Fox Valley Lutheran motivated for first state softball trip since 2004
· Yahoo Sports
Gunner Pfrang was a little surprised the Fox Valley Lutheran softball team didn’t get a better seed for this week’s WIAA state tournament.
And you can be sure the second-year coach will use that to fire up his team, not that the Foxes need any more incentive for their first trip to state since 2004.
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Third-seeded FVL (24-3) will play No. 2 seed Beloit Turner (25-3) in a Division 2 state semifinal game at approximately 7 p.m. June 12 at Goodman Diamond in Madison. Top-seeded Medford (28-1) will play No. 4 seed Pewaukee (20-9) in the other semifinal at 4:30 p.m., with the winners meeting in the championship game at 4 p.m. June 13.
“I thought that we would have been a little bit higher seed, but that’s fine,” Pfrang said. “It’s a good motivation for the team and, hey, people didn’t respect you and thought maybe you’re not as good as we could be. It’s nice. I like that. A little less pressure maybe.”
Fox Valley Lutheran is making the school's second trip to the WIAA state tournament, joining that 2004 team that lost to Rice Lake 6-2 in the Division 2 semifinals. FVL won the WISAA state title in 1998 and was state runner-up in 1999 and 2000.
The Foxes advanced to state with a 7-6 victory over defending state champion Denmark in the championship game of the Plymouth Sectional. Denmark defeated the Foxes 9-3 in last year’s sectional semifinals to hand FVL its only loss of the season after starting 26-0.
“We were talking about it. We’re like, ‘We’re not going to let them take us out two years in a row.’ I think that really motivated us,” Foxes junior standout Madison Babcock said. “It just was such a great feeling. It was such a close game because they’re a really good team. But we know that we are, too, so just beating them is such a great feeling.”
Like last year’s team, the Foxes started with a perfect run of 14 wins before back-to-back losses to Seymour and Mosinee. Their other loss this season is to Wisconsin Lutheran. All three of FVL’s losses came by one run.
The season-ending setback against Denmark in last season’s sectional game, plus this year’s regular-season losses, helped toughen the Foxes for when the games matter the most.
“I think losing that game and losing a couple of close games this year, our mental toughness is a lot better this year,” Pfrang said. “I definitely think our mental maturity, our toughness, is a lot better this year. We may be young on paper, but I think maturity-wise we’re really strong.”
The Foxes have just three seniors on this year’s roster – Ava Martin, Natalie Bromm and Emma Pfrang – along with four juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen.
Bromm, an outfielder who entered the sectional title game with a .405 average, four home runs and 32 RBIs, says the Foxes have grown up a lot since last year’s trip to the sectional semifinals.
“I think just that year of maturity has definitely played a role,” Bromm said. “We’ve all been in the postseason now. We kind of know what it feels like to play in those high-intensity games and the atmosphere that comes with the postseason, so I think we’re just able to handle those moments a little bit better.”
Babcock has been a force at the plate and in the circle for the Foxes. She entered the sectional final with a .507 batting average, five home runs and 34 RBIs. In the circle, she had a 0.29 ERA with 238 strikeouts and 25 walks in 119 innings pitched.
Junior Claire Pfrang, the other tri-captain along with Babcock and Bromm, led the Foxes in runs scored (43) and hits (43) heading into the sectional final.
With Babcock on the mound and a defense that went from making 45 errors last season to 18 this season, the Foxes head to state a confident bunch.
“They are focused on the game in front of them, and I think they’re confident and we’re hitting the ball well and playing good defense, and obviously with [Babcock] pitching, she’s a great pitcher,” Coach Pfrang said. “So we’re sitting pretty good, I think.”
Bromm said the opportunity to finish the season and her high school career at the state tournament is something for which she and her teammates are ready.
“It’s definitely going to be exciting,” Bromm said. “It helps that we’ve been in some high-intensity games, so we kind of know what the atmosphere is like. We just kind of got to stay calm even though it’s exciting, but take it one inning at a time, one pitch at a time.”
Babcock will be the one making those pitches one at a time, and she expects a big crowd of Foxes supporters for the trip to state that has been 22 years in the making.
“I feel like there’s really no pressure on us now,” Babcock said. “It’s just kind of being excited, going out and playing our best, and that’s all that matters. If we come out on top, that’s great. And that’s what we hope to do.”
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Fox Valley Lutheran preps for WIAA high school state softball tournament