Before Caitlin Clark became bigger than any men's college basketball star in the last two years, softball was the breakthrough sport for women. ESPN televised 3,200 college softball games this year. Softball's College World Series passed the NCAA baseball finals with 1.85 million viewers in 2022. Even softball's Little League World Series doubled its viewers in five years.
And now college softball players have a summer league of their own. The Northwoods League has given college baseball players a minor-league-like experience for 30 years, with 340 of its alumni making it to the Major Leagues. The Rockford Rivets have played in the Northwoods League since 2016.
“It’s so much fun,” said Lindsey Schultz, an outfielder for the LaCrosse (Wisconsin) Steam. “A lot of us have not had the kind of crowds the Northwoods League attracts. That’s all new and exciting for us.
“It’s great that women’s sports in general are increasing so much. A lot of young girls are going to the stadium and watching. We are all so proud of being part of the movement in the first season and getting young girls to watch softball at such a young age.”
Like the Northwoods baseball league, which had six teams in its first season, the softball league is starting small. It has four teams: The Mankato Habaneros in Minnesota, Minot Honeybees in North Dakota and two teams in Wisconsin, the LaCrosse Steam and Madison Night Mares.
Hononegah grad Joscelyn Bennett gives Rockford one player in the pioneer season of the league. the 5-foot-1 Bennett is the starting shortstop on the league’s best team. The Mankato Habaneros finished June on a seven-game win streak to move to 10-2 to lead the league by four games.
“It’s been a great experience,” Bennett said. “Being the first ones, it gets a little chaotic here and there with things not running the way people expected, but for the most part it’s been a really good experience.
“If this year goes good, which I think it has done so far, more areas will want to jump on it and come into the league. Down the road I definitely see many more areas come into it. I’ve heard one area is already planning on coming in next year. When baseball started this, they didn’t have as many teams as they do now. Teams will want to join the softball league, too.”
Bennett is an all-NIC-10 player who just finished her freshman season at Bryant & Stratton, a junior college in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. She is trying to use the Northwoods League as a platform to sign with a four-year college after this coming year at Bryant & Stratton.
“I’ve been emailing schools and trying to get my name out there,” Bennett said. “That’s why I joined the Northwoods League, to get seen by some of these girls who go to four-year colleges and their coaches who are watching them. It’s a good way to get recruited. I just keep sending emails and keep playing and will see where it gets me.”
While most players stay with a host family, Bennett is living in an apartment with three teammates.
“It’s like a minor league baseball type of thing,” she said. “We get to travel. We have little sponsors. A nutrition sponsor. A chiropractor sponsor. We get a gym membership. We practice. We play. We do everything except school.
“I’ve enjoyed getting out there and meeting new girls, playing with girls you have never played with. That’s the most enjoyable part.”
Just playing the sport she loves. In a league of her own.
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