DE PERE – As one legendary softball coach at St. Norbert College (SNC) recently retired, a new generation moved in.
After JoAnn Krueger saw her 27 years as Green Knights coach end after the season, the school recently announced the hiring of Maddie Fink.
Krueger finished her almost three decades on the diamond at SNC with a 445-498-2 overall record.
Fink was an assistant coach for the Green Knights this past season.
A Denmark native, Krueger helped the Green Knights win 20 games in a season nine different times, including the 2010 campaign when they finished 33-8 overall.
SNC won five Midwest Conference (MWC) titles and advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament five times since 2007.
“It’s been an incredible run,” Krueger said. “I always tell people that God gave me this crazy passion for softball. I had a great career playing for ASA (Amateur Softball Association – now USA Baseball) in the summer, and I was on some great teams in the Midwest. That carried over to a long run as St. Norbert coach.”
Krueger was a member of five ASA Women’s Major State Championship teams and was named to the ASA All-State teams four times, where she received honors as Most Valuable Player in 1979 and 1986, and Most Valuable Pitcher in 1978 and 1981.
Krueger pitched 14 career no-hitters.
Krueger said she got into coaching because she had a lot of fun playing the game herself.
“Then I got involved coaching at Denmark High School,” she said. “From there, I started coaching the summer league in Denmark where my daughters were starting to play.”
Krueger was the pitching coach at Denmark for 15 years, culminating with the Vikings’ WIAA Division 2 state title in 1997.
Krueger also coached a year of softball at SNC under Connie Tilley as an assistant in 1994-95.
“That year, I had some of my girls from Denmark playing on the team, and they wanted me to help at SNC,” she said.
Beginning her head coaching career at St. Norbert in the late 1990s, Krueger said one of her most memorable seasons came during the 2010 campaign when the Green Knights went unbeaten in MWC play and finished third in the eight-team Great Lakes Regional in the national tournament.
“That was a memorable year for many reasons, including the fact my daughter played on that team,” she said. “The four years she was here, we were very successful, and she played with such great teammates.”
What will Krueger do in her retirement?
“Everybody keeps asking me that,” she laughed. “I think for the first couple of days, I’m probably going to do nothing. I’m so used to running in about 10 or 12 different directions every day. I have a lot of people making plans for me, but I’m sure I’ll stay quite busy.”
Krueger said her retirement will “definitely” see her spending time with her grandchildren.
“God blessed me with a wonderful husband, four wonderful kids and now with four amazing and beautiful grandchildren,” she said. “I was starting to miss some of their activities because now they’re involved with all kinds of sports activities. I don’t want to miss that – they’re growing up way too fast.”
Krueger said she thinks COVID-19 potentially took away another MWC championship for the Green Knights.
“The year before COVID (in 2019), we lost to Lake Forest by one run (in the championship game),” she said. “We had almost all of those girls coming back the next season, so we had very high hopes. They worked extremely hard in the off-season, and I could just tell the (2020) season was going to be a special year – I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
Krueger said you will “for sure” see her at the St. Norbert diamond and other sporting events in the future.
“Like I tell (SNC Director of Athletics) Cam Fuller, I’ll always be a Green Knight,” she said.
St. Norbert wasted no time in finding Krueger’s replacement with the hiring of Fink.
In addition to her assistant coaching duties, Fink also worked as an area coordinator in the college’s Residential Education and Housing office.
“Maddie is a rising star in the coaching profession and has a clear vision for success,” Fuller said in a statement released by the college.
“That vision seamlessly aligns with our four department pillars – academic success, athletic competitiveness, community building and student-athlete experience. Her successful playing and coaching experience make her the right leader at the right time for our softball program.”
Krueger also had nothing but praise for Fink.
“With being a full-time coach, Maddie is ready to take the program to the next level,” she said. “She will be able to put the time in she’s going to need to get the right kids there – even though I think we have the right kids now, adding a few more each year to put us at the next level.”
While playing at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Fink, a 2018 Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) graduate, fashioned a 53-14 career record with 342 strikeouts in 446 1/3 innings pitched and a 1.73 earned run average.
Fink was a first-team All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) selection in 2021 and 2023 and was named WIAC Pitcher of the Year in 2021 after going 21-5 with a 1.89 earned run average and leading the Titans to an NCAA Division III World Series appearance.
Fink, who was a three-sport (softball, basketball, swimming) athlete at SPASH, was on the 2016 WIAA Division 1 state title softball team.
“I wasn’t a starter during that time, but everyone jokes that I was the pitcher at practice every day who was throwing to the starters,” she laughed. “Even though I wasn’t the one throwing in games, that was my role at the time.”
During her junior year, Fink tore the ACL in her knee and missed half of the basketball season and all of the softball season.
When Fink arrived on the St. Nobert campus in 2023, she said she purposely didn’t reach out to Krueger regarding coaching.
“I didn’t reach out because I wanted to figure out what it was like being an adult and what it would be like being away from softball for a year,” she said. “It’s easy to love something when you’re in it, but I wanted to make sure this was truly something I wanted to do with my life, so I took a year off.”
Like one might think, Fink said she missed being away from the game.
“The minute that opportunity popped up, I think I went and talked to JoAnn the next day,” she said. “I got wind that her assistants were retiring, and she wanted to start the process of transitioning the program as she entered her last year. We were on the same page about things and went from there.”
Now, as head coach, Fink said she has to pinch herself to make sure it’s real.
“If you had asked me when I graduated from college what my dream job was, I probably would have said an athletic director or a head collegiate coach,” she said. “The fact I was able to get one of my dream jobs at 25 years old is exciting and awesome.”
Following a St. Norbert coaching legend, Fink said she doesn’t feel any added pressure.
“I had an outstanding year coaching under JoAnn and learned a ton, but I’m excited to lead the program on my own – any new coach would love that opportunity,” she said. “Sure, maybe there are some things I’ll tweak and enhance, but having a year under my belt as an assistant coach, I think the transition will go smoothly. I’ll be growing alongside with the players.”
Fink said she and Krueger are “extremely good friends.”
“JoAnn has even offered to be a resource for me in the future,” she said. “I think it’s a great time to tread my own path and see what happens. I want to create a winning program that creates a really good experience for these student athletes. I guess that’s the pressure I’m putting on myself – making sure I create a space for them to be successful and for them to have a successful college career.”
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