Miller back on All-State team; Seidl also gets mentioned

WFSCA ALL-STATE AWARDS

The Great Northern Conference’s three-time Softball Player of the Year is now a repeat All-State selection as well.

With an even better statistical season in 2023, it is no surprise that Medford pitcher Martha Miller is back on the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association’s Divisions 2-3 All-State squad. She is one of five players who return from the 2022 team.

It’s Miller’s third year of All-State mention. She got honorable mention in 2021 when the voting was done with Divisions 1 and 2 making up the Large Schools team.

Miller isn’t the only Raider to be honored this year. Senior catcher Eryka Seidl earned honorable mention All-State for her work at the plate and behind it for the 22-3 Raiders. Both are members of this spring’s WFSCA All-District 2 team.

Medford’s senior centerfielder, Morgan Huegli, earned honorable mention in the All-District vote. All three were first-team All-Great Northern Conference choices this spring.

District 2 includes the Great Northern, Bay, Central Wisconsin East, East Central, Fox River Classic, Marinette and Oconto, North Shore, Northeastern and Packerland conferences.

Miller, a UW-Green Bay recruit, finished her career with a 0.73 earned run average and a 50-8 record in her threeyear career with 675 strikeouts and 58 walks and 177 hits allowed in 372.1 innings.

This year, Miller led the GNC in wins with 10 and earned run average at 0.49 with five earned runs allowed in 72 league innings. She ranked second in strikeouts with 107 behind Lakeland’s hard-throwing sophomore Saylor Timmerman, who also made the Divisions 2-3 All-State team as the only other player from the GNC to get an All-State award.

Overall, Miller was 19-3 this spring with three shutouts, a 0.70 earned run average and 20 complete games in 21 starts. In 151 innings pitched, Miller struck out 241 batters, walked just 22 and allowed 15 earned runs and 88 hits. She hit just four of the 285 batters she faced.

Hitting out of the leadoff spot, Miller hit .286 in league play (10 for 35) with nine runs batted in, 12 runs scored, one triple and one home run. Miller hit .342 (25 for 73) overall with 12 RBIs, two homers, two triples, a double and a team-high 23 runs scored.

Seidl continued to improve defensively at the catching position. Seidl was credited with a .977 fielding percentage and had seven assists with just six errors in 263 total chances. Offensively, she gave the Raiders some punch with a .380 batting average that included 27 hits in 71 at-bats, 17 RBIs, four doubles and two home runs. She hit .313 in GNC play (10 for 32) with eight RBIs, five walks, three sacrifices and seven runs scored.

Huegli had another outstanding season defensively in centerfield with just one error in 23 total chances and she hit .254 (17 for 67) with 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored and three sacrifice bunts. She struck out just five times in 74 plate appearances.

In league play, Huegli’s batting average was .242 (eight for 33), with three walks, three stolen bases, seven RBIs and seven runs scored.

Eighteen players were named to each level of the Divisions 2-3 All-State list –– first team, second team and honorable mention.

Freedom’s senior shortstop Rylie Murphy, one of the five repeat first-team All-State players, was named the Division 2 Player of the Year by the coaches association. She led the Irish to their second straight state championship by hitting .460, scoring 30 runs and committing just one error in the field during the season. Freedom beat New London, the team that eliminated Medford 2-1 in 11 innings in the sectional semifinal, by a score of 8-0 in the title game in Madison.

Brodhead’s McKenna Young was named the Division 3 Player of the Year after leading the Cardinals to the state championship. They beat Mayville 1-0 in the final. Young went into the state tournament with a .373 batting average, a 13-1 pitching record and a 0.26 earned run average.

The All-District 2 team for Divisions 2-3 included Mosinee outfielder Amber Gonzalez while the Indians’ Ava Busse and Martina Miller got honorable mention along with Antigo’s Makala Beck and Lily Weix.

Tim Roehrig of WIAA Division 1 state champion Kaukauna was named the WFSCA Coach of the Year and Thom Hack of Wausau was named the 2023 WFSCA Umpire of the Year.

Martha Miller All-State, All-District First Teams

Eryka Seidl All-State Hon. Mention All-District First Team

Morgan Huegli All-District Hon. Mention