STAFF

Jason Berken

Baseball – Pitching

jason@impactsportsgb.com

Jason Berken, owner of Impact Sports Academy, is a retired MLB pitcher with 11 years of professional playing experience.

Jason grew up in De Pere, WI and was a standout three sport high school athlete in baseball, basketball, and football. Throughout his high school career he was a four time varsity letterman in baseball and three time letterman in football and basketball. He accumulated several honors and awards – most notably he was twice voted an All-Conference, All-District, and All-Area player. In addition, as a senior, he was the Press Gazette Player of the Year and Gatorade State Player of the Year.

In the spring of his senior year of high school, Jason accepted a baseball scholarship to Clemson University. At that time, Clemson was rated the #1 collegiate team in Division 1 baseball. In his four years at Clemson, Jason compiled an 18-6 record with a 3.03 ERA. He was voted Team Captain twice and was an All-ACC Performer his junior year.

In 2006, Jason was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 6th round (175th overal l) of the MLB draft. After just over two years in the Orioles minor league system, Jason made his MLB debut on May 26, 2009 against the Toronto Blue Jays. He earned his first Major League victory that night as he pitched five innings, giving up two runs. In his rookie season, he compiled 119 innings over 24 starts – the 5th most starts by a rookie in the Orioles franchise history. Over the next four seasons, Jason accumulated a 10-20 record, with a 5.36 ERA in 110 appearances with the Orioles and Cubs.

Jason has been a member of the Orioles, Cubs, White Sox, Giants, Phillies, and Blue Jays organizations.

Erik Cordier

Baseball – Pitching

Erik Cordier is a retired MLB pitcher with 14 years of professional playing experience.

erik@impactsportsgb.com

Erik grew up in Door County, WI, and was a graduate of Southern Door High School. As a three-sport athlete, he received multiple All-Conference awards for football, basketball, and baseball, including 3^rd Team All-American Pitcher, Gatorade State Player of the Year, and Louisville Slugger State Player of the Year. As a senior, Erik committed to NC State on a full baseball scholarship but decided to forgo college after being drafted in the second round of the 2004 amateur draft, 63^rd pick overall, by the Kansas City Royals.

In 2014, Erik made his MLB debut with the San Francisco Giants, where in just one inning, he threw 16 pitches of at least 100 miles per hour. That same year, Erik would travel with the Giants as an alternate during the playoff run, including a trip to the World Series. Erik received a World Series Championship ring after the Giants won the series, beating the Kansas City Royals.

Erik has been a member of the Royals, Braves, Pirates, Giants, Marlins, and Red Sox organizations, and spent a season playing internationally with the Orix Buffaloes of Japan. He has close to one year of MLB service time between the Giants and Marlins organizations.

Paul Wagner

Baseball & Softball – Hitting & Infield

paul@impactsportsgb.com

Paul Wagner comes to ISA from Base Knox Sports Academy, a training facility he has owned and operated for the past 7 years.

Over the years, Paul has worked with hundreds of NE WI baseball and softball players developing their game both on and off the field.  While running Base Knox Sports Academy, Paul and his staff have had several individuals reach their season pinnacle by receiving All-Conference and Player of the Year awards, some of whom have also gone on and enjoyed successful college careers as well. Paul enjoys working with teams on development, and his teams have gone on to have successful summer league and tournament play.

Coach Wagz will continue to dedicate his time and effort through ISA and the greater Green Bay area to make sure each experience is a special one so kids continue to enjoy the game they love to play.

Jenna Woepse

Softball – Hitting, Slapping and Defense (infield and outfield)

jenna@impactsportsgb.com

Jenna Woepse was previously the Varsity Head Coach at Bay Port High School, amassing a 70-23 record over 4 years where she was named Coach of the Year twice in the FRCC (2015 & 2017).  In years prior to being named Bay Port’s head coach, she held positions as Assistant Coach on the Varsity squad and was the JV coach at both Bay Port and Green Bay Preble.

In 2015, Jenna led the Pirates to their first trip and win in school history at the State Tournament. The Pirates also had two conference championships under Jenna.

Jenna’s playing career consists of playing shortstop for a top premier team in Auckland, New Zealand in 2009 where she amassed a batting average of .400 and a league-leading 21 stolen bases. Jenna completed a 4-year college career at the Division I, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. She received First Team All-Conference honors her sophomore year, was named Team Captain her senior year and was on the academic honor roll. Jenna currently resides in Green Bay, but her hometown is Manitowoc, WI where she was a three sport, All-Conference athlete and four year varsity softball member.

Tanner Gussert

Baseball – Strength and Conditioning Specialist

tanner@impactsportsgb.com

Coach Tanner was born and raised in Wrightstown, WI and now currently lives with his 3 cats in West De Pere. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA from UW-Oshkosh with a degree in Kinesiology (Exercise Science).

After a successful playing career, Tanner has been training athletes at D1 Sports Training, Bellin Performance Training, West De Pere High School and now ISA. He spent 3 seasons coaching the 15u Wrightstown Babe Ruth Baseball Program, 3 years working year round with the West De Pere High School Baseball and Softball teams, and is now entering his 2nd summer coaching for ISA.

Tanner currently holds 4 nationally recognized certifications. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES), Certified USA Weightlifting Coach (USAW1), and Fitness Nutrition Specialist (FNS).

Hunter Larson

Baseball – Hitting/Infield

hunter@impactsportsgb.com

Hunter grew up in Marquette MI and graduated from Marquette Senior High School in 2014. He was a two sport athlete throughout high school playing baseball and hockey. Although he didn’t play baseball for his highschool, he played American Legion for the Marquette Blues where he won a State Title his final season. After high school he attended Saint Norbert College in De pere Wisconsin where he played baseball.

He was a three year starter and a career .334 hitter. In his four years at Saint Norbert, he was a two time All Conference player for the Midwest Conference. He was voted Team Captain his senior season.

His senior year, he was the Player of the Year for the Midwest Conference as well as nominated to the All-Region team for the Central Region. He was a middle infielder, playing second his Sophomore year and shortstop his Junior and Senior Year. Hunter graduated from Saint Norbert in May of 2018 and will be the Head Coach for the Freshman De pere baseball team this coming season.

Zach Deutscher

Baseball/Softball- Hitting & Catching

zach@impactsportsgb.com

Zach Deutscher has joined the UW-Oshkosh baseball program as an assistant coach following six seasons as a member of the coaching staffs at Central (Iowa) and North Central (Ill.) colleges.

Deutscher comes to UW-Oshkosh from Central College, where he served as an assistant coach the past two seasons.

Deutscher spent the 2013 through 2016 seasons as an assistant coach at North Central College while also instructing hitters and catchers at The Edge in Plainfield, Ill. In the summer of 2016 he was the field manager for the Force Elite, a summer collegiate baseball team located in West Chicago (Ill.).

As a player at North Park University (Ill.) from 2008-11 (133 games), Deutscher hit .307 (144-469) with 29 doubles, 26 home runs, 105 runs scored and 114 runs batted in. His home run total is the sixth-highest in school history.

Deutscher earned three All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) awards during his playing career, including a First Team citation in 2011 and a Second Team reference in 2010.

Deutscher received NCAA Division III All-Central Region Second Team honors in 2011 after helping the Vikings to a 30-12 record and a share of the CCIW championship. Deutscher hit .312 that season with 15 doubles, nine home runs, 37 runs scored and 37 runs batted in.

In 2012, Deutscher signed a free-agent contract with the River City Rascals (O’Fallon, Mo.) of the independent Frontier League. The Batavia High School graduate played 46 games for the Rascals that year and hit four doubles and three home runs with 14 runs batted in.

Deutscher earned his bachelor’s degree in business & economics from North Park University in 2011 and a master’s degree in business administration from North Central College in 2016.

Nat Richter

Baseball/Softball- Hitting & Infield

nat@impactsportsgb.com

Nat Richter begins his first season as an assistant coach at UW Oshkosh. He spent the previous 4 seasons as an assistant coach at Northwood University.

The Timbewolves posted their second straight GLIAC and GLIAC Tournament Championship season in 2018, winning 38 games and 21 conference games. Those marks are the second-highest in school history, trailing only the 2017 season. Over the last two years, NU has won 84 games. Prior to Richter’s arrival at Northwood, the previous best two-year win total for NU was 55 games.

Northwood had a year to remember in 2017, winning the first GLIAC and GLIAC Tournament Championships in school history. Richter was a part of a staff that led the Timberwolves to 46 victories, 14 more than any other season in program history. Northwood reached the Midwest Regional final in its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship.

The Timberwolves set a school-record for GLIAC wins in a season (20) while finishing with the best conference winning percentage in a year (.625) in 2015. NU reached the GLIAC Tournament for the second time in school history, earning the No. 3 seed in the event. The Timberwolves then posted 25 wins in 2016 and narrowly missed out on making the GLIAC Tournament.

Richter spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at St. Norbert College prior to coming to Northwood. While at St. Norbert, Coach Richter helped the Green Knight baseball program re-write the team’s record books. During his time there, St. Norbert compiled a 192-105 record (.646 winning percentage) while recording six of the seven winningest seasons in school history. St. Norbert made NCAA Division III Tournament appearances in 2009, 2012 and 2014 and won the Midwest Conference North Division title five times.

During the summer of 2012, Richter assisted Head Coach Jordan Bischel with the Green Bay Bullfrogs of the Northwoods League while helping in the development of 13 future Major League Baseball draft picks.

Richter had tremendous success as player at the University of Wisconsin Stevens-Point. A three-year starter at second base, the Pointers compiled a 124-59 record during Richter’s four seasons. A .295 career hitter, Richter slugged an impressive .487 over the course of his career. Richter hit nine home runs and compiled 39 RBI in the 2005 season. An outstanding defender, Richter compiled a .948 career fielding percentage. Richter played in the 2006 NCAA Division III World Series and was a teammate of future MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmerman.

Richter holds a Bachelor’s Degree from UW-Stevens Point and recently completed his Master’s Degree through St. Norbert College.

Ryan Fritze

Baseball – Pitching

ryan@impactsportsgb.com

Ryan grew up in Woodbury, MN and graduated in 2012. After graduation went on to play baseball at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) for two years. After graduating DMACC with my Liberal Arts Degree, Ryan transferred to Valparaiso University to study Sports Management and play baseball. After graduating from Valpo in 2016, he then went to graduate school at Valparaiso for with a Masters Degree in Sports Administration. While in Grad school Ryan also acted as the Graduate Assistant for the Valparaiso Baseball team working primarily with pitchers.

During my first year of graduate school Ryan signed a professional baseball contract with the Gary Southshore Railcats of the American Association, an Independent Professional League. The following year Ryan then signed with the Sioux Falls canaries in the same league. Ryan was then signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 10, 2019 where he spent the 2019 season at 3 different levels spending most of my time with the Visalia Rawhide the Advanced-A Affiliate of the D-Backs. During the 2019 off-season Ryan was the Head Pitching Instructor for the Indiana Chargers working with 11-18u teams.

Jean Rivett

Softball

Jean Rivett recently retired as the Assistant Softball Coach at St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin. Jean was in her second stint as the Assistant Coach at St. Norbert College and coached at St. Norbert from 1981-1991 and again from 2014-2018 before announcing her retirement from coaching on May 1, 2018. Prior to her position at St. Norbert College, Jean was the Head Softball Coach at the University Wisconsin-Green Bay the past 14 years (1992-96) and (2004-2014). Jean also spent 4 years (1996-2000) as the Assistant Coach at Lawrence University and 4 years (2000-2004) as the Head Softball Coach at Green Bay East.

Some of Coach Rivett’s coaching accolades include being named the 2004 and 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year since retiring from UW-Green Bay in May of 2014, and retired from Green Bay as the winningest softball Coach in the school’s history. Jean also held the position as the Horizon League Softball liaison/representative for the Commissioner of the Horizon League for 2 years while maintaining her coaching duties at UW-Green Bay.

Jean also held the position as Women’s ASA Fastpitch Commissioner for the State of Wisconsin for 4 years before resigning in 1992 due to her responsibilities at the University Wisconsin-Green Bay. Along with her duties as Women’s Commissioner for Wisconsin, Jean also served as the Women’s Valley Classic League President for five years.

Coach Rivett is a well-renowned pitcher, coach, and softball strategist who has been coaching the game of softball for over 30 years. Jean was an avid top Major A pitcher/player for 18 years and has attained many individual honors and awards during her playing days (national and local). One honor bestowed to Jean was being inducted in the 2009 Wisconsin ASA Hall of Fame as a player/coach and ASA Commissioner.

In 2014 Jean open and operated P.I.T.C.H. (Private Instruction, Training, Consulting and Hitting lessons) and conducted numerous softball clinics/camps and seminars nationwide. During her free time Jean has been in the process of publishing a fastpitch softball book for youth/travel ball programs and plans to continue to travel and promote softball throughout the United States and assist with USA Preps Camps. Also, Jean is currently an active member of the NFCA (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) and continues to take the time in studying the game and inventing creative ways to teach the game.

Jen Roskom

Softball – Hitting, Infield & Outfield

jen@impactsportsgb.com

Jen Roskom joins ISA with nearly 15 years of experience coaching softball. Having had a love for playing softball since she was 5 years old, she developed a keen sense of the strategy and nuances of the game. Jen graduated from Bay Port High School (Green Bay), then applied her softball knowledge and leadership skills coaching youth softball in the summers during college. After graduating from college, she started her career coaching at the high school level, accepting a position as the Freshman softball coach at Bay Port High School (2005).

Jen spent a season coaching at the Varsity level (De Pere High School 2009) which reaffirmed her drive and aptitude for developing young players and helping them achieve a higher level of performance. She accepted Junior Varsity level positions (De Pere 2010 and Bay Port 2006-08, 2014-2017) where developing fundamentals, focusing on gaining that competitive edge, and developing the right winning mindset are keys to furthering a successful softball career.

Bailey Smaney

Softball – Pitching

Bailey Smaney is originally from Howard, WI and played both softball and volleyball for Bay Port High School. During her senior year, Bay Port Softball made its first ever state tournament appearance and made it to the semifinals. She was named 1st Team All-Conference (2015) and FRCC Pitcher of the Year. Bailey was also selected to play in the 2015 Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Division 1 All-Star game.

After High School, she attended the University of Wisconsin Green Bay for one year where she compiled 11 wins as a freshmen and pitched in a school record of 31 games. Bailey then transferred to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh where she is studying to become a nurse. In her three years at UWO, she compiled a 32-12 record. In 2017, she helped her team reach the NCAA Super Regionals and to the NCAA Regionals in 2018. In both 2018 and 2019, Bailey was an All-WIAC First Team selection. Bailey was named NCAA Division 3 National softball Player of the Week in February 2019. She is also a member of the WIAC Scholastic Honor Roll from 2016-2019.

Kaylen Krueger

Softball

kaylen@impactsportsgb.com

Kaylen Krueger is originally from Green Bay, where she played softball at Preble High school. During her four years in high school, she accumulated a total of 50 home runs while holding a career batting average of .561. Additionally, she was a four-time All-Conference team member as well as two-time All-Area, All-Region, and All-American. In her senior year, she was placed on the Preble High School Wall of Champions, named FRCC Co-Player of the year, and received First Team All-State honors. 

After graduation, Kaylen went on to play softball for the University of Minnesota Gophers while pursuing a degree in Kinesiology. In her first season, Kaylen batted a .304 helping the Gophers break a program record by winning 54 games, 52 consecutively. She was also a part of the 2017 and 2018 Big 10 Champion teams as well as the 2019 Gopher team who for the first time in history, competed in the Women’s College World Series. Kaylen’s collegiate career was cut short due to COVID-19 public health concerts yet, during her four years she accumulated many honors including All-American Scholar-Athlete, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award, and Academic All-Big Ten.

Casey Kopitzke is a De Pere High School alum and former multi-sport athlete.  He went on to play baseball at Wisconsin-Oshkosh where he helped the Titans to a 102-19 record, three WIAC championships and one NCAA Division III World Series appearance from 1997-1999.  He became a two-time All American in his college playing days at UW-Oshkosh and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 27th round of the 1999 MLB First-Year Player Draft.

At UW-Oshkosh, Kopitzke counts helping UWO to a school record tying 41 wins in 1998 and catching a 1999 staff that produced a conference-record 13 shutouts and a 1.38 earned run average as his biggest accomplishments.  He finished his UWO career with a .350 BA with 23 home runs, 35 doubles and 126 RBIs in 121 games.  For his efforts in the classroom, Casey was also named to the 1999 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team.

After his collegiate career, Kopitzke played eight seasons in the Chicago Cubs minor league system, reaching the Triple-A level.  In 2003, Kopitzke was named the most valuable player of the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, the Cubs’ AA affiliate, and was chosen to play in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.  In 2006, Kopitzke was name the Triple-A Iowa Cubs’ Man of the Year for his contributions to the community.

Following his playing career, Kopitzke served as the Cubs minor league catching coordinator from 2007-08.  He was also added to the Cubs staff as an assistant coach in September 2008.  He managed Boise (Northwest League) in 2009 and moved up to running Peoria (Midwest League) from 2010-12.  Kopitzke was also selected to manage the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League following the 2010 season.

After the 2012 season, Kopitzke left the Cubs organization to enroll in law school at Marquette University graduating in December 2015.  Before returning home to De Pere in 2020, Kopitzke and his family lived in St. Paul, Minnesota where he was an instructor at Nevers Larkin Baseball from 2016-2020 and an assistant coach at Hamline University from 2019-20.

Payton Sampson

Softball

payton@impactsportsgb.com

Payton is from Green Bay and 4-year Varsity starter and All-Conference player at Green Bay Preble. She played 3 years for Junior Phoenix Fastpitch under Mike Roberts (Associate Head Coach @ Louisiana Rajun Cajuns). In High School she was a 1st Team FRCC All-Conference Catcher and Utility player for 2013 & 2014 Seasons. She also played in the 2014 Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association Division 1 All Star Game and was a part of the Academic All-State Team. 

After high school, Payton played softball for 2 years at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She graduated with a Marketing & Graphic Design Bachelor’s Degree in 2018. She also is the Assistant Varsity softball coach for Green Bay Preble High School. Her hobbies outside of softball include spending time with her dog, Walter!