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Brehmer takes over in Waupaca

New softball coach hopes to start winning tradition

By Greg Seubert


Wins didn’t exactly add up last year for the Waupaca softball team.

The Comets posted a 3-20 record that included a 3-15 mark and a ninth-place finish in the North Eastern Conference.

First-year coach Eric Brehmer already has a plan in place for how to turn the program around.

“We’re going to improve on last year’s record,” he said during a recent practice in the Waupaca High School gym. “We want to win. We have to get a couple of wins under our belt and we want to be in every game. If you go out and score a couple of runs on us, we’re not giving up.”

Brehmer, who replaced Stephanie Imhoff, has 40 players that will be divided into three teams.

“I was surprised,” he said. “It’s a good number. It’s going to be hard to see where these girls are playing because we have some talented girls out here. Dividing them up and putting them in the correct spots in the field and the batting order is the hard part about being a coach. We have a lot of freshmen that have a lot of talent. That’s what’s going to make it a hard decision where they’re going to be, on varsity or JV.

“(Having three teams) is huge because it’s getting girls innings on the field,” he added. “Last year, we had a few of those girls that didn’t get the playing time they needed to develop. This year, with that third team coming in and getting a couple games under its belt, everyone’s going to play. It makes the game more fun. Hopefully, they get some good innings out of it.”

Returning players include seniors Caroline Ogden, Kat Otter-Giese, Victoria Nowak, Makenzie Simpson, Paige Levine and Jensen Trinrud and junior Markie Ash. The Comets lost only one all-conference player from last year in first-teamer Brenna Oleson.

Pitching candidates include seniors Taylor Giefer and Lexi Schuelke; junior Ashley Dalgren; sophomore Alyssa Johnson; and freshman Maddie Rhodes.

“We’re going to count a lot on Taylor Giefer,” Brehmer said. “With Alyssa Engebretson going down in the volleyball season with a torn ACL, she’s out for the year. Taylor has to hit her spots and throw strikes. You need someone with confidence. Having Markie behind the plate is a positive for our pitchers. She brings it down to their level and relaxes them. I have a great assistant coach in Sarah Babbitts and she was a starting pitcher at UW-Stevens Point. She’s coming in as my pitching coach and she’ll be working a lot with the pitchers.”

Softball success also comes down to pitching, but teams also have to score runs.

“We’re going to be aggressive, that’s for sure,” Brehmer said. “We’re going to be attacking the ball and working a lot of bunts. We’re going to include a little small ball in there, but at the same time, we have to be aggressive on the bases, too. We’ve been working a lot on base running. We’re doing a lot of hitting and making sure the girls are getting out of the box quick off the hit and also working on steals and tag-ups.

“We’re teaching these kids to think fastball, fastball, fastball, fastball,” he said. “When they see that off-speed (pitch) coming, they know when to hold up and swing when they see that fastball coming. We’re getting more mentally ready. We’re talking about good routines, making sure we’re taking signs from the coach and not being intimidated by the pitching.”

It won’t take the Comets long to see a quality opponent, as Waupaca will open the season Thursday, April 6, against defending North Eastern champion Wrightstown.

Wrightstown, Denmark and Luxemburg-Casco, the top three teams in the conference last season, were 45-9 in North Eastern games.

The conference also includes Clintonville, Fox Valley Lutheran, Freedom, Little Chute, Marinette and Oconto Falls.

Only four of the Comets’ 22 games are against nonconference opponents and two of them are scheduled at the end of the regular season.

“We have to put everything out there,” Brehmer said. “We’re going to depend on our pitchers and our infield to be ready in every game. I think these girls know how to put a couple of good wins together.

“We have some tough competition. There’s no doubt this league is tough,” he said. “We just have to compete against these teams. We can’t lay and egg and go out there and do nothing. They’re already talking about getting revenge on teams, but we’re also working on building a foundation, building a program and getting it back to where it should be.”

Besides Babbitts, other assistant coaches include Dennis Abrahamson, Justin Drmolka, John Ryder, Julie Thobaben and Dean Sondrol.

Brehmer played high school baseball in Waupaca and is a longtime outfielder for the Waupaca Lakemen.

“I kind of took over the youth softball program as the president and I knew a lot of these kids coming through,” he said. “We started a U12 traveling team and we’ve been with that the last two years. We’re looking at putting a U17 team together this year to play some Wolf River League games during the summer. I’ve been with most of these freshmen and sophomores the last three or four years. We had some great success beating teams from Kimberly, Kaukauna.”

Brehmer is looking forward to coaching his first high school game.

“They know what to expect out of me as a coach and they already know the drill,” he said. “The older girls are catching on really fast. I couldn’t ask for a group of better girls out here.

“I love coaching, I love the kids and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he added. “If I could quit my day job, I would.”

Waupaca Softball 2017 Schedule

Varsity
• Thursday, April 6 – at Wrightstown, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, April 8 – at Oconto Falls (DH), 11 a.m.

• Tuesday, April 11 – vs. Clintonville, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, April 13 – vs. Fox Valley Lutheran, 4:30 p.m.

• Monday, April 17 – vs. Little Chute, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 18 – vs. Luxemburg-Casco, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 25 – at Freedom, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, April 27 – vs. Wrightstown, 4:30 p.m.

• Monday, May 1 – at Clintonville, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, May 2 – at Fox Valley Lutheran, Appleton, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, May 5 – vs. Marinette (DH), 4 p.m.

• Tuesday, May 9 – at Little Chute, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, May 11 – at Luxemburg-Casco, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, May 13 – at Winneconne (DH), 10:30 a.m.

• Tuesday, May 16 – at Denmark (DH), 4 p.m.

• Thursday, May 18 – vs. Freedom, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, May 19 – at Ripon, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, May 20 – at New London, 11 a.m.

Junior Varsity
• Thursday, April 6 – at Wrightstown, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, April 8 – at Oconto Falls (DH), 11 a.m.

• Thursday, April 13 – vs. Fox Valley Lutheran, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, April 18 – vs. Luxemburg-Casco, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, April 22 – at Ashwaubenon Invitational, 9 a.m.

• Tuesday, April 25 – at Freedom, 4:30 p.m.

• Thursday, April 27 – vs. Wrightstown, 4:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, May 2 – at Fox Valley Lutheran, Appleton, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, May 5 – vs. Marinette (DH), 4 p.m.

• Thursday, May 11 – at Luxemburg-Casco, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, May 13 – at Winneconne (DH), 10:30 a.m.

• Tuesday, May 16 – at Denmark (DH), 4 p.m.

• Thursday, May 18 – vs. Freedom, 4:30 p.m.

• Friday, May 19 – at Ripon, 4:30 p.m.

• Saturday, May 20 – at New London, 11 a.m.

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