St. Norbert freshman shortstop Tracy Palmer was named to the UW-Eau Claire Regional All-Tournament Team after the Green Knights ended their season with a pair of losses in the NCAA Tournament Regional last week. Palmer had a two hits and drove in a pair of runs during St. Norbert’s 8-6 loss to Illinois Wesleyan, before going 3-fo-3 in the Green Knights 2-0 loss to the University of Chicago. Palmer accounted for three of her team’s four hits in the latter contest.

Petra Wade survived a bases-loaded situation in the third inning and pitched the University of Chicago to a 2-0 triumph over St. Norbert College in the NCAA Division III First Round Tournament at Gelein Field in Carson Park.

The decision ended St. Norbert's first NCAA appearance in the seven-team double-elimination tournament.

St. Norbert loaded the bases on two singles and a walk with two out in the third but a popup on the infield ended the threat. The Green Knights had only one other baserunner reach second and Wade faced the minimum 12 batters over the final four innings. She scattered four hits with one walk and six strikeouts as she improved her season record to 16-6.

The Maroons scored the only run they needed in the fifth inning. After a leadoff walk to Nancy Bugajski, Cassie Wierenga singled and Vanessa Pineros rapped a two-out double to plate a run. Bugajski drove in an insurance run in the sixth following singles by Dominque Marshall and Kathleen Duffy. Marshall was a perfect 4-for-4 in the game.

A disastrous fourth inning proved to be the difference as St. Norbert fell 8-6 to Illinois Wesleyan in a first-round NCAA Division III softball regional contest at UW-Eau Claire in Eau Claire, Wis., on Thursday, May 10. The Green Knights will face the University of Chicago at noon on Friday in an elimination game.

St. Norbert, the seventh seed in the seven-team regional, held a 4-1 lead on the second-seeded Titans entering the bottom of the fourth. Illinois Wesleyan had two on with two outs still trailing by three runs before a pair of infield errors on one play cut it to 4-3. A Monica Urban single tied the game at 4-4 and then Ashley Deck smashed a liner off St. Norbert pitcher Mara Resch to chase her from the game.

The Green Knights appeared poised to spring the upset when they scored four times on five hits in the top of the fourth. Lindsey Lubinski's RBI single plated Lindsey Reynolds to tie the score at 1-1. Tracy Palmer followed with a two-run single and Angela Flood an infield RBI single to give the Green Knights a short-lived 4-1 lead.

St. Norbert mounted a last-ditch rally in the seventh inning, getting an unearned run and the potential go-ahead run to the plate, but could not get any closer. (Courtesy of the St. Norbert Sports Information Office)

Lake Forest and Ripon student-athletes swept the 2007 Midwest Conference Softball yearly awards in the South and North Divisions, respectively. Ripon senior Jen Mueller was the North Pitcher of the Year, while Lake Forest junior Kendra Grant claimed the South’s award. Forester teammates Christy Condon (right) and Shelby Neill were Co-Players of the Year in the South, while Red Hawk sophomore shortstop Natalie Geenen was the North’s top positional player. St. Norbert’s JoAnn Krueger and Illinois College’s Jennifer Saylor were the respective North and South Divisional Coaches of the Year.

2007 All-Conference Teams

The St. Norbert softball team’s postseason path was revealed on Monday, May 7, two days after the Green Knights won the 2007 Midwest Conference Softball Championship and automatic berth to the NCAA tourney.

JoAnn Krueger’s (right) squad will travel to the UW-Eau Claire Regional in Eau Claire, Wis., where they will face Illinois Wesleyan at noon on Thursday, May 10 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of contest will move on to face the winner of Augustana vs. UW-Eau Claire at 2 p.m. on Friday, while the loser faces the loser of that contest at noon at Friday, May 11.

Illinois Wesleyan (31-12) enters the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection after falling to Augustana in the CCIW tourney title game. The Titans swept a doubleheader from Monmouth in their only action against an MWC school this year.

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The final week of the 2007 Midwest Conference softball regular-season featured a pair of no-hit bids by league pitchers.

Carroll pitcher Kelsey Deakins (right) tossed a six-inning no-hitter in the Lady Pioneers 8-0 win over MSOE on May 1. The sophomore righty faced 19 batters over six innings, striking out five while walking just one.

Lake Forest freshman Jeannette Andresen (left) followed suit with a five-inning no-hitter at the 2007 MWC Championship Tournament. Andresen propelled the Foresters into the league title game when she no-hit Ripon on Saturday (May 5) during a 9-0 Lake Forest victory. Andresen, who walked two batters in the game, did not strike out any opposing hitters in the contest, as the Forester defense played an error-free game.

St. Norbert ended Lake Forest’s Midwest Conference Softball Championship run at five on Saturday (May 5), as JoAnn Krueger’s Green Knights defended their home field, going 3-0 during conference tourney play to win their first MWC title since 1991 and second overall. Lake Forest played their way into the title game with an 8-0 win over Ripon Saturday morning and would have needed to defeat St. Norbert twice to capture their sixth consecutive crown. St. Norbert’s offense was too much for the Foresters once again, as the Green Knights downed Lake Forest 13-9 in the title game, less than 24 hours after a 14-6 win over the Foresters. St. Norbert receives the league’s automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Tournament and will be making their first NCAA tourney appearance as a member of the MWC.

NCAA Championship brackets will be released on Monday, May 7.

Lake Forest 6, Ripon 3 – The Foresters capitalized on five Ripon errors, rallying from a 1-0 deficit to take the lead for good with two runs in the second inning. Lake Forest would add pairs of runs in the third and fifth innings as well. Tracy Rainey led Lake Forest with two hits and an RBI, while Jeannette Andresen picked up the complete-game victory. Jen Mueller drove in all three Ripon runs and went the distance on the mound, allowing two earned runs while striking out four.

at St. Norbert 6, Illinois College 1 – St. Norbert scored in every inning except the first and last, as Mara Resch stifled the powerful Lady Blue offense. Resch threw a complete game, scattering seven hits and striking out two while allowing one earned run. Angela Flood had two hits and drove in two runs for the Green Knights, while teammate Brie Oehlke scored two runs, including a solo home run in the second that gave St. Norbert a 1-0 lead. Kacey Morrison drove in Illinois College’s lone run with an RBI double in the second.

Ripon 2, Illinois College 1 - Kacey Morrison drove home Carey Cappel with a two-out double in the top of the first inning and the Lady Blues lead looked like it might stand up behind starter Sarah Holloway. The Red Hawks offense broke through in the fifth, as Sara Rabideaux walked and took second on a wild pitch. Tara Rabideaux drove home her sister with a single and advanced to second on an error, which Krista Shafer followed with an RBI single that put Ripon up for good. Complete-game winner Andrea Knorr allowed four hits for the Red Hawks.

at St. Norbert 14, Lake Forest 6 (6 inn.) – St. Norbert hit three home runs to blast their way past the Foresters, led by Brie Oehlke (4-4, 5 RBI, HR) and Lindsey Lubinski (3-4, 3 RBI, HR). The Green Knights led 6-1 entering the fifth inning, but Lake Forest’s Christy Condon answered with a three-run homer to make the score 6-4. Oehlke’s three-run home run in the bottom of the inning gave St. Norbert breathing room, before a five-run sixth inning ended the game prematurely. Starter Melissa Strey earned the victory for St. Norbert.

The 2007 Midwest Conference Softball Championship will unfold on the campus of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., on Friday and Saturday, May 4-5. Illinois College, Lake Forest, Ripon and the host Green Knights will all be vying for the MWC Championship along with an automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA National Championship Tournament. Lake Forest and first-year head coach Joe Kinsella (right) will be playing for a sixth consecutive league title in 2007. If they achieve that feat they will match former MWC member Coe’s string of six in a row from 1981-1986 as the longest in conference history.

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Lake Forest freshman Shelby Neill (right) was named the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association NCAA Division III Player of the Week for her performance in a doubleheader split at Wheaton College on April 2 and a twinbill sweep against Illinois College on April 7.

Neill, a first baseman and catcher, was 3-for-7 with two runs scored and four RBI at Wheaton. Her first career home run helped the team win the opener 7-5 and she doubled in the second game, a 5-4 defeat.

After going 1-for-3 as the Foresters won Saturday’s opener 8-4, she recorded arguably the greatest offensive performance in team history in game two. She was 5-for-5 in the contest with three doubles, a grand slam, two runs scored and nine driven in. She broke the previous school records for RBI and total bases (11) in a contest and tied the marks for base hits and doubles.

Jami Strinz (right), Head Volleyball and Softball Coach at Beloit, has submitted her resignation effective at the end of May to accept a position as the Head Softball Coach and Assistant Volleyball Coach at Knox. In addition, Strinz will have the opportunity to pursue her Masters degree.

In her first and only season as the Bucs volleyball coach last fall, she led the squad to the MWC regular-season and tournament titles along with Beloit’s frst-ever berth in the NCAA Division III Volleyball Tournament. In softball, the Bucs are 21-24 during her one-plus years with a month remaining in the 2007 season.

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Lake Forest junior first basemen/outfielder Christy Condon was 3-for-5 with six runs scored and three RBI as the Foresters swept Illinois College at home on April 7. Among her three base hits was her 15 th career home run, which tied the school record for career long balls. She matched the mark set by Alissa Mildebrath in 2005.

Beloit senior pitcher Stacy Salomone did allow a hit in the Bucs 14-1 five-inning victory over Carroll on April 4. Salomone went the distance in the contest, which was shortened by the mercy rule, giving Beloit the doubleheader sweep to start MWC play 2-0. Salomone struck out four and walked five in the game. The Lady Pioneers lone run, which was unearned, came in the second inning. The no-hitter was the third in school history.

In the past, head coaching changes have not affected Lake Forest’s Midwest Conference softball title streak. Tina Johnson inherited a Forester team that had won back-to-back league titles in 2004 and promptly ran the team’s consecutive league crowns to five before taking a job at Colorado College following the 2006 season. New head coach Joe Kinsella takes on the task of leading Lake Forest to its sixth straight MWC Championship in 2007 and the Foresters are favored once again, receiving eight of the nine possible first-place votes in the 2007 Midwest Conference Softball Preseason Coaches Poll.

Click here for 2007 MWC Coaches Poll

After 17 years of coaching at Knox and 25 years in the Midwest Conference, Knox head volleyball and softball coach Kathy Wagoner (right) announced on January 22 that she will retire from coaching following the 2007 Prairie Fire softball season this spring. Wagoner has more than 250 career wins in both volleyball and softball to her credit. 

Starting her collegiate head coaching career at Monmouth College in 1981-82, where she helped guide Monmouth to a total of three conference championships. She joined the Knox athletic department in 1987 as the head coach for both programs. She gave up coaching after the 1994-95 academic year before returning to the softball dugout as head coach in the spring of 1998. She also resumed her volleyball head coaching duties in the fall of 1998. 

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Lake Forest Athletic Director Jackie Slaats announced that Joe Kinsella (right) has accepted the position of Head Softball Coach at the College. Kinsella replaces three-year head coach Tina Johnson, who was recently hired to direct the program at Colorado College.

Kinsella had been the head coach at Millsaps College since the fall of 2000. He took over a 1-26 program and directed it to three Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference West Division championships, one league title, and an NCAA Regional third-place finish.

Prior to coaching at Millsaps, Kinsella was the head coach at Dakota Wesleyan University for one year, an assistant softball and football coach at Illinois Wesleyan University for two seasons, a campus minister at St. Patrick High School in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, and a softball, track & field, and cross country coach at Resurrection High School in Chicago for three seasons.

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Lake Forest College Head Softball Coach Tina Johnson (right) announced Monday (July 24) that she will be leaving to accept a similar position at Colorado College.

Lake Forest posted a 24-15 overall record and a 10-3 mark in the Midwest Conference in 2006. The Foresters hosted the MWC Championship Tournament and claimed their fifth consecutive league title and third in as many years under Johnson. She was named MWC South Division Coach of the Year and her players claimed both MWC South Division Position Player and Pitcher of the Year honors. Six Foresters earned all-conference accolades, four were named all-region, and half of the 14-member roster was named Academic All-Midwest Conference.

Johnson took over the program after it had captured the previous two league titles and she helped extend the streak to five. She posted an overall record of 77-43-1 and a league mark of 30-9 at Lake Forest. Her players earned a total of 16 all-conference and 11 all-region awards and 29 current school records were established or matched during her tenure.

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