Marathon takes the field

Softball players eager to get in reps this season

By Casey Krautkramer

The sound of the softball smacking the glove and the ding of the ball hitting a metal bat are welcome sounds to hear again after last year’s spring sports seasons were canceled because of COVID-19.

Marathon’s varsity softball team took advantage of a sunny afternoon with the temperature in the low 60s on Monday by practicing outside at Marathon City Veteran’s Park.

Paul Fredrickson begins only his second season as the Red Raiders’ head softball coach, after guiding the team to a share of the Marawood South Conference championship and its eighth consecutive regional title two years ago. He believes the players learned a valuable life lesson last spring when COVID-19 ended their softball season before it started.

“We had a veteran team loaded with talent last year and poised to make a run, and it all came to a crashing halt the day before the season began; that was and still is a tough pill to swallow,” Fredrickson said. “One thing I learned, and I hope everyone else has too is you only get so many opportunities and you need to seize them when you get them.”

Marathon and other softball squads in the state would normally begin playing regular season games by the end of this month. This spring, however, the WIAA pushed back the start of the spring sports season a month to give schools who chose not to play fall sports during the COVID-19 pandemic enough time to squeeze in their fall sports seasons between the winter and spring seasons.

Spring sports teams are taking advantage of the WIAA allowing them 15 contact days with their players before this season begins. Local teams like Marathon are scheduling two or three contact days each week to spread them out over the many weeks before their seasons actually start. The Red Raider softball team’s first game this season is at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27, against Phillips at home.

Once the regular season begins, Fredrickson expects Marawood South Conference softball teams to provide tough competition for his squad this season just like they normally do every spring.

“I will put the Marawood Conference up against any conference in the state with teams of our size,” he said. “One of the reasons our team’s had success winning regionals is because of the grind of playing Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, Wausau Newman, Stratford, Edgar and Auburndale twice during the season. All of those teams are well coached and they have talented players. In addition, we play Athens every year and they are a solid team as well. I would put our non-conference schedule against anyone’s and it puts us in a great position to do well in any season.”

Fredrickson isn’t dwelling on the Marathon softball team’s success in previous seasons.

“In all honesty, I look at this year as this year only; I don’t think anyone we play against really cares about what we have done in the past,” he said. “Finally, we have four girls with varsity experience back this season and I am assuming a lot of teams are in the same boat, but I am really not sure what is out there.”

Marathon’s softball team might not bring back too many experienced players but Fredrickson is fortunate his ace pitcher from two seasons ago, senior Lyndsay Pintor, is back in the pitcher’s circle this year.

“Lyndsay will pitch a lot of innings for us and we also have a few other players who will take the hill and give us some innings so I think our team will be fine,” Fredrickson said. “As far as Lyndsay’s hitting, she has flawless form and patience at the plate and I am excited to see her play this year.”

Fredrickson is also fortunate to have a bevy of experienced softball assistant coaches on his staff this season.

“My first assistant coach is Andy Martin who has been around the game for most of his life and he has a lot of expertise about how to play and do things correctly,” Fredrickson said. “Hannah (Schmitt) Franke was a super softball player for Stratford not that long away, and she will help us a lot.

“Bailey Seubert is a former player who has coaches for a few years with us, and she brings a lot of experience to the table. Cameron Sonnentag is helping our pitchers this year. Cameron is also a former player who did a great job coaching our youth players last summer, and she will be a big asset for us.”