Roar Report: Fall 2021-22 by Milwaukee Panthers

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CHRIS ZILLS

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS & MULTIMEDIA

CODY BOHL

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR COMMUNICATIONS

ASHLEY STELTENPOHL

DIRECTOR CONTENT CREATION & STRATEGY

GARY D’AMATO FEATURE WRITER

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Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, Cross Country, and Volleyball

MAKING THE DREAM A REALITY

by Gary D’Amato The Milwaukee Athletic Department celebrated the official groundbreaking for the Othopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Center early this fall - a building that will be utilized primarily by the Panthers men’s and women’s basketball teams.

STANDING TALL

“LaMacchia says NO!!” A story on Elaina LaMacchia and her success as the Panthers’ goalkeeper.

SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS

A deeper look into Milwaukee’s staff of three setters.

RAISING HIS GAME

The Roar Report catches up with alum Daulton Varsho.

INSIDE

LIGHT UP THE HYPE

3.2 SECONDS! Jelena Sever scored off the opening kickoff to set a new NCAA record and help jumpstart the Milwaukee women’s soccer team to a 7-0 victory over Youngstown State. PHOTO BY LEN CEDERHOLM

LIGHT UP THE HYPE

PLAYER OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE Milwaukee volleyball’s Ari Miller is putting together an incredible junior season and has become one of the most feared hitters in the Horizon League. Miller leads the league in hitting percentage (.386) and ranks second in kills per set (3.80) and points per set (4.31) for the Panthers, who started 4-0 in Horizon League action. PHOTO BY LEN CEDERHOLM

S P O RT U P DATE

MEN’S SOCCER 07

The Milwaukee men’s soccer team has been battling injuries and seen some ups and downs throughout the first half of the 2021 campaign, with the reigning Horizon League Tournament champions entering the month of October at 3-4-1 overall. They are 2-1-1 in conference contests, sitting in third place as September comes to a close. Raul Medina leads the offense with six points, coming on two goals and two assists. Paolo Gratton is next with four points, with both of his goals coming on a 2-1 victory at Robert Morris that helped him earn Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honors. Adi Vaknin also has a pair of goals, including the game-winner in the 2-1 decision over Drake to open the 2021 season.

Gratton was named to the 2021 NCAA Men’s Soccer Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List. The Hermann Trophy, presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, is the nation’s highest individual honor recognizing the nation’s National Player of the Year. Jake Kelderman was recently announced as a Senior CLASS Award candidate. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total studentathlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. He is one of just 30 males across the NCAA Division I level to be selected.

On defense, newcomer Gijs Van Schouten capped his MKE debut with Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors, making six saves to help the Panthers overcome a 1-0 deficit and claim a 2-1 win over Drake in the season opener – with the only goal allowed coming on a penalty kick. He was also brilliant in leading Milwaukee to a 2-1 victory over UIC in the Horizon League opener Sept. 11, finishing the evening with 12 saves. The total marked the most for a Panther since 2011 as well as the 10th-most in a game in program history.

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S P O RT U P DATE

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Milwaukee women’s soccer team ended the month of September on a roll, claiming back-to-back 7-0 victories to improve to 9-1 overall and move to a perfect 4-0 in Horizon League play. The team will be in search of its fourth-consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament later this fall. The Panthers head into October as the top offense in all of NCAA Division I soccer, leading the country in goals (42), assists (54), and points (138). In addition, the team has the top four point-scorers in the Horizon League in Mackenzie Schill (16 points on 7G/2A), Lesley Kiesling (16 points on 8G), Gaby Schwartz (15 on 15A), and Jelena Sever (14 on 7G). Schwartz also leads the nation with her 15 assists and recently broke the MKE career record when she recorded the 37th assist of her career, eclipsing the mark of 36 held by Kate Megna (2006-09). Schwartz was also recently announced as a Senior CLASS Award candidate.

media platforms. She also leads the nation with her five game-winning goals. On defense, Elaina LaMacchia has posted three solo shutouts, Allie Strottman has one, and the duo have combined on three others, helping give the Panthers a team goals-against average of 0.29 overall. LaMacchia ranks in the Top 10 in the country with her .885 save percentage and 0.37 GAA.

Another recent highlight that went viral nationally was Jelena Sever and her game-opening goal against Youngstown State, finding the back of the net on the kickoff to break the NCAA record for quickest goal at three seconds. Her quick-strike goal earned her the No. 4 spot on ESPN SportsCenter’s “Top 10 Plays”, the Play of the Day on “Good Morning America”, as well as over 1,000,000 likes and views across various social

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CROSS COUNTRY 09

After only competing at the Horizon League Championship last year, the men’s and women’s cross country teams have opened the 2021 season strong at the first three meets. The defending Horizon League Champion women’s team picked up right where it left off, opening the season with a first-place finish at the Vic Godfrey Open before finishing as the top Horizon League team at the Jaguar Classic the following week. The team then ran at the competitive Roy Griak Invite hosted by the University of Minnesota, placing 15th of 21 among several ranked opponents.

Two more meets remain before the Panthers compete for the Horizon League Championship on October 30. Milwaukee is set to run at the Ranger Open hosted by Parkside to open the month, then will preview the Great Lakes Regional Championship course on October 16 at the University of Evansville Invitational.

Following the Roy Griak Invite, a pair of Panthers earned recognition from the Horizon League. Senior Mikayla Fox collected her second career Horizon League Runner of the Week award after placing 57th in the field of 234, while freshman Cailin Kinas was the fourth MKE runner to finish and was named Horizon League Freshman Runner of the Week. On the men’s side, senior Trevor Wenzel built upon his performance at the Horizon League Championships last March, pacing the team in all three meets and posting a PR at the Jaguar Classic. He was one of six Panthers to record a new PR at the invite as Milwaukee tallied a third-place finish.

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S P O RT U P DATE

VOLLEYBALL

With high expectations for the season, the Milwaukee volleyball team constructed one of the toughest nonconference schedules in recent memory and after a tough start, the Panthers have started to click.

As she has her entire career, Jess Grabowski continues to lead the defense, totaling 250 digs. Rylie Vaughn has led the facilitation of the offense, totaling 431 assists and 164 digs for the Panthers.

MKE started with a Shamrock Invitational title, which included big wins over Cincinnati and Notre Dame, who was receiving votes at the time. The Panthers followed that with two more winning weekends at the South Dakota Classic and the Bulldog Brawl, going 6-3 in their final three tournaments.

Milwaukee will be at the Klotsche Center plenty in October as the Panthers host five contests this month.

Now with three straight wins to open Horizon League play, the Panthers improved to 9-6 overall through September. Behind a potential Player of the Year candidate in Ari Miller and fifth-year senior Carmen Heilemann, the Panthers boast the league’s best offense, ranking first in hitting percentage (.252), kills per set (13.83), and assists per set (13.13). Miller is tops in the Horizon League with a .387 attack percentage, averaging 3.78 kills per set while Heilmann is second with a .333 hitting percentage with 167 total kills. Freshman Madi Malone has quickly made herself know as well as she is second on the team with 184 kills and third with 155 digs.

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By Gary D’Amato

Making the Dream a Reality

manda Braun has the best seat in the house. Her office window at the Klotsche Center & Pavilion looks out at a construction zone literally yards away. Normally, the non-stop noise of heavy machinery and trucks coming and going would be an irritant, but it’s music to the ears of Milwaukee’s director of athletics. Every day, she sees – and hears – progress on construction of the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Center, a multipurpose building that will create a dedicated practice facility for Milwaukee’s men’s and women’s basketball programs. The OHOW Center, as it will be called, is scheduled to open in the fall of 2022. It’s a project that Braun championed from her first days on campus in 2013, one she fought for tirelessly and passionately, and one she shepherded through bureaucratic red tape and several starts and stops. “There were times I wondered if it ever would get built,” she said. “I even wondered until they showed up here and started putting the fence up.” The 15,000-square-foot OHOW Center was made possible by a $2.1 million gift from the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin, the largest ever given to UWM Athletics. Total cost of the facility is an estimated $8 million. The project is completely funded through philanthropic gifts and student-directed segregated fees and does not rely on state funds. “Obviously, it takes multiple people and multiple organizations in order to put something like this endeavor together,” said Pat Baldwin, head men’s basketball coach. “We’re very appreciative of OHOW and their contributions and their partnership in this whole thing. A lot of things have to fall into place in order for something like this to happen.” The OHOW Center will be connected to the Klotsche Center via a skywalk. In addition to benefiting the basketball programs, the new building will improve the student recreation space. Use of the Klotsche Center has more than doubled over the past decade, while participation in intramural sports has risen 97 percent. Several of the University’s sports programs also train in the Klotsche. “The noise level was a constant distraction,” said Kyle Rechlicz, head women’s basketball coach. “I always tried to use that as an advantage with our players, saying, ‘We’ll be the most prepared team in loud environments.’ The players had to learn to find their voice amidst the chaos of baseball bats and track runners. Sometimes people would fall in the hurdles and you could hear it through the (partition) and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope they’re OK.’ “This is not just going to help us. It’s going to help the other sports as well, because it’s going to allow them more time on the main court or more time to get their individual work in, too.” Primarily, though, the OHOW Center will benefit the basketball programs, which finally will have a dedicated practice facility. The building will feature a regulation court with a

wood floor, a video room, a strength and conditioning center, an auxiliary sports medicine and treatment center and a student-athlete lounge. “We will have a full-length college court in there, with six side baskets,” Baldwin said. “But if they just had two baskets in there, we would be happy with that. It’s certainly going to be functional and allow our men and women to shoot in there as often as they can without worrying about if another team has to be in there.” Braun started working on the project almost immediately after her hiring in the spring of 2013. There were plenty of challenges and setbacks along the way. The first pre-design by HGA Architecture of Milwaukee was completed in September 2013. The project then entered the queue for approval through the state process, which occurs every two years. “Then we ran into all the issues of building within the state,” Braun said. “There were some delays there. And then when it became that we couldn’t bond it, we had to go back to the predesign board. HGA came back in and we did another pre-design and that was three and a half or four years ago. Then we reduced the size of the facility, too, so we could fit it within a cash project so we don’t have to take on any bonding or debt. Which was a good thing, ultimately, but it prolonged the process. “(Panthers radio play-by-play announcer) Scott Warras, at our groundbreaking, made a joke about me thinking about it every day. I said, ‘You have to have some things you can put in that box and put on the shelf or you’ll lose your mind.’”

Said Rechlicz, “They’ve been talking about a practice facility since the day I walked on campus and that was before Amanda got here. She has a really good understanding of how to navigate and get creative, to find ways to make it work. … For her to have the knowledge and the thought process to do that, I think it just says a lot about who she is as an athletic director. She worked very hard.” Braun and the architects consulted with Baldwin and Rechlicz on everything from paint scheme and color to furniture. Molly Hanson, the director of basketball operations for the women’s program, sat in on all the meetings, too. The strength and conditioning staff was involved in those discussions, as was the marketing team. The coaches signed off on everything from the size of chairs and the height of tables – everything has to be bigger and taller for 6-foot-10 young men and 6-foot-3 young women – to the size of the cup holders in the video room. “The coaches gave input that the water bottle holders need to be big enough for the Gatorade bottles – you know, those big green things,” Braun said. “They had heard from somebody who created a film room and all the kids ended up having to put their bottles on the floor.” Said Baldwin, “I think that speaks to Amanda’s trust in us and believing that we may have some good ideas. When you go into something like this, where you’re putting together a practice facility, you have to think about a lot of different things, from recruiting to the student-athletes who will be walking into that facility, and what they would possibly want to see.”

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Baldwin touched on an important point. More and more these days, facilities help sell college programs. Recruits want to know that a university is doing everything possible to give them the best chance to maximize their potential. “I met with three men’s basketball recruits a few weeks back and (the OHOW Center) was a topic they wanted to talk about and were excited about,” Braun said. “It helps a whole bunch. It helps not only on the recruiting front, to get them to come, but then once they’re here, the development of those guys and women is important, too.”

“We’re grateful to the students, to our administration here at the university and to all the supporters in the community to make this happen,” Braun said. “It couldn’t have just been us. That’s now how these things work. So, we’re celebrating them. We’ll celebrate again when we get to cut the ribbon and walk in the door. That will be cool.” In the meantime, bring on the noise.

***

At the OHOW Center, players will be able to come in on their own and put up shots or work on ballhandling and individual skills. The Klotsche Center, for all its versatility, had its challenges in that regard. The basketball teams practiced in tight windows, and at 6:30 p.m. the gym was opened to the student body at large. “From a recruiting standpoint and just the energy that this presents when we go out on the recruiting trail and we talk about the OHOW Center – and certainly for the guys that are currently in our program – it’s a great thing,” Baldwin said. “I think the Panther Arena is one of those facilities that certainly adds a great element to what we do, but now you add on a practice facility – that’s what kids look at.” The seniors on the Panthers’ men’s and women’s teams obviously won’t be able to take advantage of the OHOW Center, but they’ll be encouraged to come back and use the facility after they leave the respective programs. For the underclassmen – and for Braun and the coaches – the building can’t go up fast enough.

Gary D’Amato, a three-time National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association sportswriter of the year in Wisconsin, joined the Milwaukee Panthers as a feature writer for the Roar Report in September 2018.

Roar Rreport fall 2021

DATELINE: Highland Heights, Ky. April 17, 2021 PLACE: Horizon League Tournament Championship SITUATION: Trailing, 3-2, after three rounds of a penalty kick shootout following a 0-0 draw in the title game against Northern Kentucky, the Milwaukee women’s soccer team needed a special performance from goalkeeper Elaina LaMacchia. ROUND FOUR: Mackenzie Schill converts; LaMacchia stops NKU. It’s 3-3. ROUND FIVE: Taylor Hattori find the back of the net, setting the stage with Milwaukee up, 4-3. LaMacchia dives to her right, extending her right hand to stop the PK, solidly pushing it wide of the target. “LaMacchia says NO!!” … exclaimed the ESPN+ commentator, setting off a celebration as she sprinted towards midfield to celebrate with her teammates. 19

Roar Rreport fall 2021

The biggest stage … and Elaina LaMacchia delivered in the biggest moment to send the Panthers to the NCAA Tournament. Not bad for a student-athlete who didn’t even transition to the goalkeeper position on a full-time basis until her freshmen year … in college. “I actually didn’t play goalkeeper-only until I got to college,” LaMacchia said. “I played both goalkeeper and in the field up until my senior year of high school.” Yes, that’s not a typo. Despite being a second-team all-state and First-Team North Shore Conference All-League selection in net, LaMacchia was still playing in the field on a regular basis for her club team and from time to time at Cedarburg High School – even scoring the occasional goal. “I would switch out at half,” she said. “I would play in goal in the first half and go on the field for the second. I played forward and attacking mid and would even find the back of the net from time to time.” She has, however, been playing soccer for a long time. LaMacchia can’t remember a time she wasn’t around the game. “I was young, it had to have been when I first started walking and running around,” LaMacchia said. “My older sisters played soccer, so me and my younger sisters would always try to run around and kick the ball with them.” A very successful youth career that included five seasons with SC Waukesha helped her make the choice to pursue the game she loved in college. “I think that decision came early for me,” she said. “I always enjoyed playing other sports but not as much as I enjoy playing soccer. So that was probably in like seventh or eighth grade.” The choice then became clear pretty quickly for LaMacchia, picking the Panthers and never looking back. “I liked it because it was close to home and I knew some of the girls that were going there,” LaMacchia said. “Taylor Hattori, Jelena Sever, Hayley Johnson … they were all on my club team, so it was a comfortable environment to bring myself into and it really helped to acclimate into the college setting.” W hen she arrived on campus, the Panthers were coming off a very successful 2017 campaign in which they finished as the lone

unbeaten team at the NCAA Division I level, posting a 16-0-4 overall record – becoming the first Horizon League program to ever accomplish the feat. They were taking that 20-game unbeaten streak into 2018 and needed to do so with a new goalie, with Mallory Geurts graduating after posting a school-record 0.29 goals-against average in her final campaign. That’s a lot of pressure for anyone looking to fill some very big shoes, let alone a freshman that had yet to play a single second of collegiate soccer on the field. “I definitely felt the pressure, but I was excited for those big shoes to fill,” LaMacchia said. “Honestly, I was nervous, but I like working under pressure.” Named the starting goalkeeper for the 2018 campaign, she certainly didn’t play like a freshman. LaMacchia started all 19 games, playing all but 31:34 of the season in net (1,711:24 was hers), posting a 0.74 goalsagainst average, .803 save percentage, 57 total saves and eight shutouts (she was also part of two other combined shutouts). LaMacchia earned a spot on the Horizon League All-Freshman Team following an impressive 16-2-1 campaign. Fast-forward to this season, and all LaMacchia has done is go 38-5-3 in her career, putting together a 0.52 goals-against average, .857 save percentage, and 23 shutouts. Throughout it all, LaMacchia puts her teammates first, making sure the credit goes to everyone. “We try and approach every game one at a time,” she said. “We don’t try to get hung up on all of the highs that we have been through. I think our team does a really good job of not being cocky and taking every opponent that we face at face value.” That process has resulted in the team not knowing the feeling of losing too often. “The coaching staff goes over all of the strengths [of opponents] and we internalize those,” LaMacchia said, “I don’t think we underestimate any team we play against. Every time we step out on the field, we know the other team wants to beat us and will give us their best game. I think that really drives us to perform.” She welcomes the pressure situations. That overtime championship game against NKU last spring? Bring it on. “You kind of hyper-focus when you get into overtime,” she said. “You don’t want anything to go wrong, and I think everyone’s senses are heightened and the pressure is super-high because the second that ball hits the back

Roar Rreport fall 2021

of the net the game is over.” Following the COVID-shortened 2020 regular season in which the team went 7-1, everything was on the line in the title game. The Norse and Panthers were unable to play during the regular season, but only one team was going to advance to the NCAA Tournament. LaMacchia was going to do everything in her power to make sure it was Milwaukee, even after the Panthers found themselves down after three rounds.

Yet she always reminds herself she is one of just 11 players on the field. “And I am just very thankful for my team to have that kind of trust in me to not mess up.” ***

“I definitely did get a sense of relief after that first one,” LaMacchia said of the save that made it 3-3. “I was getting a bit frustrated with the first three. But playing in that high-pressure situation, you kind of have to produce a result. So, I was relieved on the first one.” After Hattori converted, it was all in LaMacchia’s hands. The video highlight of her final save has been viewed over 2,200 times on Twitter since that day. “When the final one happened, I actually didn’t know for sure that we won until I looked up and saw my teammates,” she recalled. “Once I saw them running towards me, I was like ‘okay, we just won’ and started running to them. It doesn’t really hit you until you see everyone around you going crazy.” So far in 2021, LaMacchia is at it again, not allowing a goal until the sixth game of the season. She has a 0.43 GAA and .857 save percentage, which both lead the Horizon League and rank in the Top 15 in the nation. She has three shutouts, even though the team has eight total clean sheets on the year. However, LaMacchia likes the shared shutouts just as much as the solo variety. “I love when we can show our depth,” she said of her teammates getting time in goal. “I think it’s a really big flex. We have a very deep roster and it gets me excited when the girls can showcase themselves.” When the time comes for LaMacchia to graduate and move on, she could possibly hold pretty much every career record for goalkeeper in program history. “I would say that I read the game pretty well,” LaMacchia replied when asked what helps her stand out from others at her position. “Just anticipating things and seeing everything and what’s going on. And I think I communicate pretty well with my defense, even with the forwards.”

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eader on the court. Quarterback to the offense. Point guard on the floor. Decision-maker and strategy-forerunner.

All these characteristics describe the setter on the volleyball court. They are a main piece to every team and carry traits that can often translate to being a solid coach. And lucky for Milwaukee volleyball, that leadership and strategy can be multiplied by three as the Panthers are fortunate enough to have three former setters at the helm. Susie Johnson joined the staff as head coach in May of 2007 after 10 years as an assistant and associate head coach. Lindsey Vanden Berg played at Milwaukee and returned to the sidelines with a clipboard in 2005. Nikki Dailey was added to complete the setter trio in 2021. Between the three of them, they combined for over 12,500 assists, 3,800 digs, 350 aces, three All-American awards and seven all-league honors. And it was their time on the court that was a key contributor to their position on the sidelines. “I do think setters make good coaches because they are required to know the whole game,” Johnson said. “From the pass to the dig, you deal with every part of the game. You process everything differently and see it from all angles. You are always strategizing and when you become a coach, you do that all the time.” “I believe setters have that inside scoop which has helped me become a better coach because I do understand all the different positions and what goes into making a team successful. That strategy is the hardest part of the game,” Vanden Berg reiterated. “So many decisions have to happen throughout the game and a lot of those decisions fall on the setter.” Daily concurred. “The setter is inherently a leader on the court and that makes for an easy transition on the court. Our staff is very similar in that mindset. We share a lot of the same approaches to life, philosophies, and leadership qualities. Those are what led us to be in the setter position as players. How that elevates us in terms of coaching is that we can train pretty much any position.” How did it all come together? Johnson was named head coach of Milwaukee in 2007 and her first addition was easy. Having coached Vanden Berg as a player and worked alongside her on the bench, that was a clear match. This offseason, Johnson had an opening on her staff and with already a setter-heavy staff with her and Vanden Berg, the position was wide open. Johnson wanted the best coach available, and that coach just also happened to be another setter.

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“I’ve had assistants that played all different positions,” Johnson said. “Nikki came in with a lot of experience and in the end, I just wanted to hire the best coach possible. She has the complete package, and I had no hesitation.” “As much as it seems just because we are all three setters, we do have a lot of experience,” she commented. “It is a very strong staff and super balanced.” Vanden Berg had a similar thought progression when going through the hiring process. “What we have works really well. We collaborate with all areas,” Vanden Berg commented. “With Nikki coming in, that didn’t change. Our staff is unique – our communication is great and in the end, we just do what is best for the team.” Dailey saw the opening at Milwaukee as a big opportunity to learn and get better as a coach. “I would not be here if it was a different staff,” Dailey commented. “I have rapport and so much respect for Susie. I’ve watched her manage difficult and challenging adversity. That is a skillset many head coaches do not possess. Not only is she a role model, but I see a lot of myself in her and aim to be like her. How Susie conducts her business speaks for itself.” All three staff members did make a note that not all setters make a good coach, but after seeing their success on the court, it is easy to argue the opposite. There is no denying their incredible college careers helped translate to where they are now at Milwaukee. Johnson (formerly Ketchem) compiled over 4,000 assists, 1,600 digs, and 115 service aces at Idaho State and garnered all sorts of accolades. She was named Big Sky MVP as a junior, two-time AVCA All-American, and a three-time all-league recipient. Vanden Berg (formerly Spoden) played under Johnson for the Panthers and was inducted into the Bud K. Haidet Milwaukee Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004 after totaling 5,233 assists, 1,204 digs, and 169 aces in her career. She still ranks top 10 in program history in all three categories. At Iowa, Dailey became the sixth player in program history to compile over 3,000 assists and 15th to surpass 1,000 digs. She earned status on three of the Hawkeye’s all-time career leaderboards, finishing top 20 in assists, digs, and aces. With these three leading the way for Milwaukee, the Panthers can definitely say they are set up for success. ***

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Daulton Varsho … fly ball … right field … Diamondbacks walk it off! It was quite the weekend for former Milwaukee baseball player Daulton Varsho August 13-14, adding a pair of impressive highlights to his young MLB career during a recent series against San Diego. It started on Friday night of that weekend, with the radio call above narrating the thrilling walk-off home run after he crushed a full-count pitch into right field to hand the Arizona Diamondbacks the 3-2 victory. It marked the first walk-off home run of his professional career – although not the first one that fans of Panther baseball have seen him hit. The wild 24 hours continued the next day, catching the first no-hitter of his life when he was on the receiving end of Tyler Gilbert’s impressive feat coming in his first Major League start, beating the Padres by a final score of 7-0. But first, let’s talk about the home run. “I never really imagined it happening, I was just trying to get a good swing on the ball, and it happened to go out,” Varsho said. “It was a lot of adrenaline, and it was pretty cool to see all of my teammates pretty happy.” Scoreless early, Varsho also drove in Arizona’s first run of the game with a single in the second. He finished the contest 2-for-3 with a walk and stole a base. It’s part of a recent string of strong outings. Following a tough start to the season, Varsho is hitting .307 (39-for-127) since the MLB All-Star break, adding nine home runs (of his 10 on the year) and 23 RBI in that 42-game span, while also scoring 23 runs. He took in the scene as he approached the plate after rounding the bases, watching his teammates gathering to celebrate the win. “It was just nice to see some positives come out of the season, not just for me, but for our team,” Varsho said. “We’re not the best team right now [the Diamondbacks are currently 47-97 and currently fifth in the NL West] and we are struggling a little bit, so having a couple of those positives on the year that you can look back on and know that the season wasn’t as bad as we thought it was, is kind of nice to feel and nice to have. You look back at those memories and you understand that. There are some good things that come out of bad situations sometimes.”

“It was awesome. It was truly a special moment, and I am happy for Tyler and his family to be able to all see that with his parents there. It was a pretty cool moment, not just for me, but him and his whole family.”

For those who have been around and watching Varsho since his early college days, it brought back memories of a similar situation, only this time accomplished by an 18-year-old kid who was navigating his freshman season in college. Let’s rewind to May of 2015, closing in on the end of his first year in which he worked his way into the starting lineup. After struggling at the plate early, Varsho started figuring things out as the season progressed. He raised his batting average to as high as .314 in mid-April following a big series against Youngstown State, but then endured a tough stretch at the plate again in May. Wright State came to town for a weekend series and, with implications for postseason seeding starting to clear up, these were games the Panthers needed against the first-place Raiders. Down, 4-2, and headed into their final at bat in the ninth, they put together two singles off reigning Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year Andrew Elliott to set the stage for Varsho, who sent the 3-1 pitch deep to right center and off the scoreboard for the huge victory. Despite over six years having passed since that memorable moment, Varsho can recall it clearly. “That one is a very easy one to recall because it was a big game for us,” Varsho said. “I think that pushed us into second place and the chance for a first-round bye.” The MLB at-bat August 13 of 2021 came to lead off the ninth, actually falling behind, 1-2, against Craig Stammen. After working the count full, he put a great swing on the pitch, resulting in his first professional walk-off hit of any kind. “Stammen made some really good pitches,” Varsho said. “I just saw him really well that day and happened to put a really good swing on it and it went out. It was a cool moment and nice to have a positive this year.” Already flying high after the big home run, Varsho returned to the park the next day with no idea what was coming next. Some three-hours after first pitch, Varsho found himself jumping into the arms of Gilbert, who just threw a nohitter in his first MLB start – something that hadn’t been done in Major League Baseball since 1953. So, when did Varsho start letting the idea creep into his mind? “I think it was about the sixth inning when I started paying more attention to it,” he said. “The eighth was the inning I was starting to get really nervous and starting to realize how special and cool this moment was. And that was the inning that they hit three absolute lasers but right at people.” The defense did come through, as Austin Nola flew out, Eric Hosmer was retired on a hard-hit ball to short, and Will Myers hit a rocket to center field.

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“There is always a point like that in every no-hitter where you get the plays you need,” Varsho said. “Then in the ninth inning when he went out, our stadium erupted. I have never heard it so loud, ever.” A pair of called strikeouts opened the inning, with a fly ball to center ending it and Varsho sprinting to the mound to celebrate. “It was great to be a part of that moment and take it all in,” he said. “It was awesome. It was truly a special moment, and I am happy for Tyler and his family to be able to all see that with his parents there. It was a pretty cool moment, not just for me, but him and his whole family.”

Varsho and Gilbert came up together in the minors, making the moment that much more special for the pair. “It was more excitement (the last out) then relief,” he said. “I was just so happy for him to be able to go through the minor leagues, like both of us have, you grind stuff out. And now to get the opportunity to start a Major League game and to even get close to a no-hitter, and now it’s in a first MLB start? The odds of that have to be almost zero.” Even though Varsho has been a catcher since he was a kid, the occasion did mark the first no-hitter he has ever caught. “It was a cool moment to be a part of it with him, knowing we were together this year in Triple-A and grinding through it and

get the opportunity to get back up here and show what we got.” When you look at overall 2021 season splits, Varsho has been a different hitter since the MLB All-Star break. After hitting just .143 in 35 games prior, he can point to a few factors that have made the difference in him batting over .300 – with added power – since that point. “My year overall I have already broken it into two parts – before and after the all-star break,” he said “I was a totally different hitter with a different mindset. It’s been great since the break just being able to be me.” Just as it was in college with the Panthers, earning more playing time has been key. “A lot of it has to do with consistent playing time,” he said. “Just to be able to get at bats every single day is a big thing. It’s hard to find that rhythm when you’re playing every so often like last year. Playing most every day and found myself just playing baseball again and trying to have fun every day.” That has also been key for Varsho. The day-to-day of being a bigleaguer can be very stressful. Just having fun sometimes gets

lost, especially for a younger player trying to find his footing in the league. “It’s been awesome,” Varsho said of going to the ballpark lately. “Our bullpen coach Mike Fetters (who pitched in the big leagues for 16 seasons including for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1992 to 1997) tells me every day to ‘have fun’. When you stop having fun in this game and make it a job, is the time when you realize that this game is very, very hard and you can’t put so much pressure on yourself to do these things, you just have to relax and let it go and go have fun doing it. We start as a kid just enjoying this game and I am at a point in my life where I still get to play my favorite game and get paid for it. And I think I kind of lost that a little bit and forgot that fun factor when I got up here early on because I was trying to do so much. And now it’s just going out there and having fun and doing what I do and being myself.” Every kid who loves baseball grows up dreaming of facing those big-name pitchers. Varsho knows that is his challenge now, having to face the Kershaws, and Scherzers of the world on a regular basis. He doesn’t all that to get to him. He’s ready for any challenge he walks to the plate and is not ready to give up on any at-bat.

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“I don’t think I have anyone like that because I am so competitive,” he said. “I don’t know if I ever feel that way. There are guys who I know I have to grind out and might be days where I am not feeling it but know I have to work the count and try and put the ball in play.” But, some individual pitches definitely do stick out in his memory bank. “Zach Grienke did it to me last year,” Varsho laughed. “He threw me that eephus pitch that he has, and it starts so high and you see it. And it’s at the catcher’s glove before you make a decision and you’re like … okay … I am going to go back to the bench.” With the regular season in the final month, Varsho looks to close out the 2021 campaign and head into the 2022 season on the same path. “My biggest goal is to just keep having solid at bats and finish off the year strong,” he said. “Me and my dad always have a thing where if I am struggling or going through a rough patch, he always tells me to keep grinding it out and at the end of the year we will look up and it will probably be a good season.” So far, so good. Sound advice from a father who spent eight seasons in the big leagues.

“When you stop having fun in this game and make it a job, is the time when you realize that this game is very, very hard and you can’t put so much pressure on yourself to do these things, you just have to relax and let it go and go have fun doing it.”

“And he’s right,” he said. “It’s such a long season and there are so many at-bats that if you keep with that mindset and keep grinding it out, it will work out.” ***

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