Spring Valley softball has successfully righted the ship this season, and the senior class’s commitment is a huge reason why. When the Class of 2026 came in as freshmen, there were nine, now just five remain (Megan Harvey, Addison Neidermyer, Addison Nelson, Evah Butts and Danika Schmitt). At 8-7 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play with one league game remaining, Spring Valley has successfully changed the narrative.

“I think we’ve won more games this year than they did in their first three years combined,” Coach Matt Ducklow said. “I just praise them for sticking with us. I think they said there were nine freshmen when they started, we ended with five… They’re starting to see some of the positives.”

Spring Valley won 12 games overall including both conference and non-conference games in the previous three years. Safe to say, times have changed. With a talented freshman class coming in, the seniors played their part in quickly preparing them for varsity action.

During Monday night’s senior night, Spring Valley showed the resilience they have built up with an 8-6 win.

“I give Glenwood City a lot of credit. They’ve struggled in our league this year, and for some reason they gave us a tough game. They’re scrappy, they do a lot of good things,” Ducklow said. “They’re pretty young; they’re going to be a lot better coming next year.”

Despite Glenwood City having one conference win, they put every ounce of pressure possible on the Cardinals by putting the ball in play. It was a game that Ducklow said could be key ahead of the postseason as they learn to navigate close games.

“Winning close games. We’ve actually struggled in close games a little bit. Down in Durand we were up 12-5 and lost 13-12. We’ve had some leads in some games that we’ve lost,” Ducklow said. “A win like tonight, hopefully the girls learn a little bit from it.”

The Cardinals had nine hits, led by freshman Kemri Schlegel with three and junior Kate Cipriano with two.

Baseball

The baseball team did not have the same success over the season’s final home game, losing 13-3 to Glenwood City as the Cardinals have now dropped eight of the last nine games. The Cardinals have some pitching depth compared to their peers, but compounding errors have proved costly.

“We’ve got to basically play errorless baseball. I think we had seven errors in the first five innings. Every time you kick a ball around where you can maybe get out of an inning, it just adds onto the pitch count,” Coach Brandon Walczak said. “Usually leads to extra runs, which it kind of did for us.”

When those errors have stacked, Walczak said the team starts to play tighter, which leads to even more mistakes. He wants to see the veterans step up first and foremost, leading by example for the underclassmen to follow.

At the plate, Spring Valley has not scored more than five runs in the month of May. There have been baserunners out there, but coming through in the big moments has not come easy.

“A lot of it is an approach. Paying attention to what the pitcher has been doing throughout the game. At one point, bases loaded, he had kind of been pitching us away the majority of the game, and some of the guys are going up there with the approach of trying to pull it down the line.”

Walczak said the Cardinals need to take a breath, understand the moment, and shorten up to put the ball in play when needed.