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CT softball player of the year: Lindsey Umberger, Madison Memorial

Bobbi Jo Snethen
Correspondent for The Capital Times
 —  6/30/2008 4:01 pm

What does it take to fuel first-team All-State shortstop Lindsey Umberger of Madison Memorial? A little sugar usually does the trick.

"She lives for candy. Get this girl a bag of Skittles, and she's ready to go," Spartans coach Patrick Joyce said.

Sweet tooth aside, Umberger believes offseason dedication was responsible for her impressive statistics, which included a .507 batting average, 36 hits and 27 RBIs.

"It takes a lot of work. It's putting in extra hours in the winter," said Umberger, who often traveled to Horicon to use the World Series Training Center, an indoor batting facility created for her traveling softball team, the Wisconsin Bandits.

Umberger, the 2008 Big Eight Conference Player of the Year, started at shortstop since her freshman season.

"Even as a freshman, I would choose Lindsey to show off or demonstrate anything. She is picture-perfect," said Joyce. "She does every fundamental skill as flawless as possible."

In 2004, the Spartans went 0-20. Umberger arrived the following year after making a difficult decision between playing with her childhood teammates at Memorial or open-enrolling at Mount Horeb so she could play for her father, Vikings coach Mike Umberger.

"My dad has helped me so much and has guided me through softball, and I'm really thankful for that," Umberger said. "But I've played with many of the girls at Memorial since sixth and seventh grade, and we have such a great chemistry."

That chemistry produced a 2008 Big Eight Conference title and an undefeated regular season highlighted by a 9-0 nonconference victory over WIAA Division 1 state runner-up Verona.

The Spartans' quest for a perfect season ended abruptly in a 2-1 loss to Baraboo in the second round of regionals. Umberger cranked out two of her team's three hits.

Umberger's softball career continues at NCAA Division I school Tennessee Tech.

"It's a big transition," said Umberger, who carried a 3.5 grade-point average. "It's really far away, but all of the good things about Tech outweighed the distance."

ALL-TIME WINNERS

2008 -- Lindsey Umberger, SS, Madison Memorial
2007 -- Stephanie Schmikla, P, McFarland
2006 -- Katie Stalker, SS, Madison La Follette
2005 -- Chelsey Ewing, P, Verona
2004 -- Katie Matykowski, P, Sun Prairie
2003 -- Courtney Jordak, P, Poynette

Bobbi Jo Snethen
Correspondent for The Capital Times
 —  6/30/2008 4:01 pm