Waukon softball team returns 15 letterwinners for 2018 season

There will be a lot of familiarity on the field for the 2018 Waukon softball team, but a brand new face will be leading that familiarity. First-year head softball coach Shane Schellsmidt will be taking the reins of the Lady Indian softball program this season and will be welcomed by 15 players returning with enough experience from last season to have earned a varsity letter.

Although new to the Allamakee Community School District teaching staff this past year and new to coaching the Waukon softball program, Schellsmidt is anything but new to the fundamentals and finer points of a ball diamond and being able to coach all of those, and certainly familiar to the local area. An extensive baseball resumé for the first-year softball coach begins with his All-State player accolades in helping Kee High School win a State Championship and finish as State Runner-Up in two other seasons from 1992-1996.

Schellsmidt took those playing talents to the collegiate level at Southwestern Community College and the University of Dubuque and further carried over his baseball expertise into the coaching realm, including at both his high school and college alma mater. He has further extended his coaching experience into an extensive list of affiliations with Major League Baseball, as well as an extensive list of success with youth programs on the national level.

Although his resumé of baseball experience fills an impressive series of pages, Coach Schellsmidt knows his new role and this season is not about him, but about what he can bring to what he says is a promising group of young athletes.

The Indians were scheduled to get their season underway with a busy initial week this week, hosting Central Elkader Tuesday, May 22 before playing at Waverly-Shell Rock Thursday, May 24 and then at Kee Friday, May 25.

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