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Southern Lakes' best on display at state tournament

The best of Southern Lakes softball was on display this past weekend in the WIAA state tournament at Goodman Diamond in Madison.

Junior pitcher Alice Fitzpatrick led Union Grove High School to the Division 2 state championship, and junior Kristen Wood pitched conference champion Wilmot to second place in Division 1.

So, not surprisingly, those two are among the top picks in the coaches’ All-Southern Lakes selections. Wood, in fact, is a third-time pick for the first team and the conference Player of the Year for the second straight season.

Fitzpatrick also is on the first team, but as an infielder. Union Grove senior Natalie Zanella, who threw many of the Broncos’ conference games, joins Wood as the other All-Southern Lakes first-team pitcher.

Zanella was first team in 2009 and second team in 2010, both times as an infielder. Fitzpatrick was a second-team pitcher last year.

Union Grove senior infielder Emily McClelland is a third-time pick for the first team. She made it as an outfielder in 2010 and as a pitcher in 2009.

This year’s other first-team repeaters from last season are Union Grove sophomore outfielder Annie McClelland and Waterford senior infielder Courtney Ramczyk.

As the conference’s top player, Wood went 25-2 on the mound and .458 as her team’s leading hitter this season. She pitched 15 straight shutouts and finished with a 0.31 earned run average after allowing only seven earned runs and striking out 302 in 160 innings.

Wood pitched a no-hitter against Oconomowoc in the state quarterfinals and suffered a 2-1 loss to perennially powerful Stevens Point in the championship game.

Fitzpatrick pitched a 2-0 shutout against Oconto Falls and a 1-0 shutout against Baldwin-Woodville in the state tournament. She struck out 22 and walked only one in those two games.