By Tori Wittenbrock
Associate Sports Editor
GREEN BAY – As the spring season of athletics quickly approaches, the women’s softball team at UW-Green Bay is ready to take on the 2024 season.
The 2023 season
After finishing up last season with a record of 22-31 overall and 12-10 in conference, the Phoenix have some fresh young talent this season and are prepared to rise in the Horizon League standings.
In the 2024 Horizon League preseason poll, the Phoenix were picked to place fifth out of nine teams with a total of 43 points.
Oakland and Northern Kentucky University were picked for a tie for first place, with Robert Morris University in second place and Youngstown State in fourth place.
“The biggest change is definitely going to be the youth,” said Phoenix women’s softball head coach Sara Kubuske.
“Last year, due to graduation, we lost our number one pitcher and we lost our Player of the Year in Tiffany Giese — she was our lead-off hitter and center fielder. We lost Jadin Justman to the transfer portal, who was our three-hole hitter and second baseman. With that, we brought in twelve new players — ten freshmen and two transfers. I think the adjustment for them to the Division I game is different and hard.”
Kubuske said that she hopes to see the team’s investment in younger players play a big role for them this season.
“Of 23 players, we have 18 that are freshmen and sophomores that were in roles last year that were more minor. They are going to be expected to step up to the plate so to speak. I think any time you have a lot of youth it’s an adjustment,” said Kubuske.
Fresh talent
Although there are a lot of fresh players on the roster for 2024, Kubuske said that she is excited to see how their hard work pays off.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the growth for sure. We have a tough preseason schedule before we get into Horizon League, so I’m looking forward to seeing them adjust weekend to weekend and seeing some of the freshmen step up and take on those big roles,” said Kubuske.
The Phoenix have a couple of clutch players this season that Kubuske said are expected to bring the team forward.
“We have two freshmen pitchers we are going to rely really heavily on right now. We have a couple of kids that are going to be slated to go and make the five and six hole for hitting. I’m also looking forward to them embracing their own individual role and playing together as a team,” said Kubuske.
“I think both our freshman pitchers are going to be big for us — Ava Schill and Martha Miller. I think we are expecting a lot out of Madyson Baker, our freshman first baseman, and Sidney LaMotte who came in as a freshman third baseman but is making the transition over to first base.”
Along with the added talent of the freshmen this season comes some new Phoenix talent that brings a wealth of experience with them to the Horizon League.
“We have a JUCO transfer that only has one year of eligibility left, so she’s a senior, Karissa Laabs, who I’m hoping can give us some stability at second with us losing Jadin,” said Kubuske.
In order to lead this young Phoenix flock, Kubuske said that her coaching staff has implemented a different dynamic on her team than in previous seasons.
“We have named four captains this year and normally we don’t name captains. With a team full of youth, I just felt the need for it. Our captains this year are Sam Saloun (Sr.), Hailey Heckenlaible (Sr.), Loren Porter (Jr.) and Paige Hanson (So.).”
Bringing joy to the game
Even though winning will no doubt be at the forefront of Green Bay’s mind this season, Kubuske said that they have another main priority this season — bringing joy to the game.
“Although we’re young and we’re going to make young mistakes, which is what any roster full of youth is going to do, I hope we are an exciting team to watch. That’s what we really pride ourselves on — embracing the team atmosphere and bringing some joy to the game,” said Kubuske.
“Hopefully we’re fun to watch and we’re energetic and [the fans] see the passion the girls have, understanding that there is going to be failure in our sport, but learning and seeing how they see that and embrace that is what we are really looking forward to.”
Coming up
Kubuske said that the expectations for her team are high this season, but the Phoenix have some big games early on that she is hoping to see the team prove themselves in early on.
“Every game in the Horizon League is huge, just because it is a league full of parody, for the most part, but naturally, we have NKU coming to town and they won the championship last year in the Horizon League. We also have Oakland and they were picked for first [in the Horizon League preseason poll]. I think we are going to be battle-tested early because we open up at Robert Morris, who was picked third, and then we come home and right away we go into NKU. Those two games are really ones that stand out for us early,” said Kubuske.
“Although we lost a lot, we have a lot of good talent coming back. We have a great senior class with Sam Saloun, who’s going to be our four-year starting catcher and four hole hitter and Hailey Heckenlaible who most likely will be our DP. We have Paige Hanson who was Freshman of the Year last year and is returning to us. I think those three with the accolades they’ve had and the success that they’ve had will help kick start us. It’s really just a matter of people getting on base before them so they can score them and people getting on base after them so that they score those guys. It’s a puzzle.”
The Phoenix will take part in the Stetson Invitational in DeLand, Flor., Feb. 23-25, the Lindenwood Invite in St. Louis, Miss. March 1-3, and the Coach B Classic Tournament in Carbondale, Ill. March 9-10.