After a run of three consecutive Region 4 titles and trips to the NJCAA Division II Softball Championships, the Madison College softball team came up just short last season. But as the 2023 season begins, the optimism is high within the WolfPack for an opportunity to return to the top. Madison College, which saw a four-game Early Bird Tournament canceled in late February, travels to Rochester Community & Technical College in Minnesota for a season-opening doubleheader on Thursday.

The Pack welcomes back a group of nine returning players from a 31-16 campaign in 2022, including second team all-conference and all-region catcher and infielder Makenna Gish. The native of West Bend, Wisconsin, hit .412 with 35 hits, 29 runs batted in, 25 runs scored, and four home runs in her first year of collegiate softball. She also was a standout defensively, committing just two errors all season and caught eight runners stealing from behind the plate.

Joining Gish in the field are infielders Ellie Rademacher and Briar Armatoski, outfielders Sophie Rivera and Claire Smedema, and utility players Chariell Butler and Sammy Nelson. Rademacher, a Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, native, started 38 games as a freshman, and batted .295. 

"Overall we have a very solid group of returning players that will bring good defense and good offense on a daily basis. I'm excited to see them grow as leaders and make this team their own," exclaimed head coach Leo Kalinowski, who begins his 13th season with the WolfPack. 

Kalinowski, a Madison College Hall of Famer and the all-time wins leader for a coach in program history, also believes that second year pitchers Kianna Patterson, Addison Warner, and Smedema will help bolster a reliable and productive corps of arms. They will be joined by freshmen pitchers Ella Wyskochil, Hannah Aldrich, and Brooke Cimler. 

Warner, Smedema, and Patterson combined for 100 innings in the circle in their first year, and struck out a total of 92 batters with six complete games. Also weighing on the group's shoulders will be filling the void of All-American Casey Fountain, who is one playing for across town for the Wisconsin Badgers.

"Pitching will be the key for team success. We return several pitchers who logged good innings last season, and those players will need to be the workhorses this season."

In addition to the three incoming pitchers, the rest of the new additions making up the 2023 roster will be needed to fill many holes left to graduation. So far, Aldrich, as well as catcher/infielder Mackenna Schultz, infielder Jenna Redders, and outfielder Karis Paulson have stood out with their impressive play.

"This is an extremely athletic group with lots of versatility to help fill many positions in a variety of ways. There's a very high ceiling with how far this group can go if they put in the work."

Following the twin bill at RCTC to begin the season, the WolfPack will make their annual spring trip to Florida for an 11-game slate in the Sunshine State from March 9-14. The 2023 schedule then picks up with a pair of home doubleheaders against former conference rivals. The home opener at Robert D. Goodman Softball Field is Saturday, March 25 against defending Region 4 champion Triton College, followed by a pair of contests against Rock Valley College, the eight-time defending NJCAA Champions in Division III that are making the move to Division II in 2023.

The addition of RVC to the Division II field in Region 4 will certainly add to the challenge of reaching the WolfPack's postseason goals, however, Madison College's pursuit of a first-ever North Central Community College Conference title improved as the nine-time defending N4C winners from Rock Valley College are no longer in the league. The N4C slate officially begins with a road doubleheader against the College of DuPage on April 1. 

"The team will be young and will need to grow and develop through experience, but there's tremendous depth. We're in a good place to start the season, and now we'll just need to continue working and improving to reach our goals."

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