UW-Eau Claire softball player, Paige Lathrop was declared the WIAC Athlete Of The Week for the week of March 17-23. Lathrop said she was shocked to receive this accolade.
“I didn’t realize I was batting that well until I saw the stats posted the other day,” Lathrop said.
The announcement came after Lathrop played six games in Cocoa Beach, Florida, with a hitting average of .727 and a slugging average of .909. All six of these games were won by the Blugolds, with the first two games being shutouts.
Lathrop’s teammate, Kenna Strunsee, said that Lathrop’s playing stuck out to her during those six games.
“There’s something about Paige that always causes chaos to other teams, whether she’s slapping or she lays a bunt down,” Strunsee said.
Lathrop’s performance this season has shown a batting average of .500 over 70 at bats. So far, this trumps her hitting averages of the past years of .333, .272 and .339, making for an overall average of .349.
Lathrop has played in a total of 127 games in her time at UW-Eau Claire and is in her third year on the team.
Strunsee said she would credit the team’s accomplishment to a “winning culture” among the players.
“There’s a certain vibe around that the team gives off that we know we’re gonna win and we go into every single game expecting to win,” Strunsee said.
However, Lathrop said most of this success is due to great teamwork and connections fostered between the players, which Strunsee said she agrees with.
“My teammates are my best friends,” Lathrop said, “All of us being able to work together and have a great chemistry on the field is one of the main reasons why we have so much success already.”
Additionally, Lathrop said she has found improvement from previous years due to increased confidence, comfort and experience. She said the improved confidence also comes from their team’s connections.
“We have a great team culture. I think almost anybody who meets our team or sees us out together would say that,” Lathrop said.
Before UW-Eau Claire, Lathrop played for the Rockets at South Milwaukee High School. She said she began her softball journey when she was nine or ten years old, starting by watching her older sister play and teammates play. Coincidentally, Strunsee said she was one of Lathrop’s sisters’ teammates.
Lathrop said she played through middle school and high school, but after working with many of the same teammates for so long, it was an adjustment to form new bonds.
“It took me, maybe, until my sophomore year to feel as comfortable as I did with my old teammates,” Lathrop said.
Through her time playing softball, she said her parents have been her biggest supporters.
“They come up every time that they can to watch a game here and we live almost four hours away. The commitment that they’ve shown to me, you know, it doesn’t go unnoticed,” Lathrop said.
Looking ahead, the next Blugold softball game will take place on April 2 against the UW-Superior Yellowjackets.
Lathrop said she looks forward to their upcoming conference games, which will begin with a match against UW-Stevens Point.
“It’s no secret that our conference is stacked with talent. I’m excited to see the battle for the conference title this year because I think it could go any way,” Lathrop said.
She said they will be putting in the work to prepare for the conference and that while they have a younger team this year of mostly freshmen and sophomores, they are very strong players who the upperclassmen have stepped up to assist.
Going forward into her year, Lathrop said she hopes to further improve but made sure to point out that “this season’s not over yet.”
Curtin can be reached at curtinem5864@uwec.edu.
