Spotlight is on area seniors
who missed their final sports season

South’s coach arranged softballs (above) for her video salute.

Just because sports were cancelled doesn’t mean South’s softball players did not deserve a Senior Night.

Coach Kelly Dohse came up with the idea to hold a Virtual Senior Day after seeing similar videos online.

“We kind of did that to send them off so that they didn’t completely not have any recognition from softball,” she said.

The video, which can be viewed on YouTube, runs for about 10 minutes.

It shows non-senior players throwing the ball by themselves and the next clip is a another teammate catching it.

The video continues with each senior talking about what the program meant to them or their favorite memories, etc.

And it ends with views of the Redwings’ home diamond intertwined with action shots of the girls while their coach gives them one lasting message:

“You’ll be remembered for your impact on this program,” Dohse said. “Your willingness to sacrifice, learn, adapt and grow, has been awesome and fun to watch. … Your mettle has been tested and you have risen above the unpredictable and unfair circumstances to prove while you may be down, you are never to be counted out.”

And their response?

“One of the girls said it really made an impact,” Dohse said. “She felt as though they weren’t forgotten.”

Seniors Destiny Born, Jade Keil, Elizabeth Binversie, Alyssa King, Kayla Lloyd and Emily Edson will also be remembered by Dohse because of the first impression they left on her in the coach’s 2019 debut.

“Their willingness to adapt and do whatever the program needed has always been something that this group has had pride in doing all along,” she said. “They just want to do what’s best for the program.”

BENNETT BECKER –photo by Katherine Goebel

NORTH BASEBALL

Coming off the Golden Raiders’ first regional title since 2003, five seniors missed the chance to create another magical postseason run.

North, despite being seeded 10th in the Division 1 playoffs, needed one more win last year to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2001.

“They’re a nice group, very easy to work with and all of them are well-spoken,” coach Steve Goes said. “No doubt all of them will go on to have success as adults.”

Bennett Becker, a Carroll recruit who was going to return to his usual shortstop position, was poised to have a big senior year according to his coach.

“I worked one of the Prep Baseball Report Showcases in Sheboygan last August,” Goes said. “I was hitting ground balls and after awhile, it’s just routine. You hit the ball and poke your head up if you see a kid make a nice play, but they’re all wearing the same shirt.

“I looked up after a kid made a nice play and it was Bennett. That gave me a lot of optimism he would have been very solid and an all-conference performer for us this year.”

Like Becker, Dawson Selvoski also made his varsity debut last season and will play in college next year (Ripon).

“He had limited opportunities as a junior and we were excited to see the progress he made in the offseason,” Goes said.

Other seniors include Peyton Voight, who pitched the final two innings of a combined no-hitter last season. Carson Kramer was called the hardest worker – with Becker – at open gyms according to his coach. And he said Jakob Kuhfuss, who was going to make his varsity debut, is a fun-loving guy who everybody likes.

SOUTH BASEBALL

First-year coach Tyler Zietz played at South (2014 graduate), and he feels bad his five seniors don’t have a final ending or last game to their careers.

“A lot of the guys I played with, I’d been playing with since I was 9 years old,” he said.

Although Zietz never officially got to coach Colin Brennan, Elliot Pethan, Leo Hang, Alex Oehldrich or Matthew Steffen, he liked what he saw out of the group when they led open gyms in the winter.

“The leadership roles they took on in the beginning, I really liked,” Zietz said. “They were good leaders. Especially with the younger kids, they would always help out. They were dedicated.”

MATT ALSUM (between teammates)

CHRISTIAN GOLF

The varsity squad consisted of two seniors, including Matt Alsum, who reached sectionals last year and will play soccer at Dordt University in Iowa.

The other is David Rassmussen, credited for his leadership quality by Eagles coach Todd Wagner.

“They’re good kids after hanging out with them. The practice time, the road trips, the different meets,” he said.