Paulson proud of softball team’s silver-medal effort

2022 USA GAMES

Michael Paulson of Medford and his Team Wisconsin teammates brought home silver medals from the softball competition at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, held last week at Walt Disney World, just outside of Orlando, Fla.

The team played a handful of games at the Wide World of Sports Diamondplex, from Monday through Saturday, June 6-10, stayed at a Disney resort and enjoyed the attractions when it wasn’t playing ball during its stay.

The 2022 Special Olympics USA Games united more than 5,500 athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the Caribbean and about 20,000 volunteers and was expected to attract about 125,000 spectators during its run June 5-12. The event is held every four years.

Paulson plays softball with the Wausau Metro Adult Special Olympics, which he said practices every Wednesday night during the season. His involvement with that group led to him being chosen for Team Wisconsin.

“I was picked, I think there were 65 chosen,” Paulson said Monday. “So I was just one of the ones that got picked. There were tryouts first. There were three of us from the Wausau team (that went).”

Paulson wound up pitching for the team, which he said is something he had never done before. The left-hander picked up that skill well enough to help the team earn victories of 11-1 over Team Mississippi and 16-1 over Team Florida in its preliminary bracket.

“That was basically all I did. They just wanted me to pitch,” Paulson said. “I said that was fine with me. I’ll pitch every game. I was better at it than I thought I was. At first, I was like I’ve never pitched before in my life before this happened. I’m usually at first base or something like that.”

After those wins and a 13-7 loss to Team Texas, the Wisconsin team, which consisted of 11 men and four women, advanced to a four-team playoff Thursday and Friday. The team beat Maryland 9-7 in the semifinal round and fell in the championship Friday against Kansas 16-8.

“Kansas was the team that got us,” Paulson said. “They knew how to hit a lot better than we could. Those guys knew how to hit, that’s all I can say. They were hitting bombs.”

While Kansas was impressive, Paulson said the Wisconsin team hit well throughout the week too. He said he got his share of base hits in the games.

“It was all right with me,” he said of earning the silver medal, which he proudly wore to work Monday at Black River Industries. “I’m sure some people wanted gold, but me, I was just happy we got something.”

Along with the medal, he had a collection of state pins, which were traded among players from all of the teams during the tournament.

Joined on the trip by his parents, sister and brother-in-law, Paulson said the time not playing ball was spent exploring Disney World with a jungle safari at Animal Kingdom being among his favorite experiences. The family’s trip was made possible by generous sponsorships from several local businesses.

When asked what the most fun part of the week was, he didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“Just playing ball. I love just playing ball,” he said. “It was fun. It was my first time ever playing on a national team.”