Wisconsin sweeps Border Battle; Miller’s WFSCA team wins two

ALL-STAR SOFTBALL

Appearances in two all-star events made for a memorable week-plus for Medford’s All-State softball standout Martha Miller.

First, Miller helped her Division 2/3 Green team win both of its games in the June 13 Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association (WFSCA) Senior All-Star Games in Wisconsin Dells. Then, on June 21, Miller held one of the 12 prestigious spots on the Team Wisconsin squad that swept Team Minnesota in the 2023 Border Battle doubleheader played at the University of Minnesota’s Jane Sage Cowles Stadium.

Team Wisconsin featured the ultimate collection of senior talent from within the state’s borders, including four 2023 Division 1 WFSCA first-team All-State selections and two Division 2/3 firstteam All-State picks. Ten of the 12 players on the team are committed to NCAA Division I programs.

The team was coached by Tom and DJ Drohner of Stevens Point and Cindy Suess of Horicon. Miller said the invitation to play came about a week before she was set to play in the WFSCA games and it was an opportunity she certainly couldn’t pass up.

“It was really exciting to have the opportunity to play with these girls,” Miller said. “Just from watching what’s going on around Wisconsin, I knew a lot of the names and by playing club ball I’ve competed against some of them. I was definitely glad to be playing alongside of them.”

The team first got together in Stevens Point the day before the doubleheader, worked out and got to know each other a bit before bussing to Minneapolis the next morning for the 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. games.

Miller played leftfield for the team in its 9-1 and 4-0 wins over Minnesota, which obviously is much different than her normal pitching and infield positions. But she said everything went smoothly there defensively. At the plate, her big moment came in game two when she broke a 0-0 tie with an RBI single. She was still on base when Superior’s All-State catcher Emma Raye belted a three-run home run to create the final margin in the 4-0 win.

From Team Wisconsin, Raye and Oak Creek pitcher Riley Grudzielanek are Northwestern recruits. Sisters Hilary Blomberg and Addison Blomberg of Verona are headed to Wisconsin and South Dakota State to play college softball. Kaukauna’s All-State pitcher Kally Meredith is committed to Florida International University and its All-State third baseman Paige Miller is going to be a Wisconsin Badger.

Miller and Madyson Baker of Chippewa Falls are off to UW-Green Bay in the fall. Division 3 Player of the Year McKenna Young of Brodhead is a University of South Dakota recruit and Green Bay Preble shortstop Ashley Wolfe is an Oregon State commit. Madyson Bauer of Chippewa Falls (North Iowa Area Community College) and Rachael Madsen of Kenosha Bradford (North Central College) rounded out Wisconsin’s roster.

Team Minnesota was led by a pair of recruits of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Jessa Snippes of Rosemount, the state’s 2023 Player of the Year, and Brooklyn Jones of Anoka.

After the Border Battle, both teams attended the Minnesota Twins baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Target Field where they were introduced on the field and on the video board before the game. Team Wisconsin returned to Stevens Point Thursday and, the next day, Miller was right back in Plover starting a weekend tournament with her Central Wisconsin Edge 18U club team, one of four tournaments Miller said are planned for the summer before its time to head to Green Bay.

“It was really cool to be recognized and chosen to play,” Miller said of the Border Battle experience.

In the Dells June 12-13 for the WFSCA All-Star Games, Miller was part of a Division 2/3 team made up primarily of players from southern Wisconsin.

“For some of the girls and the places they were from, I didn’t even know where those places were,” Miller said. “It went really good. We had a practice and the awards banquet on the first day and those went very well. The next day we played the games.”

Also on that first day, Miller said a Wisconsin Ducks adventure helped the players get to know each other.

Coached by Matt Doering and Jim Birschbach of Lakeside Lutheran, the team got a brilliant pitching performance from the aforementioned Young of Brodhead, the Division 3 state champions, in a 2-0 win over Blue team. Miller pitched the majority of game two, a 13-2 blowout win over the White squad.

“It went pretty good,” Miller said. “It was fun because the catcher from my club team (Haylie Schmidt of Black River Falls) was the same catcher for the All-Star game. So that went well as far as her calling my pitches and working together. It was a little bit rainy that day and it was rough for just awhile with the ball being wet, but we got through it. It was good to work with Haylie.”

Miller’s big hit of the day came in game two, which fortunately bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double since she tripped rounding first base.

The team also included Avery Chilson and Belle Topel of Lake Miller, Jazzy Davis of La Crosse Logan, Aralese Gappa of Whitnall, Taetum Hoesly of Brodhead, Ava Hoppert of Greendale Martin Luther, Keghan Pye of Wilmot, Jenna Shadoski of Lakeside Lutheran and Lindsey Thoennes of Racine Lutheran.

“It was really fun. I’m glad I did it,” Miller said. “I think they said there were more than 200 girls there from a lot of different places from around the state. It’s really cool to have all of these girls together at the same spot.”

Martha Miller waves while being introduced to the crowd and shown on the videoboard before the Boston Red Sox/Minnesota Twins game at Target Field.

Martha Miller and Medford head softball coach Virgil Berndt attended Wisconsin’s All-Star Banquet June 12 at Wisconsin Dells.

Martha Miller wears the Medford softball uniform one last time while pitching in the Division 2/3 Green team’s 13-2 win over the White team in the June 13 WFSCA All-Star Games.SUBMITTED PHOTOS