Softball: Antioch's Foote measures up with Green Bay

Jill Foote can wield a stick. Lipstick too, presumably, considering she's a teenager.

As the Antioch senior slugger celebrated her softball signing with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay at the high school last week, she playfully tried negotiating “Packers” green cupcake frosting on her lips. Emphasis on “tried.”

Strike 1.

Strike 2.

Strike ... Well, she can save her more deft touches for the softball diamond.

“I didn't know how to apply it,” Foote said with a laugh. “So it just went all over.”

Foote is better at spraying softballs all over the field. And when she reaches base, she makes stealing bases look piece-of-cake easy. Antioch's starting third baseman since her freshman year, the fleet-footed Foote says she was recruited as a utility player/outfielder by the Phoenix, who recently named Scott Wachholz as the team's new head coach.

UW-Green Bay, which is a member of the Horizon League, went 21-33 last season.

Wachholz was recruiting Foote when he was the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. When he got the UW-Green Bay job in August, he didn't stop chasing Foote, who had also been in contact with UW-Green Bay's previous coaching staff.

She plans to study exercise science.

“I've always liked (UW-) Green Bay,” said Foote, who verbally committed to Wachholz in September. “It was always my top school.”

As a junior, Foote stole 18 bases in as many attempts, hiking her three-year varsity stolen-base total to 60. She hit .348 with 10 doubles, 7 homers, 28 RBI and 45 runs scored.

She had attended a softball camp at UW-Green Bay last January.

“It was so cold,” she said. “It was like in the negatives when I went there. Then I went back there in September and it was really nice.”

More nice days in Green Bay are in her future.