For the 5th time in the past 9 years, a Mishicot High School Softball team will be advancing to the WIAA State Tournament in Madison.
The Indians of veteran Coach Dawn Shimek won a state title two years ago when, during a covid year, the event was played at UW-Green Bay.
Now, her 2023 squad can pack their bags for the University of Wisconsin’s Goodman Diamond after a 6-nothing victory over favored and previously undefeated Peshtigo in the Sectional finals played at Gillett.
During an interview with Seehafer News the day after the Sectional Final, Shimek explains why the feeling of qualifying this team for state is surreal.
“At the beginning of the season we had some obstacles we had to overcome,” she explained. “We were told that we were in Division 3, the smallest school, and seeing our sectional, the quality of teams we had to face in Chilton, New Holstein, Peshtigo, we knew it was going to be a tough road.”
But, Shimek said the girls rallied and worked hard day in and day out.
“Our team this year has been the energy bug,” she said. “You could see the energy on the field [Thursday] night and it was contagious. In the second inning, Katelyn Callahan had a great hit and that just fueled our success.”
Pitcher Cora Stodola earned the mound win and drew praise from her coach.
“She’s a three sport athlete. She’s a phenomenal softball player and young lady,” the coach said. “We were worried about if we were going to be able to hit and get runs off of their pitcher, and here she came out and dominated.”
Indians first baseman Katelyn Callahan has been a driving force on and off the field.
“As a part of our struggles this past summer, her dad passed away unexpectedly,” Shimek revealed. “He was a huge fan and support system for our program, so in many ways this season we are fighting hard for him too.”
Shimek added that Mishicot scheduled games with larger and established programs and she acknowledged “that was huge” in helping them make a post-season run.
“Three of our losses came on one day in the Ashwaubenon tournament in April,” she noted. “We lost to Ashwaubenon 3-2, but the positive of having that loss to Ashwaubenon was we faced their pitcher who pitches in the mid-60s. We knew that facing Peshtigo, she was a fast pitcher, but we knew because of our success against Ashwaubenon we came in with the mindset that we can do this.”
The Indians, with a mark of 21-and-5, earned the #2 seed and will play at noon this Friday (June 9th) against #3 Mayville.
The first game in the D-3 bracket will have #1 Broadhead taking on #4 Somerset at 10:00 a.m.
The winners will meet in the Championship game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
