2014 Overall Record:  57 - 8 - 1

Outscored opponents:  623 - 134

Accolades:  6 Tournament Championships / USSSA State Champions / 5th place at USSSA World Series in Kansas / 2 National USSSA World Series Berths / 1 Tournament 3rd place / 1 Indoor League Championship

Coaching Staff:

Kevin LaPoint - Head Coach/Manager
Assistant Coaches - Todd & Karri VandenLangenberg, Pete Weber

Players:

• Sydney LaPoint (Suamico, WI) *Age 13
• Emily Higgins (Pulaski, WI) *Age 13
• Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, WI) *Age 13
• Mariah Hermsen (Ashwaubenon, WI) *Age 13
• Bethany Weber (Green Bay, WI) *Age 14
• Jacie Legois (Luxemburg/Casco, WI) *Age 14
• Natalia Draghicchio (Suamico, WI) *Age 14
• Alexis Tingley (Howard, WI) *Age 14
• Sydney Johnson (Suamico, WI) *Age 14
• Katie Conard (Suamico, WI) *Age 14
• Gabrielle Every (Suamico, WI) *Age 14
• Mikayla Haack (Algoma, WI) *Age 14
• Taylor Arbour (Howard, WI) *Age 14 
• Alexa Schroeder (Suamico, WI) *Age 14

Congratulations to our hard-working young ladies for their 5th Place overall finish out of 56 teams at the USSSA 14u World Series in Lawrence, Kansas!!  Awesome way to finish our best season to date!!  

We began the week-long World Series on Monday with a great day of Opening Ceremonies and socializing with some of the best teams in the Midwest.  Everyone had a blast!  On Tuesday the pool games began with the heat index reaching 115-deg, then fought hard all week to reach Day 6 on championship Saturday.  We came into the 56 team field with the 5th best USSSA Power Ranking of all the teams, so we felt pretty good about that heading in.  We battled hard all week and didn't lose a game in this double-elimination tournament until very late in the tournament on the night of Day 5, in which we came up short by 1 run late in the game to the eventual World Series Champions.  On Day 6 of championship Saturday, we won our first game and then finished 1 game short of reaching the Final Four.  After all the dust settled, we came out finishing 5th place overall; and although we didn't come home with the title, we did finish the tournament with the #1 Power Ranking out of all the teams!!   

Results:  

Day 1 (Opening Ceremonies)

Day 2 (Pool Play): Tied the Pink Panthers from Salina, KS (8-8), then beat the Northern Illinois Thunder Silver from Sugar Grove, IL (9-2)

Day 3 (Pool Play): Beat the highly-ranked Smithville Sting of Smithville, MO (6-4) to earn the #1 seed in our pool

Day 4 (Bracket Play): Started off with a bye, then beat the Kansas Titans from Olathe, KS (9-1)

Day 5 (Bracket Play): Beat the Stingrays from Palatine, IL (11-2) to reach the Elite 8 in the tourney, then lost our first game of the tourney to the eventual champions - Topeka Nemesis of Topeka, KS (3-4), then finished the night by beating the Mud Turtles of Baxter Springs, KS in another tight game (7-6)

Day 6 (Bracket Play): Beat the Oklahoma Nemesis of Tulsa, OK (5-2), then lost our final game to the X-Factor 99s of Ottawa, KS (5-8)

As a coach/manager/dad of these wonderful young ladies, I couldn't be more proud of what we've built together.  The successes these girls have accomplished over these past 4 years have not come easy, it took a group of athletes and families to come together in the belief that success in this game can only be realized by surrounding each other with others that were willing to put in the time and dedication.  Countless year-round practices, hard work, team chemistry, and the act of putting others ahead of ourselves is how success has been accomplished here.  We are all so proud of these girls and families.  Awesome season ladies!! More success to come...

Congratulations to our amazing young ladies for bringing home the USSSA Wisconsin State Open Championship!!

The team went 7-1 on the weekend by outscoring the opposition 42-12.  In pool play, the girls defeated the Kenosha Cyclones 9-3, then the Beloit Toxic 14-2 to earn the #1 overall seed heading into double-elimination bracket play.  Started bracket play by defeating the Wisconsin Twisters '99 team 3-1, then beat the Ignite quickly 8-0.  Lost in the winner's bracket semifinal to a very good New Berlin Heat Red 0-3.  Had to drop down to the loser's bracket for a game and beat the Wisconsin Twisters in a tight one 1-0 (which included stellar defensive play by our Katie Conard - and diving outfield catches by our outfielders that stepped up and knew they had to be aggressive all weekend).  With the win, we earned the right to play again the New Berlin Heat Red team, but to win the championship we would have to beat them two times...and we did, by winning the first game 5-2 and then taking the Championship in the most thrilling game of the tournament 2-1!!  Game was tied in the bottom of the seventh inning, with Katie Conard coming through with an RBI to bring home the winning run...and our first State Championship!!  Congrats to all of our entire team for every single player stepping up to the challenge on a long Sunday by playing awesome both defensively and offensively.  Notable were our pitchers (Syd and Alexa) for facing very experienced batters all weekend, with one of the best catchers out there in our Natalia Draghicchio anchoring things behind the plate.  Home runs, hard line drives, small-ball, and smart base running by our offense will put pressure on every opponent at all times.  Defensively, this team is solid.  There is no quit in the hearts of these girls - they know what it takes to win by digging in with dedication and hard work, all year round...and for that we couldn't be any prouder.

Congratulations to our girls for taking 3rd out of 29 teams in the Eau Claire Fastpitch Classic which draws very good teams from multiple states.  Our ladies went 5-1 on the weekend and outscored the opposition 56-6.

Results:  Earned the #1 overall seed in pool play by only giving up 1 run in three games.  Defeated the Seymour Flames - Eau Claire, WI 11-1, then beat the Hudson Raiders - Hudson, WI 5-0, then finished up pool play by beating the Blizzard - Chanhassen, MN 15-0 in 3 innings (no-hitter thrown by Sydney LaPoint).  Entered the Gold Bracket with a bye as the #1 overall seed and played the Hudson Raiders in the Quarterfinal and won 14-0.  In the semifinal game, we lost in extra innings to a well-built team the MN Rampage - St. Michael, MN 4-5 (game incl. a 2-run home run blast in the final regulation inning to force overtime by Mariah Hermsen).  Finished the weekend taking 3rd overall out of 29 teams.  Everyone played their hearts out once again to make our organization proud!

Congratulations goes out to our ladies for winning the USSSA National World Series Qualifier Tournament hosted at the Field of Dreams tourney in Green Bay, WI.  With the tournament win, our ladies earned a berth and the right to represent Wisconsin at the USSSA National World Series in Kansas City, KS!! 

The team went 6-1 on the weekend and outscored the opposition 38-14.  During Saturday's pool play, the girls outlasted the WI Elite 2-1, then quickly beat the Racine Belles 10-0 in 3 innings (incl. a 235' home run blast by Raven VandenLangenberg ) to earn the #2 overall seed.  Entering the double-elimination bracket play, we again beat the Racine Belles 9-0, then Green Bay Preble 8-4.  On Sunday, we beat the very solid #1 seed Fox River Rush 4-1 (Syd LaPoint pitched a 1-hitter to limit the Rush's offense).  On Sunday evening we played the Rush again, this time they got us 7-4.  Since this was our first loss of the tourney, we got another chance to win the Championship immediately after - and in doing so both teams played their hearts out and we witnessed the best game of the tournament.  The girls dug deep and came out on top this time, winning the 7 inning grudge match 2-1 to take the tourney Championship and earn a National World Series berth!  A ton of credit goes out to our defense for their solid performance diving for balls and turning double plays when we needed them the most.  Our girls have worked so hard over the past four years together, it's wonderful to see everything coming together and witnessing their successes individually and as a team!!  This is the 5th tournament championship in a row for our program this season - we are so very proud of you girls!!

*** And a special congrats as well to our Sydney LaPoint for being awarded the All-Tournament MVP!!! by the tournament staff, opposing coaches, and umpiring crew.

Congratulations to our ladies for taking home the Championship at the Appleton Rockers Kick-Off Classic Tournament!!  16 very good teams battled throughout the 3-day weekend, and our girls won the war - outscoring the opposition 40-15.  This is the 4th tournament championship in a row for our girls who fought hard all weekend amongst very competitive opponents.  It was a great test and measure for our team to see where our progress is at as a team.  In pool play on Friday night, we started a little off-balance and fell short to the very experienced Oshkosh Raiders 3-6, but then dug in and never looked back to win 6 straight.  In the second pool game, we faced another very good team Stevens Point, and won 7-3.  The third pool game we faced the Players Choice Panthers and cruised to a 7-1 win to earn the #5 seed in the brackets.  Saturday night the girls shut-out the Appleton Rockers 6-0.  In the Quarterfinal we beat the Players Choice Panthers again 3-2.  The Semifinal game was the most exciting game of the weekend where we beat the WI Bandits Black team after tied-up 0-0 after 5 innings, to get a come-from-behind win in the bottom of the 6th inning 2-1.  In the Championship game late on Sunday, our ladies finished the tournament out strong by defeating Marshfield Fastpitch 12-2 to take home the title.  

Congratulations to our young ladies for taking home another tournament Championship!  This is the third in a row for our girls.  The ladies finished the weekend with a 4-0 overall record, outscoring the competition 53-3 (giving up 0 earned runs).  The #1 seed going into bracket play was earned by beating Hortonville 15-1, then Luxemburg-Casco 10-2.  In Sunday's games the girls defeated Seymour Thunder 12-0 in 4 innings by limiting them to only 1 hit by Lex & Syd, then finished the tournament by defeating Appleton North Sizzle 16-0 in 3 innings with a combined no-hitter by Alexis Tingley and Sydney LaPoint.  Also notable was Raven VandenLangenberg's 7 for 8 hitting on the weekend.  The start of the season shows much promise for another great season by these hard-working ladies!

Congrats to our 14u ladies for capturing their second tournament championship in as many weeks.  Although only 4 teams were in the one-day mini-tournament, the girls played all games with the same preparation, gametime intensity and focus required to prepare for the long upcoming summer tournament schedule.  Our team swept through the competition by defeating the Mequon Heat Red 14-2 in the semifinal, then took the title by defeating the host team Waupun Eclipse 14-0.  Combined pitching by Sydney LaPoint & Alexis Tingley was once again performed with control through the opposition's lineups.  The girls outscored the competition 28-2 on the day (which included 3 home runs - by Raven VandenLangenberg, Emily Higgins, and Mariah Hermsen).  Also, adding to the offensive arsenal were Sydney LaPoint (5 for 8 - 2 doubles, 1 triple, 2 singles), Katie Conard (5 for 8 - 3 doubles, 2 singles), Mikayla Haack (5 for 8 - 1 triple, 4 singles), Alexis Tingley (5 for 7 - 2 doubles, 3 singles), and Beth Weber (3 for 7).

Congratulations goes out to our 14u ladies for starting the 2014 summer season with a tournament Championship!!  The girls had to endure 6 games all in one day, but thanks to a hard off-season training program our girls got it done.  The team earned a 6-0 record and outscored the opposition 113-3.  Opened up the day in Pool play by defeating the Madison Hatters 18-0, then beat Mequon Heat 31-0, then finished up pool play by beating N. Fond du Lac 23-2 to earn the #1 overall seed.  In the quarterfinal the girls beat the Batavia Crush 17-0, semifinal beat Two Rivers Jr. Raiders 11-1, then wrapped up the championship by defeating Bay Port 13-0.  The team run-ruled every team on the day.  Defensively, we witnessed steller pitching by Alexis Tingley, Sydney LaPoint, and Raven VandenLangenberg which limited the opponents to only 4 total hits on the day, and 0 earned runs (including 3 no-hitters).  Offensively, the team collected 113 runs on 96 hits (included 4 home runs - Katie Conard, Mariah Hermsen, and Cassie Foytik).  A special thanks goes out to Cassie Foytik, Camryn Baenen, and Chloe Evans for filling in for our HS freshman who couldn't play this weekend.

Great start ladies!! All of your year-round training and hard-work ethic is paying off!!  Now let's see what else we can do this year!!

Congrats to our 14u team for earning another Players Choice Winter Indoor League Championship in Appleton, WI. The team went undefeated with a 7-0 overall record, outscoring opponents 70-16.  Great start for another exciting season!

2013 Record:  49-8

Outscored opponents:  488-118

Accolades:  3 Tournament Championships, 2 Tournament Runners-Up, 1 Tournament 3rd Place, 2 Tournament Round-Robin Titles, 3 League Titles

Coaching Staff:

Kevin LaPoint - Head Coach/Manager
Assistant Coaches - Pete Weber & Todd VandenLangenberg

Players:

• Sydney LaPoint (Suamico, WI) *Age 12
• Emily Higgins (Pulaski, WI) *Age 12
• Raven Vanden Langenberg (Seymour, WI) *Age 12
• Bethany Weber (Green Bay, WI) *Age 13
• Jacie Legois (Luxemburg/Casco, WI) *Age 13
• Natalia Draghicchio (Suamico, WI) *Age 13
• Alexis Tingley (Howard, WI) *Age 13
• Sydney Johnson (Suamico, WI) *Age 13
• Katie Conard (Suamico, WI) *Age 13
• Gabrielle Every (Suamico, WI) *Age 13
• Mikayla Haack (Algoma, WI) *Age 13
• Carmen Haack (Algoma, WI) *Age 14

Congratulations once again to our young Powerhouse ladies for taking 2nd place out of 12 teams from Wisconsin and Illinois! The team went 3-2 on the weekend, and outscored opponents 33-21.  Pool play on day one the girls defeated Burlington Black - Burlington, WI  12-0, then fell to BRW Blast - Chicago, IL  3-5.  Bracket play on day two seeded us against the Poynette Rage - Poynette, WI with an 8-0 win in the quarterfinal (no-hitter thrown by Syd LaPoint), then won the semifinal game against the New Berlin Magic - New Berlin, WI  3-1 (Alexis Tingley broke the 0-0 game open late with a 3-run RBI). Lost in the Championship game late on Sunday night to the host team, Middleton; but girls played their hearts out all weekend and came back home proud of another great weekend of competitive fastpitch softball.

Congratulations to our girls for placing 3rd out of 21 teams ranging from all over the Midwest.  Our girls finished with a 5-2 record on the weekend, and outscored the opposition 41-17.  Results:  Opened pool play by defeating the MN SnoCatz - Woodbury, MN 9-1, and Northstar Fastpitch - Ramsey, MN 9-6, then finished pool play to earn the #1 seed in the Gold Bracket by beating WCCV Lady Starz #1 - Wesby, WI 8-0 (Sydney LaPoint pitched a no-hitter in the game).  Bracket play Saturday night started off with a shutout win against the Hudson Heat - Hudson, WI 7-0.  Sunday's quarterfinal had us facing one of the toughest opponents we've faced all year, and after 2 international tie-breakers our ladies came out with a thrilling 3-2 victory with a suicide squeeze over the Burnsville Blaze - Burnsville, MN (shutdown pitching by Alexis Tingley kept the game tight in order for us to get the opporunity for the win).  We came up a little short in the semifinal game against the WI Renegades - LaCrosse, WI 0-2, then fell to the Irondale Knights - Irondale, MN in another exciting international tiebreaker 5-6 (that game included a towering homerun by Emily Higgins, and then a 2-run double by Jacie Legois late in the game to force extra innings).  It was a very long weekend of great competition against much older teams.  Our young ladies made our organization proud once again!!

Congratulations goes out to our young 14u ladies again for winning their 3rd consecutive tournament Championship in as many weeks!  The girls had a 6-0 record throughout the tourney and outscored the opposition 64-5.  Outstanding pitching by Alexis Tingley, Sydney LaPoint, and Carmen Haack, combined with solid catching by Natalia Draghicchio, limited the opposing batters to only 5 runs all weekend.  When the ball did get into play, the defense behind the pitchers shut down almost all scoring chances with very sound fundamentals.  Offensively, the girls continue the attack inning by inning - never settling at any point in the game.

Our girls earned their #1 seed after pool play by defeating the Appleton East Rockers 3-2 on Friday night, then came back on Saturday to beat Pulaski 10-1, then Appleton North Sizzle 16-0.  Bracket play started Saturday evening with the girls defeating Coleman 17-0 in the quarterfinals (no-hitter thrown by Syd LaPoint).  This then set up a semifinal with Menasha on Sunday, which resulted in a 7-1 win to earn a shot at another championship (the last run scored in this game Powerhouse set a team milestone with their 1,000th team run in the 3 seasons the girls have been together - scored by Sydney LaPoint driven-in from an RBI single by Carmen Haack).  The championship game then pitted us against the Appleton East Rockers squad once again, but this time the girls didn't want it as close as the first meeting; resulting in an 11-1 win by 10-run rule after 5 innings.  The girls are playing their best ball at this point in the season!  There is a long way to go in the development of this very young 14u team, but their desire to work and win together is as strong as any older team out there!  Way to go girls!!

Our young 14U ladies did it again by winning another exciting tournament Championship!  Out of 6 teams, we earned the #1 seed in pool play on Saturday by defeating Hortonville 7-3, and then finished the day by defeating Central WI Breeze 6-1.  Sunday's semifinal game had us matched up again with Central WI.  After a slow start, the girls had to overcome a 2 run deficit and prevailed 4-2 to move on to the championship game to face again the much older Hortonville.  Uncharacteristically, our team dug ourseleves a huge hole and found us down 0-9 in the 4th inning.  Seemed as though the game was over, but this team never gives in.  So here is where true character and a team's heart is is tested...  We had a meeting on the mound and took a gut-check - the girls decided to dig really deep and get back into the fight and play Powerhouse softball.  We then scratched 3 runs to get on the board, and then it happened...the best comeback in our team's history - the girls shut down anything Hortonville tried to muster on offense, and our offense attacked and attacked inning by inning to come out with an 11-9 come-from-behind victory and earn another Championship title!!  

Attitude, heart, and the determination to work harder than the others is who we are...we have a long way to go, but we are starting to discover who we are and what we can do when we put everything we've been blessed with out on the diamond and work together; and more importantly, these young ladies will take what is experienced here and apply what they've learned in these special times out into the world as they mature. 

Well done ladies! Amazing comeback against the odds!! You are young, but that never stopped you from believing in yourselves, your abilities, and your teammates!!!

Special congrats goes out to our Emily Higgins for earning the Championship game MVP!

Our young 14u team travelled out west to LaCrosse, WI for the weekend with a mission, and fullfilled that mission by taking the tournament Championship trophy back home to Green Bay, outscoring our opponents a combined 34-6.  Excellent pitching, defense, and attack-style offense keeps getting stonger every time the girls hit the diamond.  In the first game of the tournament we faced a strong team from Chisago Lakes, MN and came out with a 4-2 victory (solid pitching by Alexis Tingley and a strong defense behind her prevented the opponent's offense from getting any momentum going).  Next, we played the Menomonie, WI Storm and won quickly 11-0 in 4 innings (Sydney LaPoint pitched the 6 strikeout, 1-hit, shutout).  Next, we faced a solid Chippewa Valley Inferno team and defeated them 8-1 (Alexis Tingley limited their offense by throwing a 2-hit, 1-run game).  On Sunday, we earned the Championship title by defeating Altoona, WI 11-3 (Sydney LaPoint had the mound and collected 9 strikeouts and only gave up 3 hits for the win).  The offense continues to attack and pressure the opposition, while the defense and solid pitching keeps the opponents from generating runs.  Another great tournament Championship earned by these young ladies!! 

Our girls came out of the gates strong in pool play by defeating Waupaca 19-1, then beat a strong Madison Hatters team 10-6 to earn the #1 seed and play in the Championship game.  The girls faced a much older Preble Hornets squad, but never stopped the fight when down early and loaded the bases in the bottom of the 7th inning with the winning run at the plate.  We came up a bit short at the end of the long battle with a 3-6 score, but showed a "never-die" attitude up to the very end (even had a defensive triple-play!).  This is a wonderful team of young ladies that will ALWAYS believe they have what it takes to win, no matter what.  And that's exactly why the spirit of the game is strong with these girls!  

Our girls had another exceptional day of fastpitch by winning the day with 2 decisive wins, outscoring our opponents a combined 43-1.  In the morning, we played the host team from Waupun and won 15-0 to earn a the shot at playing the winner of the other side of the round-robin, Pewaukee.  We finished the day by defeating the Pewaukee Predators 28-1.  Our defense held the competition in both games by only giving up 5 hits, with no earned runs on the day.  Offensively the bats were alive with 50 hits in the two games played.  The team looks ready for another great tournament season! 

On a cool, windy day in Merton, WI our girls battled though the elements for 3 games and came out with 3 decisive wins, outscoring our opponents a combined 41-4.  In the morning, we played a team from nearby Slinger and won 20-1 after 3 innings.  Early afternoon we played the Pride of the Midwest and won 13-2.  Last game of the long day set up a matchup against the Pewaukee Predators in which we completed the day's sweep and beat them 8-1.  It was a great day for our young Powerhouse team!

Congrats to our young girls for taking the crown in the 2013 13u Spring Indoor League at Players Choice in Appleton, WI.  The team went undeafeated with a 6-0 overall league record, outscoring our opponents 45-3.  

Congrats to our young 14u team for taking the crown in the 2013 14u Winter Indoor League at Players Choice in Appleton, WI.  The team had a 5-1 overall record in the league, outscoring our opponents 30-12.  Great start to the season!