WAUPUN — Medema Fields in Waupun hosted the first Legion Girls Softball game Wednesday evening in Legion Post 210’s double-header against Oconomowoc. The game marks the very first Legion Girls Softball game in Wisconsin history with the first season this summer.
The Legion Post 210 Girls Softball Team is led by head coach Derrick Standke, who previously served as coach on the Waupun High School baseball, Legion baseball, and Waupun Eclipse teams. Derrick also serves as chairman of the Legion Softball Committee which set up the program this year.
“We started at the state level in 2021 in the fall,” Coach Derrick Standke told WPN. “Legion baseball has been around for 96 years in Wisconsin, so it was a big push to get it started.”
The American Legion has been looking to expand their youth sports program to include youth girls softball. It first began in the East Coast in 2018 and started making its way nationwide over the last several years. Minnesota started their league in 2022, with Wisconsin right on their heels.
“We thought we needed to get on board in Wisconsin, and do the same as well to give these girls an opportunity to do what they love to do in the summer,” Standke said. “We didn’t want to jump right in on 2022, we wanted to make sure we had everything planned out right, pieces in place, talk to other states, figure out what worked, what didn’t work for them. And it led us to where we are today with almost 30 teams registered in Wisconsin in the first year.”
The Waupun Legion Post 210 Girls Softball team is made up of 17 freshmen, sophomores, and juniors from Waupun Area High School. The season goes for seven weeks with regional playoffs July 21st-23rd and a state championship on the weekend of July 28th-30th.
The game was prefaced by a short speech from Coach Standke, the throwing of the first pitches by Mayor Rohn Bishop, Legion Post 210 Commander Bob Patrouli, and Colonel Jessica Sullivan who serves in the US Air Force. Following the speeches and first pitches was the singing of the national anthem by MaKenya Potratz.
The Waupun team won both games for their double header against Oconomowoc, final scores 9-5 and 20-10.
The game schedule can be found on the Waupun Softball website here: https://www.waupunsoftball.com/ampost210
The Waupun Girls Softball Association posted their own album of pictures which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=WGSA15&set=a.635418298619335
