Softball program in Shawano County asks for help after nearly $3k worth of equipment stolen
GRESHAM, Wis. (WFRV) – A new softball program in the village of Gresham is down thousands of dollars worth of equipment after coaches say thieves got into their locked storage shed.
It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Fever Fastpitch softball, a program that was gaining serious momentum in its first year of existence this summer.
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“It’s really heartbreaking because we started this program from our own blood, sweat, and tears and lots of trying times to get this program up off the ground,” said Lilly Fehrman who is the co-director of the program. “We finally got it into the air and now we’re back at square one.”
She says the thieves took about $3,000 worth of their softball equipment.
“Almost everything that is essential to our program our bats, and our helmets, and our catcher’s gear,” she said.
Fehrman said she grew up playing softball in the Gresham/Bowler area. She said for the past decade or so there hasn’t been a program in the area for girls in middle and late elementary school who wanted to play softball.
Fehrman and her high school softball teammate Morgan Paiser were determined to change that. They built up the Fever Fastpitch softball program from scratch, everything from getting equipment to finding players and scheduling games.
The program launched this summer and already they have more than 30 girls on the teams.
“(This program) it’s a game-changer for this area because we don’t have any other program to teach them about softball until they get to high school,” she said.
Fehrman and Paiser set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for new equipment. It can be found here and it has already raised more than $2500.
“It’s been so heartwarming to see so much (community support), especially for these young girls who are just getting into it to see the support not just from the coaches but the community,” said Fehrman.
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