By Tara Sowle
UWRF Sports Information

Falcon senior Emily Stahl can be seen all over the UW-RF softball field. Her talents have allowed her to play almost anywhere in the field.

And those skills have helped her earn some team award. She was the team's Co-Most Inspirational award winner in 2004 and was the team's Most Improved Player in 2003. She was named to the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll in 2003 and 2004.

Stahl transferred from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, making her eligibility to play at UWRF for three years. She didn't play softball while at UMD and missed it a lot. "My sister was a junior at River Falls and
loved it here. I decided I needed a change of scenery so I transferred. I wanted to play softball here because I did miss it so much and because it was a good way to meet people."

Stahl began her softball career, like many others, on the tee ball fields when she was four. She made the gradual progress from slow pitch to fast pitch in junior high.

Her family has been a big park of her softball career. "My Dad has played baseball and softball his entire life so I was always around it growing up. My sister played too so I always had someone to practice with. My Dad has such a love for the game and my Mom always believed in me. They have spent 17 years watching some sort of softball and if that's not dedication, I don't know what is."

That dedication has been passed on to Stahl. What Falcon Coach Faye Perkins admires most about Stahl is, "her persistence and desire to play. I think most people would have given up the thought of playing college ball after having shoulder surgery."

Stahl, from St. Paul, Minn., and Como Park High School, works hard on her game and knows it takes strength both defensively and offensively to win games. "Defense is the heart of any sport. I was taught that defense breeds offense and I still think that's true."

Her performance on the field has shown that belief and has not gone unnoticed by Perkins."Her hitting (batting average of .309 right now) has definitely been a big contribution to the team as well as her stellar defense, an exceptional fielding percentage of .987 with only three errors in 227 chances." She has scored 10 runs and is second on the team with eight doubles. She has seven RBIs.

In her first year with the Falcons she played in 10 games and batted .250. Last year she played in 15 games and hit .167.

Stahl, the team's first baseman, plays to win and has learned strategies to make that happen. "Hitting may be more glamorous but I would rather rob a base hit than get one myself. All the most successful team that I have played on have stressed defense." She forced her way into the lineup with a strong showing during the team's spring break trip to Florida. She played parts of two games at shortstop early in the season, and also was used as the designated player, but has been the team's starter at first since the team's 2-1 win over Millikin in Florida.

Stahl believes the season has had its "bumps in the road" with injuries and good opponents, but wants to stress that the team's record doesn't do justice to the team. "We lost four starters from last year, but the new
kids have stepped up nicely. Our freshmen pitchers have been fantastic in their first collegiate year and the other that filled the open positions have excelled as well."

"My goal is to be happy with my effort. As long as I work hard and leave everything out on the field, I'll be happy with my performance."

Stahl hopes that her team will be able to win the rest of their conference games. Those wins will put them in good position for the conference tournament. "I also want the team to stay intense throughout the remainder of the year and finish in the top three of the WIAC."

Softball keeps Stahl pretty busy. "While we're in season I barely have enough time to breathe." But she does manage to find time to play intramural volleyball and broom ball for, "a nice change of pace from the daily grind."

Because playing a college sport is so time consuming her advice to anyone joining a college sport is, "be ready to work hard. It's tough balancing school and a sport but if you want it enough it's possible to excel at
both."

Emily Stahl