Zy-wow-ski: Port’s Zygowski is Player of the Year

By MITCH MAERSCH

Ozaukee Press staff

At the plate, she had the most home runs, total bases, runs batted in, the highest batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage in the North Shore Conference among players with more than 39 at-bats this softball season.

On the pitching rubber, Port Washington High School senior Ashley Zygowski was second in the league in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched.

That added up to being named the North Shore Conference Co-Player of the Year with Cedarburg’s Paytn Monticelli.

“I’m biased, but I think she never should have been a co-MVP for what she did this year in pitching, hitting, base stealing,” coach Ben Navigato said.

“How much she has improved and how confident she is — she just had a phenomenal year.”

Pirate shortstop Peyton Mueller-Stenz joined Zygowski on the NSC first team, and freshman catcher Hope Gilhooly was chosen for the second team.

Grafton shortstop Ivana Micic earned honorable mention.

Zygowski batted .584 with an on-base percentage of .625, clobbered 12 home runs — nearly double the next best in the NSC of seven — had 89 total bases (second was 75), 31 RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.156. Her 45 hits tied for the league lead and her 10 walks tied for sixth. She swiped five bases, tied for fifth, according to wissports.net.

She had three home runs and seven RBI at Whitefish Bay on April 19. Navigato said she would have had two more bombs if she hadn’t dropped her shoulder.

“I don’t think we’ll see that,” Navigato said of Zygowski’s numbers this season. “Maybe Hope. She’s got that same kind of talent that Ashley does. Both can play any position. Hope is a little calmer than Ashley, but both have that competitive aspect.”

As pitcher, Zygowski was nearly as fearsome, featuring pitch speeds in the mid-60s, already college level. She went 10-7 with an earned-run average of 2.92. In 119-2/3 innings pitched, she whiffed 189  — both second in the conference. She had a WHIP of 1.25.

Monticelli was even more dominant on the rubber, featuring a 68 mph fastball. She led the league with 17 wins and 306 strikeouts and 131 innings pitched (2.3 whiffs per inning). She had an ERA of .8 and a WHIP of .57.

Zygowski had the edge at the plate. Monticelli was fourth in the NSC in hits with 36 and average at .450, third in homers with five and totals bases with 61, and seventh in RBI with 22.

Mueller-Stenz led the defense at shortstop all season and faced a unique element throughout her high school career.

“It’s tough for her. Her stepdad’s the coach. She’s had it since she was a freshman,” Navigato said.

While Navigato said rumors circled that Mueller-Stenz got more playing time because of her stepdad, that wasn’t the case.

“I make challenges in practice. You have to beat out the position player, and she has done that every year,” he said. “She thinks she has to do better because I’m the coach, and she is better. She’s the best shortstop I’ve had at Port.”

Mueller-Stenz hit leadoff and was third in the NSC in batting average at .500, tied for second in on-base percentage at .575, second in runs scored with 32, and she led the league in steals with 10. Her 34 hits was sixth, and she tied for the lead in triples with three. She was sixth in homers with four, tied for sixth in walks with 10 and was fifth in total bases with 58. Her 21 RBI was good for ninth.

“She’s typically what you want as a leader and hitting-wise probably one of the best leadoff batters in our conference,” Navigato said. “I don’t have to give her a bunt sign. If the third baseman is back or if the first baseman is not crashing, she knows to bunt.”

Once she reached base, Navigato let Mueller-Stenz go.

“I call plays, but she could steal when she wanted to steal,” he said. “I don’t have to worry about her when she’s on second and there’s a base hit. She’s going home.”

The shrewd runner regularly distracted defenses and even stole home.

“She dares you to throw, and she gets back or she goes,” Navigato said. “She reads the pitch — that’s the toughest thing to teach girls and guys. If the ball is going to hit the dirt, you better be stealing, especially in softball, because the catcher still has to scoop the ball and make the throw.”

Gilhooly played catcher most of the season, widely regarded as the second-most important position behind pitcher, and NSC coaches took notice of her performance.

“I didn’t even have to mention her name at the meeting when they picked. They already had her on the board,” Navigato said.

He said he had been recruiting Gilhooly since she was in seventh grade. It was a toss-up between softball and soccer — she’s a talented keeper, Navigato said — and Gilhooly chose the former in eighth grade.

“Thank God she did,” Navigato said.

“Hope coming in at the right time was perfect. She was the only one who could really handle Ashley. We would have had a lot of passed balls. She saved runs and extra bases.”

Navigato would move Gilhooly to center field or first base to give her a break, “but I could never take her out of the game.”

Gilhooly hit .343, had 15 RBI, and was tied for second in the NSC with eight steals. She tied for the league lead by throwing out seven runners.

The Pirates reached the sectional final before losing to Wisconsin Lutheran, 2-0. They finished 13-10. It was Port’s best season since advancing to state in 2009.

For Grafton, Micic was the leader of the defense at shortstop and in most offensive categories. She bounced back from a shoulder injury that kept her from reaching her potential as a junior, after not playing the year before due to the pandemic.

“I’m super proud of her. She was a senior leader that stepped into a big role,” coach Mike Bergmann said.

Micic hit .328 on the season with a grand slam and a home run in her final game, a 7-2 loss to Lake Mills in the playoffs. She had 13 RBIs and five doubles.

Grafton finished the season 2-20.