College softball: New-look Ridgewater Warriors ready to get going
· Yahoo Sports
Mar. 24—WILLMAR — New head coach Jordyn Swoboda is excited to get her Ridgewater softball team into some games this weekend.
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The Warriors play in the Rochester Cross-Over Invitational beginning at 3 p.m. Friday. Ridgewater plays Central Lakes College in Brainerd in its opener and has games scheduled against Minnesota North College-Vermilion, Minnesota North-Rainy River and Minnesota North-Itasca through Saturday.
The four games will give Swoboda an indication of what to make of a team with one sophomore and 10 first-year players.
The returning player is pitcher Nevaeh Rahm. The right-hander was the Warriors' top pitcher last season, posting a 7-8 won-lost record in 88-2/3 innings. She struck out 87 and walked 78 with 4.34 earned-run average. The Fairmont graduate also batted .327 with two home runs and 16 RBIs.
Everyone else is new for Swoboda, who was Callie Danielson's assistant coach the past two seasons. The Warriors went 11-1 last season.
Swoboda is a 2018 Willmar graduate who played four years of softball at the College of St. Benedict, where Danielson was the pitching coach before taking over at Ridgewater. Danielson left the program to spend more time with her young family.
Swoboda works in marketing for St. John's University/College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph and lives in Willmar.
She said she has a young team with potential, but not a lot of depth. Her players' good health will be critical. Still, she's optimistic.
"This group of girls comes to practice every day excited," Swoboda said. "It's an energetic and talkative group. Their enthusiasm and being ready is something I don't have to worry about in games. They'll be focused."
The starting lineup is basically set.
"We have a lot of two-sport athletes, which I absolutely love," Swoboda said.
Mallory Johnson figures to be the Warriors' catcher. She's from New London-Spicer.
Aly Wendlandt figures to play first base and second base. She's also an NLS grad who played women's basketball for Ridgewater this winter. She was the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 11.0 points per game for the 13-16 Warriors.
Madison Norsten is expected to play third base, first pitch and pitch. She's a right-hander from Willmar who was the women's basketball team's leading scorer at 14.5 ppg.
Kylie Pauls also is expected to play second and third base. She's from Paynesville.
The shortstop will be another Willmar graduate, Hannah Magnuson, whom Swoboda calls "a solid and committed player." Magnuson also was a libero last fall for the 12-12 Warrior volleyball team.
The outfield should include Rochelle Dean in left field, Ashley Welch in center field and Eben Overcash in right field. Overcash, from Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, also played volleyball last fall for the Warriors after missing most of the 2024 season because of a
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Welch is from Milaca. Dean is from Bertha-Hewitt and played women's basketball, averaging 4.4 ppg.
Maria Rodriguez and Ashley Schmeling will be utility players, used as courtesy runners and filling in where needed, Swoboda said. Rodriguez, a former Willmar Cardinal, and Schmeling, from St. Cloud Apollo, both played volleyball for the Warriors.
Swoboda's assistant coach is Morgan Flann from BOLD.
"She's been a big assist to our coaching staff," Swoboda said.