ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH SOFTBALL - Three first-teamers lead long list of All-North selections from Rib Lake
ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH SOFTBALL
The conference-champion Athens Blue Jays deservingly led the way with eight award winners, including four first-team picks, but with six of them being seniors, the rest of the Marawood North is hoping to be able to pounce on an opportunity in 2025.
The Rib Lake Redmen will be one of those teams as they could return six of their eight players who were honored in the voting for the 2024 All-Marawood North softball teams. After a second-place finish in North play, the Redmen’s impact was demonstrated with three players landing on the 10-player All-North first team, two more than last year, and three more getting second-team spots.
Senior Josie Scheithauer is a unanimous first-team pick for the second straight spring and she’s joined on the team by sophomore teammates Avery Niemi and Tessa Weik.
Senior Leah Chmielowiec, junior Kiana Dallmann and sophomore Tahlia Scheithauer are Rib Lake’s second-team selections and juniors Addison Gumz and Lily Butler received honorable mention from the conference’s coaches.
The awards follow a season where the Redmen went 5-3 in league play and 1211-1 overall. Those numbers are down slightly from last year’s marks of 6-2 and 15-5. But, as head coach Craig Scheithauer noted at season’s end, Rib Lake’s schedule was much tougher this spring, particularly on the non-conference side of things.
Josie Scheithauer is one of eight 2024 unanimous first-team choices after serving as Rib Lake’s top pitcher and played three different infield positions. Hitting fifth in Rib Lake’s batting order, Scheithauer hit .433 in eight conference games (13 for 30) with four doubles, two triples, her first career home run and 12 runs batted in. She scored 11 runs, drew four walks and stole four bases in league play. Scheithauer hit .434 overall with 27 runs batted in.
Some of her offensive highlights included a three-for-four day with two doubles and three runs scored in a 14-2 win at Phillips on April 30 and a twofor three outing with a homer, four RBIs and two runs scored in a 15-1 win over Chequamegon on May 9. She was three for three with a triple, two runs driven in and two more scored in a 15-0 home win over Prentice on April 15. She had fourhit games in non-conference wins over Spencer and Shiocton in the season-opening Danny Mac Classic at the Hodag Dome in Rhinelander.
In the circle, she was 2-2 in league play with a 2.45 earned run average, striking out 19 batters in 20 innings pitched. Overall, she was 6-6 with a 4.58 earned run average while leading the team in starts with 16 starts. She struck out 58 batters in 62.2 innings. Scheithauer was the winning pitcher in Rib Lake’s WIAA Division 5 regional semifinal victory at Prairie Farm, notching six strikeouts in 5.2 innings. She had a season-high nine strikeouts in a tough 6-5 home loss to Phillips on May 6, held the Loggers to three hits in a 14-2 win at Phillips April 30 and allowed just two earned run in five innings pitched against the potent Athens lineup in an 8-6 home loss on April 9.
Scheithauer capped her prep softball career by playing in the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association’s senior all-stars games Tuesday in Wisconsin Dells.
Weik also was a unanimous pick to the All-North first team, emerging as one of the conference’s most powerful offensive threats. She belted seven home runs and had a team-high 36 RBIs while hitting .432 overall in her first varsity season. She was second on the team with 33 runs scored. Weik missed last year while recovering from knee surgery. She hit six of those homers in league play, including three in one game in the win at Phillips and had 16 RBIs while batting .562 (18 for 32). She only struck out twice in 32 official at-bats in conference play.
Weik primarily played first base and got some time in the pitching circle.
Twice, Weik drove in six runs in a game. The first was the three-homer game in Phillips, where she went three for five. The second time was during the playoff win at Prairie Farm, where she was two for four with two doubles. Weik had at least three hits in four of eight conference games, including a four-for-five showing with two doubles and a homer in a 16-15 win over Chequamegon May 9 and a threefor- four outing with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs in a 19-0 win at Prentice April 16. She had five RBIs, including a homer in a 15-5 non-conference win over Goodman-Pembine at Rhinelander March 23.
Niemi, Rib Lake’s catcher and number-three hitter in the order, also got hits seemingly at will at times during the season. She hit .476 overall (40 for 84) with nine doubles and 27 RBIs, including a .552 clip in conference play (16 for 29), where she drove in 12. She only struck out once in league play, while walking seven times and hit five doubles.
Moving up from second-team status a year ago, Niemi’s impact this spring included a five-for-five game with two doubles in the 16-15 win over Chequamegon, a three-for-five game in an 11-10, eight-inning loss at Athens April 12 and three-hit games in 15-0 and 19-0 wins over Prentice April 15-16. Niemi was three for four with a double in one of the team’s biggest nonconference wins of the season, a 9-4 victory at Columbus Catholic on April 22. She was three for four with a double and four RBIs in the playoff win at Prairie Farm.
She did all that while catching all but a handful of innings during the season.
The Rib Lake trio joins Athens seniors Sophia and Sydney Coker and Jazelle Hartwig and the Blue Jay’s junior pitcher Danica Diethelm on the first team. Phillips senior Alie Williams, Chequamegon junior Regan Hoffman and Chequamegon freshman Jalen Brunell also made the team.
Sophia Coker was named the North’s Player of the Year and first-year head coach Matt Ellenbecker was named the Coach of the Year. Athens went 8-0 in the conference, 16-7 overall and won a WIAA Division 5 regional championship, beating Rib Lake 7-4 in the final on May 23.
Chmielowiec and Tahlia Scheithauer made the All-North second team for the second straight year. Chmielowiec also got honorable mention as a sophomore. Chmielowiec filled the number-six spot in the batting order and had another strong year defensively in centerfield for the Redmen. She hit .329 overall (28 for 85) and .276 in conference play. She drove in 24 runs in 24 games and three of her hits were doubles. She had 10 multi-hit games over the course of the season, including a three-for-five game with three RBIs in the slugfest with Chequamegon. She had two hits against quality opponents like Marathon, Columbus Catholic, Athens, Auburndale, Adams-Friendship and Medford.
Tahlia Scheithauer was the team’s number- two pitcher for much of the season and spent the rest of her time at shortstop. The number-two hitter in the order, she hit .282 overall (22 for 78), which included a .308 average in conference play (eight for 26). She had the walk-off RBI double that beat Chequamegon in the 16-15 game and went two for three in game two of that doubleheader. Scheithauer was among Rib Lake’s leaders with 28 runs scored.
In the circle, she was 3-0 with a 2.04 earned run average. In 24 innings, she allowed just seven earned runs while striking out 20 hitters. She struck out four in three innings in the 15-0 win over Prentice. She threw all seven innings in the win at Columbus, allowing one earned run and just four hits.
Dallmann’s first All-North award was earned with a solid season offensively, plus she was a versatile defender, playing both infield and outfield positions and she turned in some solid pitching outings too, especially late in the year. That included two scoreless innings in the regional final. She got the win in both ends of the Chequamegon doubleheader, throwing the last 2.1 innings of the 16-15 game and all five innings in the 15-1 win.
Dallmann hit .409 overall (27 for 66) out of the seventh spot in the order and drove in 17 runs. She hit a robust .565 in conference play (13 for 23), drew 10 walks and stole four bases while driving in nine runs and scoring nine. She had three-hit games against Athens and Chequamegon in league play and another in an 18-9 nonconference win at Loyal-Greenwood on May 16.
As Rib Lake’s leadoff hitter, Gumz scored a team-high 34 runs while posting a batting average of .366 (30 for 82). She hit .385 in Marawood North games and stole nine of her team-high 18 bases in league play. Defensively, she primarily played second or third base and was the team’s backup catcher. Gumz won an All-North award for the second straight year. She was a second-team pick last spring.
She had three-hit games against conference foes Athens and Chequamegon and did it non-conference games against St. Agnes, Minn. and Loyal-Greenwood as well. She bunted for three hits in a threefor- five post-season game at Prairie Farm and scored four times in that win. She scored three runs or more six times.
Butler earned her first All-North award. She emerged as a solid third baseman, who also spent time in leftfield. She took over the eighth spot in the order by midseason and finished with a .256 overall batting average that included a .250 average in conference play. She had a double among her 11 hits and drove in 14 runs overall.
Butler was three for five and scored three times in the 16-15 win over Chequamegon and was two for four with a big two-run single in the non-conference win at Columbus Catholic.
Tessa Weik First Team
Leah Chmielowiec Second Team
Tahlia Scheithauer Second Team
Avery Niemi First Team
Kiana Dallmann Second Team
Addison Gumz Hon. Mention
Lily Butler Hon. Mention
