Weir, Mann lead list of five Pirates honored in league vote

ALL-EASTERN CLOVERBELT SOFTBALL

Tatum Weir’s outstanding athletic career at Gilman High School ends with one more All-Eastern Cloverbelt Conference honor as she and battery mate Danielle Mann were recently named to firstteam spots on this year’s All-ECC softball team.

Weir and Mann, the team’s junior catcher, were among five Pirates to earn some kind of All-ECC honor for their efforts this spring. Sophomore Abby Chaplinski, who got honorable mention last year, moves up to the 2023 second team. Sophomores Kayleigh James and Kenlyn Kroeplin earned honorable mention.

The awards follow Gilman’s 12-7 season under head coach Brian Phelps that included an 8-4 mark in the Eastern Cloverbelt. The Pirates took steps forward after going 5-7 in the conference and 7-12 overall a year ago and Weir was the only senior on the still-young 2023 roster. Gilman finished third in league play behind 11-1 co-champions Columbus Catholic and Neillsville.

As a fifth seed, Gilman fell 5-3 in its WIAA Division 5 tournament opener at fourth-seeded Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran in a regional semifinal May 23.

Weir is a repeat selection to the All-ECC first team and had a big year both at the plate and in the pitching circle. The UW-Platteville basketball recruit closed her prep career with five first-team All-ECC awards between softball, basketball and volleyball.

Weir was Gilman’s starting pitcher in 11 of 12 conference games, going 7-4 with 62 strikeouts and just 23 walks allowed in 61.2 innings. She struck out a season-high 11 batters in an 11-1 win at Colby-Abbotsford to start conference play on April 14. Weir threw a mini three-inning perfect game with three strikeouts in a 25-0 win over Spencer on April 25 and struck out six, walked four and allowed just five hits and one earned run two days later in an 11-1, five-inning win over Loyal-Greenwood. She had nine strikeouts in a 14-3 win over Owen-Withee on May 4.

Hitting out of the third spot in the batting order, Weir had several strong offensive showings. She was three for four with two doubles, including one that drove in three runs and two runs scored in the May 4 win over Owen-Withee. She added a two-run single for five runs batted in. She was two for two with a double in a 19-5 win at Owen-Withee the next day.

Weir was the winning pitcher and went two for four in a 21-9 win at Loyal-Greenwood on May 11. In non-conference play, Weir picked up two pitching wins in one day during the Gilman-Thorp Slamfest on May 13, going all seven innings and allowing just five hits to go with five strikeouts in a 9-3 win over Glenwood City. She was three for three with a tworun double and pitched four shutout innings in a 10-0 win over Cornell-Lake Holcombe. Weir was two for four in the playoff loss at Immanuel Lutheran and pitched a solid game with six strikeouts and two walks allowed, while allowing five runs and eight hits.

Weir represented Gilman in Tuesday’s Wisconsin Fastpitch Coaches Association Senior All-Star Games in Wisconsin Dells.

Mann was a big addition to Gilman’s lineup after two honorable mention seasons in the Marawood North with Rib Lake. She gave Gilman strong defense at catcher and was a productive leadoff hitter for the Pirates.

Her stats were aided by two big conference games against Loyal-Greenwood. In the April 27 home win, she went three for three with three runs driven in, three runs scored and a walk. In the May 11 road win, Mann was two for three with two doubles, drew three walks, scored three times and drove in four runs.

In an 18-8 game-two loss to Neillsville on May 2, Mann homered and went two for four with a double and three RBIs. She had two hits and two RBIs in the win at Colby-Abbotsford and was two for three in the rematch, a 10-4 home win on May 15.

Weir and Mann and Loyal-Greenwood junior Mya Rueth are the only first-team selections not from either of the co-champions. Columbus Catholic put four players on the first team, led by senior pitcher and Eastern Cloverbelt Conference Player of the Year Hailey Zimmerman. Senior Cierra Dieringer, junior Sam Casperson and sophomore Akosua Yeboah were the other first-team picks from Columbus. Neillsville has three players on this year’s first team in seniors Delaney Rochester, Amelia Trunkel and Ella King. Zimmerman, Dieringer and Rochester are repeat picks from 2022.

Chaplinski moved up to the second team with improved defensive play at third base in her second season and a strong season at the plate, hitting out of the fourth or fifth spots in Gilman’s order during the course of the spring.

Chaplinski got off to a hot start at the plate with a two-for-three, three-RBI non-conference game in a 13-1 win over Prairie Farm on April 13 and kept that going the next night by going three for four with two doubles in the conference opener at Colby. She went three for four with a triple the day after that in an 8-6 non-conference loss to Stanley-Boyd at Poynette.

Other highlights for Chaplinski during the year included a bases-clearing blast that broke open the win at Loyal-Greenwood May 11 in the sixth inning, a three-for-three game in the home win over Owen-Withee May 4 with two doubles and three RBIs and a three-for-four outing with a triple and an RBI in the 18-8 loss to Neillsville. She was two for four in the WIAA game with Immanuel as well.

With James in leftfield, Kroeplin in centerfield and Eva Kopacz, whose offensive numbers were arguably good enough to be an All-ECC award winner, in rightfield, Gilman’s outfield appears set for the next couple of years, if these girls stay at their positions. Kopacz also served as Gilman’s number-two pitcher.

Part of the reason Mann had RBI opportunities at the top of the lineup was Kroeplin’s ability to get on base from the number-nine spot in the order.

Kroeplin had nine multi-hit games for the Pirates this spring, including a threefor- four outing at Loyal-Greenwood. In league play, she had two hits in both wins over Colby-Abbotsford, in the win at Owen-Withee and in the game-two loss to Neillsville. She was two for four with an RBI double in the team’s season-opening 8-4 win at Pepin-Alma.

James also had a knack for getting on base out of the number-two spot in Gilman’s order.

Her highlights included going three for four with a triple and three RBIs in the 10-4 win over Colby-Abbotsford, going three for four with three runs scored at Owen-Withee and driving in four runs during the April 25 doubleheader with Spencer, including a double in game two. She was a combined four for eight April 15 in the Poynette games against Manawa and Stanley-Boyd and was two for four in the tournament loss to Immanuel Lutheran.

Danielle Mann First Team

Abby Chaplinski Second Team

Kenlyn Kroeplin Hon. Mention

Kayleigh James Hon. Mention