The Silver Bay softball team, currently 16-1 this season, recently had a question for Head Coach Mike Guzzo that sent him digging through the program’s history.
“They were asking about what the best record of the teams was,” the Mariners coach of 27 years said. “I said, I’ll look it up.”
Guzzo found that the team 20 years ago finished second in the state with 25 wins. He told the girls, “Gives you something to shoot for.”
This year’s group has a real chance at it. According to the QRF, the Quality Results Formula that the state uses to seed teams, the Mariners were ranked number two in their class when we spoke. The top-ranked team, Barnum, faced Silver Bay at a late-April tournament in Proctor, and the Mariners won 12-7.
That tournament was a turning point. Silver Bay also beat Warroad 16-8 and Denfeld 6-1.
“I think that really jump-started us a little more, too,” Guzzo said. “Once we came out of that tournament, we said, ‘hey, this team’s going to be really good.’”
The success isn’t a surprise to the coach, even with only 17 players on the roster, an all-time low in his tenure.
“We knew we’d have a pretty good team,” he said. “We had all nine starters coming back, and that gives you a pretty good foundation.”
For a small team, they are loaded with talent, especially on offense.
“We’re batting .454 as a team,” Guzzo said. “We hit pretty good last year. We were like .390, but this has been pretty outstanding to stay in the 400s.”
Among the three seniors, Natalie Walker has been one of the team’s strongest hitters, batting .590 when we spoke. She plays right field. Fellow senior Deja Kindstrand adds depth in the outfield, and senior pitcher Madison Ollman has returned strongly this season.
“They’re all having nice years,” Guzzo said. He calls the junior class the “bread and butter” of the team. Five juniors start: Berkley Hoff at pitcher and shortstop, Lilly Ernest at third, Anna Klemmer at first, Callie Ernest in center, and Karly Nelson at second. Mikaela Lindgren serves as the designated hitter.
“She’s one of our top hitters this year,” Guzzo said. “She’s been batting really well.”
Freshman catcher Kinley Nelson, the team’s top hitter as both a seventh and eighth grader, is leading the team again.
Her coach calls her “the real deal.”
“Most of these kids have played a lot of ball together,” Guzzo said. “I think they’re a pretty tight-knit group. We’ve had good team chemistry.”
Despite their record, the Mariners have had to grind out wins. Against Ely, they trailed 2-0 in the fifth before scoring four runs in the bottom half to win 4-2.
“They’ve seen tough times, too. We’ve not played our best and we’ve been down in a few games,” Guzzo said. “The game can get away from you at any time.”
As the playoffs approach, the focus is on tightening the defense.
“We seem to give up some extra runs because of the errors and walks,” Guzzo said. “Hopefully, before the playoffs come, we can cut that down.”
Their section is deep, with Barnum, Cherry, South Ridge, Cromwell, and Ely all in the mix. Guzzo has seen strong teams exit early.
“You could win all these games during the regular season and then run into somebody that gets hot in the playoffs and bump you off,” he said. “The playoffs will be a whole new game.”
He reminds the girls that no matter what happens, their work stands.
“Anything can happen in this goofy game,” he said. “Nobody can take away the good work you’ve done so far. If you finish the season strong, end with a good record, that’s a good thing to hang your hat on.”
Guzzo believes this group has a “pretty good recipe to success.”
Part of that recipe is the coaching staff. Kelly Ollila works with the JV and younger players. Mike Coffey handles pitching and defense. Hannah LeBlanc and Casey Frank coach hitters. Jeff Asmussen rounds out the staff.
“He’s been around forever,” Guzzo said. “He’s our bus driver, then he’s our book guy with the games. He jumps right on the bench and does stats and gives out orders to outfielders. He tries to tell me what to do but I don’t listen all the time. We have a lot of fun.”
He calls the staff “knowledgeable” and “very trustworthy.”
“I really appreciate them all,” he said. “It’s a good balance.”
Though the roster is small, Guzzo sees a bright future. He believes the lower numbers stem from more spring sports options, something he sees as a positive development, even if it spreads athletes thin.
“Kids are getting the opportunity to try other stuff,” he said. “But it does hurt you as far as having depth on your teams. There’s still a lot that don’t [play sports]. That’s the sad part. COVID, a lot of kids and families found other things to do.”
After so many years of coaching, Guzzo is now seeing the daughters of former players join the roster.
“I coach a lot of kids that I coached their parents,” he said. “I think, my gosh, you look just like your mother.”
LeBlanc is about to become a mother herself, and the team organized a gender reveal at practice. The girls wore pink or blue shirts, and Guzzo and Mike Hoff swung at softballs that exploded in color. LeBlanc’s ball held the true reveal.
“The kids all had fun with that,” Guzzo recalled. “They put that together all on their own. That’s how good of a group of kids this is. They get all kinds of ideas.”
Guzzo explained that the top four seeds host a playoff game on May 19, and the top two also host on May 21. Last season, the Mariners reached the final four.
“We just want that one or two spot, to be honest,” he said.
The team was preparing for its rematch with Barnum on May 12 when we spoke. The game will likely determine the number one seed.
“We’re putting our marbles on that game,” Guzzo said.
The game will have wrapped up after press time, but this reporter is crossing fingers we report a Mariners win in a future edition of North Shore Sports Shorts.
