By Jacob Heid

Sports Editor

PORTAGE COUNTY – The Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association (WFSCA) announced all-state and all-district awards on Jun. 16, along with Players of the Year in each division. 

Pacelli junior Hannah Trzinski won D5 Player of the Year and was selected to the first-team all-state in divisions four and five and the all-district first-team in district two.

The state-champion Cardinals have three other players awarded, along with a handful of other local softball athletes.

SPASH had three athletes between the D1 all-state and all-district lists. Almond-Bancroft had two players, while senior Hailey Peskie represented Amherst on the divisions two and three all-state teams.

Trzinski left everything out on the field during her junior season, solidifying herself as a unanimous team captain and vocal leader.

“Being a vocal player can always come naturally to me. Having a positive attitude and showing my true passion and love for softball has come easy for me this season,” Trzinski said.

Being tied for second on the team in hits (41), she led Pacelli in home runs (2) and triples (3), driving in 52 runs in 29 games.

Her 52 RBIs were good for third in the state.

“I was focused on playing consistently all season long for my team and being the best teammate I could be. When I found out I was awarded with all-state and Division 5 player of the year, I was so shocked and happy,” Trzinski stated about finding out about her awards.

Sophomores Peyton Mancl and Kaylin Yenter joined their teammate as all-state second-team and honorable mention selections.

Mancl had 124 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched, allowing a .197 batting average against her batters faced. 

Leading her team in batting average, Yenter finished the season ranked sixth in the state with 49 hits. 

All three were first-team all-district in district two as well. 

Freshman Kaydyn Nelson finished second in the state in RBIs (59), getting an all-district honorable mention selection in her first season.

For SPASH, sophomores Mikah Keller and Kaitlyn Klismith got first-team all-state honors in D1.

Both were reliable hitters that went one and two in the lineup for most of the season. 

Keller and Klismith were also first-team all-district recipients, along with junior Maren Sauvageau, who landed on the honorable mention team. 

It is Klismith’s second time in as many seasons getting both first-team all-state honors.

Amherst softball made it to sectionals again behind a strong arm of Peskie throughout the season. 

It is the senior’s third time making an all-state team, her second as a second-team honoree. 

Peskie also got selected as a first-team all-district player in district two.

A young Almond-Bancroft team that lost more than a handful of seniors from a season ago finished 17-5 (10-2), making it into sectional semifinal play.

Senior Raegen Omernik, who finished the year with 35 RBIs, got her second first-team all-district selection to wrap up her high school career. 

Omernik was a first-team all-state player as a sophomore in 2021, amassing her other all-district team selection at that time. 

Freshman Mya Dernbach tied for 18th in the state with 43 hits this season, landing an all-district honorable mention selection to conclude her first varsity season. 

She hit .506 and drove in 27 runs for the Eagles. 

Plenty of the talented young players in the area will see their names on the all-state team list again in the upcoming seasons.