With five starters back from last year’s WIAA Division 4
State Champion, the Pacelli
High School softball team
will look to build around its veteran core this season.

The Cardinals lost five senior starters from a year ago,
when they advanced to state for the third time in four years and finished 24-5
to win the WIAA Division 4 State Title.

After a year in Division 4, Pacelli is back in Division 3
this season, and will spend the early part of this season determining who will move
into full-time roles from its deep roster.

“We lost five starters and we lost leaders, so now we’re
waiting to see who’s stepping up to take the baton,” said Pacelli softball head
coach Ann Molski. “I want to see who’s going to come in and take care of
business, and who’s going to get it done.”

The Cardinals were ranked among the Top Two in the state in Division
4 throughout last season, as they entered the playoffs as the top-ranked team
and went on to beat second-ranked Oakfield 1-0 in the State Championship Game
to win their second State Title in four years.

Pacelli lost five starters from last year’s senior class,
which was also part of the Cardinals’ 2012 Division 3 State Championship team
and 2013 Division 3 State Semifinalist, including First Team All-Central
Wisconsin Conference-8 (CWC-8) and two-time All-State shortstop/center fielder
Sami Kay Shafranski, First Team All-CWC-8 third baseman Hannah Raflik, Second
Team All-CWC-8 left fielder Ashleigh Fuchs, Honorable Mention All-CWC-8 second
baseman Sarah Mitch and Honorable Mention All-CWC-8 pitcher Kaylee Krostag.

“We lost our No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 hitter, and so we’re trying
to find that combination of ‘what’s going to work?’” said Molski. “I’ve got
fielders, I’ve got the defense, but I want to see who’s going to come in and
hit the ball.”

Among the returnees to the lineup this season are senior
third baseman Sydney Alery, junior Christonna Shafranski and senior Nicole
Schroeder, who served as the team’s designated player last year.

“Syd’s a four-year starter and our No. 3 hitter,” said
Molski. “She might end up No. 4 or she might end up No. 2; finding our order’s
going to be interesting.

“Chrissy played first base for us last year, we threw her
out into center field this year and she can do both,” she said. “Nicole’s been
playing right field, and she’s got speed and a nice arm out there.”

Also back in the starting lineup are junior Taylor Raflik
and Honorable Mention All-CWC-8 sophomore catcher Paige Hintz, while junior
Brook Nagorski has taken over as the team’s main pitcher this season.

“We moved Taylor Raflik to left field from right field, and
she’s been doing a nice job with that,” said Molski. “Paige has all the tools
behind that plate to do really well, and she’s starting to really come into her
own.

“And Brook has waited for two years,” she said. “She’s
traveled on varsity, she’s lettered for two years, always been the one to come
in every now and then, and now it’s her circle.”

Joining the lineup this spring are a trio of junior
infielders in first baseman Kaitlin Rogers, second baseman Eva Barton and shortstop
Emma Kulick.

“Kaitlin played a lot of first base on JV, came up and is
doing a nice job,” said Molski. “Eva moves well, good defense, and she has a
bunt slap that she’s really working on perfecting.

“And Emma’s really smooth in the field, she gets to balls
and it’s just nice to watch her play,” she said.

Also competing for playing time are senior Taylor Heuring,
sophomores Cailin Firkus, Katelyn Somers, Shannon Leary and Claire Rogers and
freshmen Karah Kluck, Alliey Krusa and Teesa Shafranski, Sami Kay and
Christonna’s younger sister.

“There are a whole bunch of girls that are working really
hard to push whoever’s (in the lineup), to say, ‘it’s my turn,’” said Molski. “We’ve
got some freshmen and sophomores that want to play, and they’re gamers.

“We’re going to give everyone different shots and check it
out,” she said.

Pacelli opened this season March 29 with a 2-0 win at
Neillsville, as Nagorski struck out six in a five-hit shutout, while Hintz was
2-for-3 with a double and a RBI and Alery added a RBI to lead the offense.

After the Cardinals’ scheduled home opener against Marathon was postponed due to weather Friday, April 1,
they moved their game against Weyauwega-Fremont from Woyak Park
in Plover to Zenoff
Park Tuesday, April 5,
and battled temperatures in the mid-to-low 30s, with a mixture of snow
flurries, light rain and pelting ice.

Weyauwega (4-0), which beat Pacelli 8-2 and 3-1 last season
on its way to winning the CWC-8 Title, struck first Tuesday evening, as it led
off the bottom of the second inning with a single, stole second base and
followed with a pair of bunt singles to take a 1-0 lead.

It stayed that way until the top of the fifth inning, when
Weyauwega had a lead off double to left field and scored on an error on the
next play to go up 2-0.

Pacelli, which left runners stranded on the corners in the
bottom of the first inning and on second and third in the bottom of the fourth
inning, started a rally with one out in the bottom of the fifth when Firkus hit
a pinch-hit double to right-center field off Weyauwega First Team All-CWC-8
sophomore pitcher Kiley Akey.

One out later, Hintz stepped to the plate and hit a fly ball
to center field, which barely cleared the fence for a two-run home run to tie
the game at 2-2.

“We told the girls, ‘just to watch, you’re going to get a
pitch,’” said Molski. “(Akey) had to pitch in this too, it was cold, she was
cold, and Cailin came in and got a nice double.

“And then Paige came in, and she got her pitch,” she said.

Following a walk and a strikeout to end the inning, the game
was postponed due to the playing conditions and is set to resume in the top of
the sixth inning with the score tied at 2-2 prior to the start of the
Cardinals’ scheduled game at Weyauwega April 28.

“Brook pitched a nice game,” said Molski. “They’re one of
the teams that I feel is going to contend for the conference, and it was nice
to be out here and to play against an opponent that we know is going to be very
formidable.”

Last season Weyauwega went 14-0 to claim the CWC-8 Title
over Pacelli (10-4), Iola-Scandinavia (10-4) and Shiocton (10-4), and Molski
expects it will be another tight battle in the conference this season.

“Our conference is tough,” said Molski. “Weyauwega made it
to the (Division 3) Sectional Final last year, lost to Laconia, the State
Champions, and we made it through and won state.

“Our conference prepared us for last year,” she said. “We
know we’re going to face good hitting, we’re going to face good pitching and we’re
going to face well-coached teams, and we need to be on top of our game.”

Due to enrollment, Pacelli moved up this season from
Division 4 to Division 3, where its Sectional will include ranked teams from a
year ago in Laconia,
Spencer, Marathon and Stratford, as well as the rest of the teams
from the CWC-8.

And after reaching state in three of the last four years,
the Cardinals’ goals remain the same this season.

“The girls always say, ‘we want to win conference, we want
to go to state,’” said Molski. “That’s a given.

“But my goal is for each one of them to grow as a
ballplayer,” she said. “Just growing every game, every practice and getting
better.

“Working on their hitting, working on bunting, just becoming
better all-around ballplayers,” she said. “And then being a team, and being
supportive.”