aubrey Bauer, Ava Whipple and Brinklee Graetz. Along with Payton Huppert who missed most of the latter part of last year with an injury.

Who are you looking to for team leadership?

Fletcher: We have eight seniors on our roster that all bring different leadership qualities to the team. We will look to Ava Larsen, Audra Adermann and Mo Kivel in those key leadership roles, but I do think all of our seniors bring valuable leadership to the roster.

Ducklow: With so many returning starters, we will have a number of girls who we will look at to lead.

Hauser and Bechel: We are looking to the juniors and seniors to lead the way.

Johnson: Talli and Cadyn are our seniors and have a ton of varsity experience. They will lead us, but we'll also look for big roles from our returning juniors.

Diercks: Captains are not selected yet but our three seniors, Maggie Pechacek, EllaAnn Meier and Pearl Shelley will be counted on to step up and lead, if not as captains, by example.

What do you expect to be your team strengths?

Fletcher: I think we have good team chemistry with a lot of returning players on our roster. It allows for a little more depth in positions we haven't had previously.

Ducklow: I would expect our team strengths to be our depth. We have eight returning starters with 5-6 more girls that will push for starting spots. There are no guarantees who will be our starters with our depth and we could play 14-15 girls in some games this year if we feel that all the girls can help us have some success. We have a very talented freshmen group that has played a lot of softball that will push our returning girls for playing time.

Hauser and Bechel: Our team has strength in batting. We also have several pitchers that we can use to change things up. Plus, our athletes are comfortable playing different positions, so we have the confidence to switch things up as well.

Johnson: Work ethic, team chemistry, fundamentally sound and good depth.

Diercks: I think team balance will be a strong suit. We should be able to field a team with talented players at every position plus have some depth to endure any injuries.

What are your goals for this year’s team?

Fletcher: Win more games than last year. Compete at a high level in conference play.

Ducklow: Our goals are to just get better every day, move up in the conference standings from last year.

Hauser and Bechel: This year we are looking to be a very competitive team and give the girls a great experience in a sport they enjoy.

Johnson: Our schedule is going to challenge us from the first game to the last. Our goals are to improve with every practice and game, play as a team and compete in every inning.

Diercks: We never put a win/loss goal on a team; we look for growth throughout the season and peaking at playoff time. There will be open competition at every position and it may take time to figure out who fits best and where. There is only so much you can learn at practice; we need to see how they perform in a game. We have a decent-sized and very talented freshman class, plus a new player to the school and a very good athlete that has not played for a few years that should push the upper classmen, hopefully getting the best out of everyone.

What will be the difference maker between a strong year and coming up short?

Fletcher: Doing the little things well, executing the 'routine' plays, and capitalizing when we should. Cutting down errors, reducing our ERA, and improving our batting average will be the statistical difference.

Ducklow: The main things will be how our girls gel with one another. We will have some experienced girls and we will have some talented underclassmen to go with them. How they gel will help determine how successful of a season we will have. Our younger girls have experience at the varsity level in either basketball or volleyball, so they will hopefully use those experiences and be ready to contribute at the varsity softball level.

Hauser and Bechel: In order to have a strong year, our players will need to work together and fill the new positions that are available. We'll also be looking for our players to be versatile so we're able to mix up our pitching based on what we need for each unique situation.

Johnson: We lost some big pieces from last year's team and we'll need a lot of newcomers to varsity to step up throughout the season. Returners will also need to take on even larger roles for us to compete at the highest level.

Diercks: I think seeing how players respond to the pressures of their first varsity experience will ultimately determine the success of the season.