VALDERS — Three years ago, the Sheboygan Falls softball program was teetering on collapse.
The Falcons had just six players and didn’t have a coach until a month before the season when Sam Bailey took over the program.
Last season, Sheboygan Falls won just four games, yet, on April 28 of the 2026 campaign, the Falcons defeated No. 5 ranked Valders 7-6 in eight innings to give the program one of its biggest wins in years.
While program is officially co-oped with Kohler, there are no players from Kohler on the team currently and their uniforms say Falcons.
For context, the Falcons lost both games a season ago to the Vikings by a combined margin of 23-0.
“It’s unreal,” junior Abigail Kanios said with a huge laugh, still somewhat in shock.
Added freshman teammate Cora Kroeplien, “It felt really good, it was so surreal.”
Kroeplien got the win in relief of Kanios in the circle, tossing five scoreless innings of one-hit ball and striking out seven.
She also drove in the game-winning run in the eighth inning with two outs before locking down the win in the next half inning.
“Every single girl on this team is special and amazing,” Bailey said. “We’re proud of every girl who came before that led to this moment.”
When Bailey took over the program three years ago, the team had so few players it had to borrow outfielders from opposing teams just to play a junior varsity schedule.
Fast forward to the game against Valders where Sheboygan Falls trailed 6-2 after three innings before tying the game at 6-6. The game-winning rally came in the eighth inning with two outs.
“Our confidence knowing that we can get this done has grown,” Bailey said. “We had that last year, but we’ve been able to settle into our game.”
Before the game, Bailey talked about how important a 10-0 win over Roncalli was on April 22, because it was the program’s first win over a conference opponent in four years.
The Falcons already have more wins this season (5) than any season since 2022. The last time the program won more than six games was in 2016 when it finished 9-10.
Every win Sheboygan Falls gets is a sign that the program is heading in the right direction, especially over a team as talented as Valders, which reached the Division 3 state semifinals in 2025.
Kanios has seen the transformation firsthand, one of the six players who began the season in 2024 as a freshman.
Just having 13 players on this year’s roster was a wonderful feeling and, she says, top to bottom, there’s a trust building among each other.
“I just feel like the attitude on this team this season is 100% better than where we started,” Kanios said. “To see that switch like we’re in the game, we’re in the game. Knowing we have confidence in every girl.”
The team figures to improve as well without any seniors on the roster, next year’s Falcons will be older, wiser and even more ready to fly.
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.
This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan Falls softball gets state-ranked win after almost folding in 2024
Reporting by Tom Dombeck, Sheboygan Press / Sheboygan Press
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