Senior Highlight:
Ellery Stoltz
Eisenhower

As part of Burghardt Sporting Goods’ ongoing partnership with local schools and surrounding communities, we want to take the time to highlight some of the great local athletes at some of the local schools. This is our fourth interview, and we’re happy to highlight a standout player, future UW-Whitewater Warhawk, and a great part of our retail team here at Burghardt Sporting Goods! Enjoy our interview with Ellery Stoltz below!

-Luke from Marketing

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Q&A with Ellery Stoltz

Ellery, thank you for taking the time to talk with us! With all these interviews I like to do as much Google searching as possible, and it’s interesting that you’re the first interviewee to have a LinkedIn account! Compared to your coworkers Rocco and Daniel, do you think you’re more mature than them?

Oh, I am obviously more mature than them. The teachers at Ike are 100% better at getting kids ready for the future than the teachers at New Berlin West, they help us set up resumes as well as LinkedIn accounts to help us out in the future.

Along with finding your LinkedIn account, I found so many different articles talking about your achievements on the field. The Journal Sentinel named you a top 25 player in the Milwaukee area; ON SI put you in their list of top outfielders in 2025, and you have been awarded multiple All-State honors. What motivates you to keep being a better player, and do you pay attention to all the press coverage you receive?

What motivates me the most is the want to be the best player on the field and to know that I have worked hard enough to get to where I am. I’d also say to satisfy myself; I always want to be better and do better and one saying that I grew up listening to was “if you don’t like it get better”. My dad would repeat this over and over and it’s built into my brain. It basically means that if you don’t like the situation that you are in then you should’ve worked harder for it. You always have to want to be in every situation thrown in and if you're not yearning for that, there’s a problem.

For the past 3 years of high school I was kind of sheltered from the praise I got as being a top performer, I never looked at stats or articles I just played my game, however, this year I have paid closer attention to it as it interests me and I like to know what is being said about me.

MaxPreps has you at a .400 batting average with 22 hits and 21 runs and a .900 fielding percentage for the 2025 season. How has this season stacked up against your others? As of writing this you have your Regional game against Whitnall. How do you think your team stacks up against your previous years?

This season has been pretty comparable to other seasons, however the past two years both the team and I definitely have done better. One thing that is different this year is that like I stated before, I started paying attention to my stats. This led to the worrying of whether or not I was performing as good as I was last year. I felt like I had a weight on my shoulder and that there was an image I had to live up to in everybody’s mind with being all-state last year. This definitely took a toll on me this season and I got in my head, it was just towards the end where I started to have the mindset of F-It I’m going to do what I do best and that is have fun and play the best softball that I can play without really worrying about stats.

As for the team, we lost 3 key players last year as they were seniors and graduated, which left our team with holes in our line up and in the field. Luckily, being the team we are, people stepped up to this challenge and were willing to work to be the best at those positions that they could.

Also on your LinkedIn account, I read that you used to play and coach Volleyball! What made you commit to softball over volleyball, and what coaching awards did you receive?

I have grown up playing softball and going into high school I was playing both volleyball and softball but softball has always been the focus. I made varsity as a freshman for softball and JV1 both freshman and sophomore year as a volleyball player. For the volleyball coaching award, that is basically an award saying that I am the most coachable girl on the team (everyone got an award at the JV level).

But what made me commit to softball was the love for the game. I loved it so much and in order to allow myself to work more to improve I had to free up some time that was taken up by volleyball so I could go work by myself outside of practices and games as well as playing in tournaments in the fall, winter, and summer. Softball is just more fun for me, the atmosphere and the connections I have made is just different than volleyball.

I had no idea that your dad was such a celebrity as well! Being inducted into the Oshkosh Hall of Fame in 2021, playing football in Germany, coaching Greendale high school for 20 years, and being a part of Oshkosh’s D3 National Championship baseball team! What sort of impact has your dad had on your athletic trajectory?

Yes, I have grown up with the most competitive and supportive Dad I can think of. From day 1 he was out on the field with me coaching me playing Tee Ball when I was 6 years old. He has been my club coach ever since then and has stuck by my side. He is my biggest role model when it comes to life, he knows how to handle every situation and knows exactly what to say.

Before every game he rushes home from work to pitch to me in our backyard batting cage just so I can get a couple of swings in and feel good about myself before the game. Every situation that I come to him with, he tells me that he has gone through it as well and gives me tips on how to fix it. He is my biggest supporter.

Congratulations on your commitment to UW Whitewater! How was your recruitment process, and what drove you to commit to Whitewater?

I actually didn’t start my recruiting process until the summer after junior year which is typically very late, and I am so lucky that I wound up at such an amazing school. I’d say the recruiting process definitely takes a lot of energy, if you want to stand out, you have to email the coaches one by one making each email specific to their team, that’s how I stood out to Coach Brenda Volk, who is the UWW coach.

I committed to Whitewater because after watching a few games it was very apparent that the team had fun on and off the field together, even if they were in the dugout, there was always cheering and little things such as their pregame dance that they do that made UWW softball stand out to me. I also went to a few of their camps during the winter and all of the girls were super nice and answered lots of questions that I had, talking to lots of them, I caught on that they spend a lot of time off of the field as well, which also helps build their team chemistry.

Can you share your favorite memory from your 4 years of high school athletics?

Although Ike softball made it to state twice, I’d say those are my second and third favorite memories. My ultimate favorite memory occurred after a practice sophomore year. It was a very rainy day with puddles still on the field and in the grass. After practice my teammates were joking around saying someone should head first slide into the muddy puddles in the grass. Me and my teammate Alana were up for the challenge, while everyone laughed and recorded we slide head first into those puddles getting our white pants ruined and our bodies sopping wet.

That was definitely my favorite memory, even though we went home soaked, you never get to experience those type of things every day.

What’s your lineup of equipment when you’re playing? Any favorite brands or items in your equipment bag?

Bat: 2024 Limited Edition Easton Ghost Advanced

Batting gloves: Standout Yellow Pro Cuff Jax Batting Gloves

Glove: Rawlings GG Elite

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Thanks for taking the time to talk with us Ellery! Do you have any last pieces of advice or anything else you’d like to say?

If you don’t like it get better.

Interview by Burghardt Sporting Goods Staff. Looking to have your senior highlighted? Send a message to luke@bsg1881.com for more information!