By Jacob Heid

Sports Writer

STEVENS POINT – Everything fell into place for the Pacelli girls’ varsity softball team last season. 

The Cardinals ended the year with a loss in a high-scoring regional final game vs. Newman Catholic. 

Pacelli finished 17-6 (11-1), competing in the Central Wisconsin Conference-South. 

Coach Ann Molski is as experienced as anyone, starting her 19th season as head coach of Pacelli in 2023. Molski has 29 years total in the softball program. 

If you watched the Cardinals last season, the roster is very similar. 

Ten of the 16 players on the team are still underclassmen.  

Pacelli only loses one senior, so the expectations for a team that scored 233 runs remain the same. 

“Our expectations continue to be high. We have a really strong freshman class that is combined with the girls that we have returning,” Molski said. 

The bats were hot for the Cardinals last season, with just two games where Pacelli scored two runs or less. 

They hope to carry that momentum this year with some determined young athletes. 

“We are going to continue to be aggressive with our bats,” Molski explained. “We’ve got some young ladies who are really hungry. They want to hit, and they like to hit.”

The mindset of the team is an interesting one. 

Most teams look at the big picture when they look at team goals. But for Pacelli, that is not the case. 

They start by looking at smaller, individual goals, that lead to the big goal.

Molski has coached with this mindset throughout her time at Pacelli. 

It takes everyone to look at their own goals to achieve the ultimate goal. 

“It’s my personal philosophy of how I like to do things,” Molski said. “As many years as I’ve been here, for 19 years, every year, the number one goal is state. I mean, that’s the ultimate goal. So if we know that already, what are the things you are going to do to get us to our goal?”

These questions have helped Pacelli to four state appearances in six years. 

They look to make that five of the last seven this upcoming season.