ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH SOFTBALL - On-field domination extends to awards season for the Redmen

The 2025 season marked a breakthrough for the Rib Lake softball program as the Redmen went 13-6 overall and ended a couple of long trophy droughts, winning a Marawood Conference championship for the first time since 1999 and a WIAA regional championship plaque for the first time since the state year of 2004. Individual award season has begun, but even that shows a team effort as nine Redmen were rewarded in this year’s voting for the All-Marawood North teams and head coach Craig Scheithauer added a 10th award as he was named the conference’s 2025 Coach of the Year. Junior catcher Avery Niemi was named the North’s Player of the Year after a monster spring at the plate and behind the plate in league play. She heads a list of four first-team players from Rib Lake. Three more landed on the second team and two more got honorable mention. There were more all-conference spots available as the North shrunk to four teams this spring with Prentice being unable to field a team. Rib Lake went 5-1 in North games to win the conference title by a game over 4-2 Phillips. Defending champion Athens slipped to 2-4 this spring and Chequamegon went 1-5. All 10 of this year’s first-team selections were unanimously agreed upon by the conference coaches. Niemi, senior infielder Addison Gumz, junior pitcher/ first baseman Tessa Weik and junior shortstop Tahlia Scheithauer represent Rib Lake on the All-North first team. Niemi and Weik are repeat first-teamers from 2024. Niemi was a force out of the numberthree spot in the batting order. The lefthanded hitter posted a .609 batting average in league play (14 for 23) with two doubles, 13 runs batted in and only one strikeout in 26 plate appearances. She drew three walks and scored eight runs. Niemi threw out five of 11 runners attempting to steal bases against her in the six conference games (45%) and averaged just one passed ball per game. Overall in 19 games, Niemi hit .462 (30 for 65) with six doubles and a team-high 26 RBIs. She tied Gumz for the team lead in hits and average. Niemi scored 23 runs, struck out only five times, stole four bases and drew 11 walks and had a fielding percentage close to .970 with just four errors. In three of Rib Lake’s key conference wins, Niemi was nearly impossible to retire. She had three hits in each win over Athens and was three for three with two doubles in an 8-3 home win over Phillips on May 5. Weik went 3-0 in four North pitching appearances and had a 0.79 earned run average with two earned runs allowed in 17.2 innings. She struck out 14 and walked 10 in league play and gave up 17 hits. At the plate in six North games, Rib Lake’s cleanup hitter had a .250 batting average (four for 16) with a double, nine walks drawn, including two intentional, and four runs batted in. She scored seven runs as well. Overall, Weik’s batting average shot up to .390 (25 for 64) with a team-high 10 doubles, a team-high 38 total bases, a home run and 24 RBIs, two behind Niemi for the team lead. She struck out just three times all year and drew 10 walks. The homer came in a 16-6 win over Spencer on April 14. She was three for four with four RBIs in Rib Lake’s 12-2 regional semifinal win over Elmwood-Plum City and two for four with two doubles and four runs driven in during the team’s 14-3 regional final win over Prairie Farm. Among her pitching wins were a 10-0 win over Athens on April 17, where she allowed just three hits and struck out four, and the 8-3 win over Phillips where she struck out seven and gave up just one earned run. She finished 8-2 overall with a 2.64 earned run average in 53 innings pitched. Gumz was the catalyst for Rib Lake’s high-scoring offense. From the top of the batting order, she hit .429 (nine for 21) in the six North games with a double and five RBIs. She scored nine runs, stole two bases and only struck out twice while walking three times and getting hit by a pitch. Overall, those numbers rose to .462 (30 for 65) with 25 runs scored to rank second on the team, four doubles and 11 RBIs. She stole a team-high nine bases. Gumz primarily played third and second base, while catching a few innings, and had a fielding percentage close to .900. Gumz, who was a second-team pick in 2023 and got honorable mention last year, had at least one hit in every conference game except one. She was four for five in a 16-6 win at Athens on April 15 and three for four with three runs scored in the Elmwood-Plum City playoff win. Tahlia Scheithauer moved up a level after two years on the All-North second team. She batted a solid .348 in league play (eight for 23) with a triple and nine runs scored. She drove in six runs in those games, stole two bases and only struck out once. Overall, Scheithauer hit .328 (21 for 64) and led Rib Lake with 26 runs scored. She hit a team-high three triples, a double and drove in 17 runs. She stole six bases and drew nine walks. Scheithauer also made two pitching appearances during the season, striking out three in eight innings of work, and had a fielding percentage close to .800 from the shortstop position. Those four joined seniors Mataya Eckert and Lily Miller of Phillips, seniors Danica Diethelm and Abby Diethelm of Athens and senior Regan Hoffman and sophomore Jalen Brunell of Chequamegon as the unanimous first-team picks. Rib Lake senior Kiana Dallmann fills a second-team All-North spot for the second straight year. She had a strong season at the plate and in the circle for the Redmen that included a .267 batting average (four for 15) and 2-1 pitching record with a 2.53 earned run average in league play. In those games, Dallmann drove in five runs, walked eight times, only struck out twice and stole two bases. She allowed 29 hits in 19.1 innings, but only seven of 17 runs charged to her were earned. She struck out 14 and walked 13. Overall, Dallmann hit .313 (15 for 48) with two doubles, a triple in the team’s 122 sectional semifinal loss to Thorp, and 11 RBIs. She led the team with 19 walks drawn and stole six bases in seven attempts. She scored 14 runs. She went 5-3 in the circle with a 3.00 earned run average. In 39.2 innings, she allowed 49 hits and 33 runs, only 17 of which were earned while striking out 45 and walking 27, two intentionally. She struck out 10 batters in a 19-1 non-conference win at Gilman on May 19. She struck out six in the win at Athens and five in a 9-5 win over Chequamegon on May 13. Dallmann had a season-high three hits in a 9-6 win at Mellen April 25 and walked four times in the home win over Phillips. Junior rightfielder Kara Kennedy landed her second All-North honor, taking a second-team spot. She got honorable mention as a freshman. Kennedy hit .333 in league play out of the ninth spot in the batting order and had a .500 on-base percentage. She was five for 15 with a double, five walks drawn and nine runs scored. Overall, Kennedy hit .304 (14 for 46), scored 20 runs, drew 12 walks and drove in eight runs. She was not charged with an error in 11 chances. Sophomore centerfielder Madelyn Dallmann returned from a knee injury suffered earlier in the school year and gave the Redmen a solid glove defensively. She also hit .348 in league play (eight for 23) with three doubles, six RBIs and four runs scored. She did not have an error in North play. Overall, her numbers shot up to .344 (22 for 64) with four doubles, 17 RBIs and 17 runs scored. She had a monster game at Gilman with two home runs, including a grand slam, three hits, four runs scored and seven runs batted in. Rib Lake’s honorable mention picks this year are junior Madilyn Blomberg and freshman Ava Dallmann. Blomberg, who played first base when Weik was pitching and leftfield when Kiana Dallmann was pitching, hit .211 in North games (four for 19) with a double, four walks, three RBIs and three runs scored. Overall, her average was .339 (20 for 59) with three doubles, a home run in a 12-11 win over Newman Catholic on May 9, 13 runs scored and 12 driven in. She added five walks and had a fielding percentage of about .930. Dallmann, a freshman, was a key midseason addition to the batting order after an injury kept senior infielder Lily Butler from hitting. In five conference games, she hit .231 (three for 13) and drove in three runs, while scoring one. Overall, Dallmann hit .406 (13 for 32) with 12 RBIs, four walks drawn, just two strikeouts and five runs scored. In the fourth year of his second stint as the program’s head coach, the team improved to 44-33-1 in that stretch under Craig Scheithauer and 19-11 in the Marawood North. While Gumz, Kiana Dallmann and Lily Butler will be key losses, the team still brings back several core players next year, who will look to make one more run at the conference title and some post-season success.