Ricardo Arguello|Appleton Post-Crescent
KAUKAUNA – The Kaukauna softball community knew full wellhow good Karly Meredith would be once she reached high school.
The freshman had a banner season, dominating in the circle and at the platein helping the Ghosts complete an undefeated 31-0 season and a second consecutive WIAA Division 1 state championship. Her exploits garnered her the Post-Crescent player of the year in softball.
All that success can be traced to Meredith's work ethic, according to Kaukauna coach Tim Roehrig.
"Karly’s put in a massive amount of time and I don’t think anybody realizes how much time she puts in," Roehrig said. "She hits every night for an hour, two hours. She throws every nightwith her dad. All that hard work,you could see that hard work paying off in the field. As she was getting older — seventhand eighth grade — you were watching her and saying, 'Wow, this kid is going to be special.'"
Meredith certainly had a special freshman season. She was a first-team all-Fox Valley Association selection and the league's player of the year. She batted .404, had an .817 slugging percentage and finished with nine home runs, 56 RBIs and four triples.
Meredith shared pitching duties with senior Skyler Calmes. In the circle, she was almost unhittable, finishing 15-0 with an ERA of 0.22. She held opponents to an .088 batting average and allowed just three earned runs all season, finishing with 131 strikeouts in 94 innings pitched.
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Meredith talked with us about her freshman season, playing with her older sister Kally and her outlook for the future.
On her freshman season
"I knew we were going to be good but that we had to work for it, and I knew we could do it and win. And I knew that we had to take it one game at a time. I surprised myself too a little bit. I think I did better than like I would have expected. I threw really well and had a really good defense behind me, and that was really helpful.
"I worked really hard hitting so I know if I don’t have a good game that I can go back to the cage and hit more. I knew I could hit."
On getting the win in the state semifinal win over Superior
"I was really nervous before the game and warming up. I knew I had to pitch really good because they’re a good team. But once I got out there, I knew we could do it and it was scary with the first inning. We just had to get our jitters out and I had to get my jitters out pitching. It’s always scary going in there. It was my first time ever being in that big of a stadium. I was nervous at first, but I knew we had it."
On her inside-the-park home run in the title game
"That was super cool. I just knew I had to go up there with a positive mindset and swing as hard as I could because there were two outs. I was just thinking hit the ball and make good contact. And it was really cool that I got that big hit. I wasn’t expecting it."
On being teammates with her older sister Kally
"It was fun having her on the team. It didn’t really change anything, because we’re usually always together anyway. I had played with her outside of high school so it wasn’t anything new. And I think it was cool that I got to share those moments with her.”
On what she prefers – pitching or playing the field
"I like pitching. I just feel that I have more control of the game and I feel I’m better at it. It’s kind of what I’ve been doing (growing up)."
On traveling during the summer and playing softball
"It definitely takes a lot of time and takes up two months of my summer but it’s really fun going to different states and playing new teams that you haven't played and sharing the experience with teammates from other schools. I know a lot of my teammates are from Neenah and that’s a lot of fun to play with them now. It’s just a really good experience traveling and just getting to go places and play softball, something that I like to do."
On future goals
"I’m hoping to go back to state. That’s a goal for the next season is to at least make it to state. I know that we lost a lot of seniors, but we still have a really good team and girls coming up. So it’s exciting to play with new people now and maybe be one of the somewhat older players."
A closer look
Age: 15.
Year: Freshman.
Family: Parents, Steve and Deb; siblings, Kyler (26), Kasey (23) and Kally (17).
Notable:First-team all-Fox Valley Association and the league's player of the year. Also a first-team WFSCA (Large Schools) all-state pick. Batted. 404 with an on-base percentage of .469. Had an .817 slugging percentage. Totaled nine home runs, 56 RBIs, four doubles and four triples. Also scored 33 runs and had 12 stolen bases. As a pitcher was 15-0 with an ERA of 0.22. Held opponents to an .088 batting average and allowed just three earned runs. Had 131 strikeouts in 94 innings pitched.
Her favorites
Food: Spaghetti.
TV show: "Stranger Things."
Movie:"47 Meters Down."
School subject: Math.
Go-to snack: Ice cream.
Pro athlete: Haley Cruse.
Vacation spot: Florida.
What her coach says
"She's great defensively if we put her in at shortstop or second base. Then we have her on the mound and she's dynamic. She absolutely brings it. She's got great movement on her ball and she places the ball well. So the combination of things leads to a really dynamic pitcher and dynamic defender.
"And on offense, she comes in and goes three in our lineup. Now we have a pretty strong lineup and that says a lot about her for us to put her in the three spot. But we also have to talk about her maturity level because we normally don't dump freshmanin at the three spot with the caliber of team that we had this year."
— Tim Roehrig, Kaukauna coach.
All-area softball team
First team
Pitchers
Karly Meredith, fr., Kaukauna: Player of the year.
Naleyah Bork, sr., Freedom: First-team all-North Eastern Conference and the league's player of the year. First-team WFSCA all-state (Medium Schools). Finished 24-0 with 222 strikeouts and a 0.97 ERA. Batted .461 and had a .737 slugging percentage. Also had two home runs, nine doubles and 25 RBIs.
Skyler Calmes, sr., Kaukauna:First-team all-FVA and first-team all-state (Large Schools). Finished 16-0 in the circle with a 1.12 ERA. Struck out 71 batters in 81 innings. Allowed just 13 earned runs and held opponents to a .184 batting average.
Hannah Meshnick, sr., Hortonville:First-team all-FVA and first-team all-state (Large Schools). Was 17-2 with a 1.07 ERA and 210 strikeouts in 124 innings pitched.Also batted .374 with a .747 slugging percentage. Had eight home runs and 36 RBIs with 12 doubles.
Catchers
Anna La Count, sr., Kaukauna: First-team all-FVA and second-team all-state (Large Schools). Batted .357 with a .477 on-base percentage. Totaled 20 RBIs and was one of the top defensive catchers in the state, throwing out five-of-six on stolen base attempts. Also picked off 13 runners.
Arielle Schneider, jr., Chilton: First-team all-Eastern Wisconsin Conference and second-team all-state (Medium Schools). Led Tigers in average (.538), home runs (three), RBIs (41), hits (42) and stolen bases (23).
Infielders
Molly Kable, sr., New London: First-team all-Bay Conference and the league's player of the year. Second-team all-state (Medium Schools). Batted .473 with a slugging percentage of .710 and an on-base percentage of .574. Also had six home runs and 40 RBIs.
Megan Meyers, jr., Chilton: Unanimous first-team all-Eastern Wisconsin Conference and honorable-mention all-state. Batted .526 with a .553 on-base percentage and .723 slugging percentage. Totaled 40 hits, 29 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
Paige Miller, jr., Kaukauna:First-team all-FVA and second-team all-state (Large Schools). Batted .520 with an on-base percentage of .545 and .550 slugging percentage. Had 20 RBIs and scored 39 runs. Also had 23 stolen bases and provided stellar defense at the hot corner.
Maggie Werner, sr., Hortonville:First-team all-FVA and second-team all-state (Large Schools). Batted .425 with a slugging percentage of .805. Finished with nine home runs and 25 RBIs. Will play collegiately at Minnesota.
Outfielders
Kally Meredith, jr., Kaukauna:First-team all-FVA and second-team all-state (Large Schools). Batted .643 with a slugging percentage of .729 and an on-base percentage of .667. Totaled 45 hits and also scored 35 runs. Stole 34 bases and tied the Division 1 state tournament record for most stolen bases in a game (three) and in a series (seven).
Rylie Murphy, jr., Freedom: Unanimousfirst-team all-North Eastern Conferenceand first-team all-state (Medium Schools). Batted .481 with a .778 slugging percentage. Totaled four home runs, five triples, 10 doublesand 37 RBIs.
Emma Reismann, sr., New London: Unanimous all-Bay Conference. Batted .423 with six home runs, 12 doubles and 33 RBIs. Also had a .712 slugging percentage.
Claire Rettler, sr., Appleton East:First-team all-FVA. Batted. 662 with an .812 slugging percentage and .690 on-base percentage. Had two home runs, 18 RBIs, 27 stolen bases and 33 runs scored.
Ava Van Asten, sr., Kaukauna: First-team all-FVA and all-state honorable mention (Large Schools).Batted .480 with a .570 slugging percentage and .540 on-base percentage. Had four triples and 31 RBIs. Also had 34 stolen bases.
Second team
Pitchers
Macey Clark, sr., Winneconne: Unanimous all-East Central Conference. Was 15-5 with an ERA of 1.13 and 236 strikeouts in 136⅓innings.
Kenna Mix, so., New London: Unanimous first-team all-Bay Conference. Finished 16-2 with a 2.27 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 117⅓innings pitched. Also batted .392 with four home runs, eight doubles and 26 RBIs.
Catchers
Maribel Glodowski, sr., New London: First-team all-Bay Conference. Batted .420 with 11 RBIs.
Serena Timmer, jr., Appleton East: First-team all-FVA at catcher. Batted .468 with three home runs and 33 RBIs.
Lizzy Wesoloski, sr., Freedom: Unanimous first-team all-NEC. Batted .411 with seven home runs, 11 doubles and 30 RBIs.
Infielders/outfielders
Jordan Biesinger, sr., Winneconne: Unanimous first-team all-East Central Conference. Batted. 392 with 16 RBIs.
Keanna Jansen, sr., Kaukauna: Batted .350 with a .662 slugging percentage, 13 doubles, four home runs and 29 RBIs.
Sadie Jarmolowicz, jr., Freedom: Unanimous first-team all-NEC. Batted .418 with 15 RBIs.
Abigail Juedes, jr., Chilton: First-team all-EWC. Batted .450 with 36 hits, including four triples, 33 runs and 24 RBIs.
Amara Kaminski, sr., Neenah: First-team all-FVA. Batted. 306 with a home run and 17 RBIs.
Rachel Koss, sr., Freedom:Second-team all-NEC. Batted .408 with a .650 slugging percentage. Also hit seven home runs and 39 RBIs.
Norah Kutnink, jr., Winneconne: Unanimous first-team all-ECC. Batted .419 with three home runs and 23 RBIs.
Tavia Schmidt, sr., Hortonville: First-team all-FVA. Batted .301 with 16 RBIs.
Kylie Van De Loo, jr., Menasha: First-team all-Bay Conference. Batted .450 with two home runs, eight doubles and 21 RBIs. Also won seven games as a pitcher with a 4.34 ERA..
Honorable mention
Piper Alberg, jr., Neenah;Kelsey Behnke, fr., Manawa;Taryn Christopher, so., Kaukauna;Bella Coulman, so, Neenah;McKenna Eichmeier, sr., Brillion;Shelby Glodowski, so., New London;Abby Gronert, sr., Appleton East;Aubrie Halder, sr., Winneconne;Gwen Hendrick, sr., Appleton East;Morgan Harwood, jr., Neenah;Sarah Hammerton, jr., Appleton West;Karly Helf, so., Menasha;Lily Hurt, jr., Kimberly;Madie Jagoditsh, jr., Neenah;Lily Krenke, fr., Manawa;Paige Lillie, so., Hortonville;Jayden McCoy, jr., Weyauwega-Fremont;Kelsey Mohr, so., Menasha;Hailie Poppy, so., Shiocton;Megan Propson, sr., Hilbert/Stockbridge;Lilly Roehrig, jr., Kaukauna;Kennedy Rosin, sr., Manawa;Maddie Tasch, fr., Chilton;Jessica Velie, sr., Manawa;Andi Volz, sr., Seymour;Autumn Winkelman, sr., New London;Olivia Witkowski, fr., Weyauwega-Fremont;Haylie Wittman, sr., Kaukauna;Addison Wery, fr., Seymour.
