Our Team

Amanda Schaefer, most know her as Coach AB, is a Pitching Instructor and Mental Skills Coach. She runs Fearless Fastpitch with a mission to impact young women on and off the softball field, preparing leaders for life outside the chalk lines. She currently serves as the Head Coach of Waverly High School Softball and is in her 3rd year with the program.

For the past 8 years, she has been instructing pitchers all over Nebraska as well as virtually in the midwest. Her philosophy is to create foundational mechanics to increase velocity and command while most importantly keeping pitchers mechanically safe to avoid injury. She pitched at Concordia University in Seward and received her degree in Business Administration.

She has also spent the last 2 years studying Performance Psychology as it relates to the mental side of softball. She teaches Mental Skills Training nationwide and coaches softball athletes in 24 different states! Through the Fearless Warrior Program, she has created a 3-Phase Framework to help softball players overcome their fears, increase their confidence, and perform at their best when it matters most!

Work with Coach AB:
Mental Skills Training Waitlist: fearlesswarriorprogram.com/waitlist
Pitching Lesson Waitlist: Email amanda@fearlessfastpitch.com

She is excited to build a strong community at the Wave. Be sure to say hello when you see her or find her in the Fearless Cage #6!

Dr. Kelsey Gaston is a physical therapist and owner of Arrow Physical Therapy. She is a former college softball player with a passion for helping athletes of all ages over come injuries, improve their performance, and reduce their risk of injury. She started Arrow Physical Therapy to be able to work more in depth and directly for her clients and athletes to provide exceptional care while working towards high performance goals.

Kelsey is an O’Neill, Nebraska native who completed her undergraduate studies and played softball at Concordia University. She then went on to complete her doctorate at Creighton University in Omaha. Kelsey and her husband Kyle have lived in Ashland-Greenwood area for the last six years and now live in Ashland with their two kids Bennet and Paityn.

Coach Tewes is the Waverly HS Baseball and Legion Head Coach.

Luke Tewes spent two years as a graduate assistant coach for the Panthers in 2018. His first year, he helped Drury to a 37-20 record, a 19-9 mark in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a West Division title and an appearance in the NCAA-II tournament.

Tewes returned to Drury after serving as an assistant at Cowley County CC in Kansas in 2016 and was part of a staff that led the program to a Junior College World Series appearance.

Drury won the GLVC championship in both of Tewes’ seasons and was a combined 77-37-1 with a 48-22-1 record in the conference and a perfect 8-0 mark in the league tournament. He was also a part of five wins in the NCAA-II tournament during his two years with the Panthers.

Tewes started his college career at Iowa Western CC and helped the program to a 45-14 record and a top 10 national finish in his second season there. He played at Waverly High School in Lincoln, Nebraska in addition to a season at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida where he hit .478 for the prep program.

Player stats:

Career .377 hitter and is tied with Nich Thimesch for Drury’s all-time career batting average record.

Career leader:

• Career leader Slugging percentage at .610
• Career leader On-base percentage at .488.

Third in HR (18)

Third in HR (18)

Sixth in Hits (146)

First Team All-Midwest Region as a Senior

First Team All-GLVC

Third Team Academic All-American by Capital One.
Second Team All-Region pick and a First Team All-GLVC selection as a junior and twice earned GLVC Player of the Week honors.

Mike Roth is an assistant coach for the Nebraska Wesleyan softball team.  Roth assists with the infield and catchers and primarily focuses on hitting for the Prairie Wolves.  Under his guidance, NWU has raised their team average from .281 in 2017 to .301 in 2019.

Roth is currently the Director and a Head Coach of Nebraska Prodigy Easton Fastpitch in Lincoln, Neb.  In 2014 he founded the Nebraska Elite Fastpitch Association and merged it with Colorado Prodigy Easton Fastpitch.  Under Roth’s guidance Nebraska Elite grew from two teams to now 44 combined teams under Prodigy program.

He has also served as a volunteer hitting coach with Lincoln North Star softball program from 2018-2019 before being hired as the 2020 Head coach.  Prior to his work at North Star, he was an assistant head coach/head JV coach at Lincoln Pius X High School from 2013-15.

Roth was also a board member and coach of the Lincoln Rockets softball program.  He was instrumental in the Rockets attaining their 501(c)3 non-profit status before resigning to start the Nebraska Elite Fastpitch Association. Coach Roth also spent three years as a volunteer board member with Lancaster Youth Softball Association (LYSA) program helping automate the 14 seasonal tournaments and 105 team league at LYSA complex.

Hope Bonar or more formally, Coach Hope graduated Creighton University with her Bachelors in Psychology and Theology. To further her education and knowledge she is beginning her Masters of Psychology at Grand Canyon University. Hope played softball for 15 years as a catcher and will begin her second year of being a head coach for a select team based out of Omaha, Nebraska. She also runs Showstopper Fastpitch, which she founded just recently!

With her degree and softball background she hopes to reach as many softball players as she can. Hope gives catching, hitting, and pitching lessons, proudly. She is beyond eager to begin working with The Wave and help grow softball in the Midwest. Her philosophy is, “if you believe you can, you will.”

 

8 YEARS HEAD HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL COACH

17 YEARS HEAD COLLEGIATE SOFTBALL COACH

6 YEARS COLLEGE OF SAINT MARY (NAIA)

• 3 CONFERNCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 3 COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS

8 YEARS SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE (NCAA II)

• 5 CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 4 COACH OF THE YEAR AWARDS
• 4 NCAA REGIONAL QUALIFIERS
• WINNINGEST COACH IN SCHOOL HISTORY

3 YEARS CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY (NAIA)

• 72-27 RECORD
• NAIA NATIONAL QUALIFIERS 2012

My name is Karsen VanScoy. I am a junior at Waverly High School and involved in volleyball, band, National Honors Society and Striv club. As apart of the Waverly volleyball team I have had the opportunity to play in the State Volleyball Tournament 3 years in a row (2018, 2019, & 2020). I play highly competitive volleyball for Volleyball Club Nebraska as a libero/DS and select softball for Prodigy Easton as a pitcher and outfielder. I have worked at the wave since it opened which has helped me stay connected to the Waverly community. I have 1 older sister, Kennedy, who also graduated from Waverly High School and currently goes to Concordia University and is on the volleyball team. My mom is the US sales training and development lead for Bayer Crop Science and my dad is a parts advisor at Woodhouse Lincoln in Omaha.

What do you enjoy most about athletics?
– I enjoy athletics because every game and every practice is always different. I am always challenged to learn something new and pushed to become a better athlete. Being a part of a team is also one of my favorite things about sports because I have met some of my best friends through high school and club sports.

What has athletics taught you about life?
– Athletics has taught me so many lessons about life. I have learned discipline, communication, and leadership.

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you are starting a sport what would you tell the younger version of yourself?
– If I could talk to my younger self, I would tell her to not choose a focus sport too early. Try different sports and see what you really enjoy playing. During high school I often wondered if I would have enjoyed playing basketball or soccer but by not trying at a younger age it would have been difficult to compete at that level with no prior training.

Who is your hero?
– This question really made me realize that I don’t have one single hero but that I am very lucky to have many people that are heroes to me. I have such a great family that is always there to support me and cheer me on.

What is your biggest fear?
– My biggest fear is accidentally touching my elf on the shelf. LOL!

What is your favorite family vacation?
– My favorite family vacation is Merritt Reservoir in Valentine, Nebraska. We take a trip out there once or twice a year to camp with our extended family. During our trip we water ski, jet ski, play corn hole, climb the sand banks, and sing songs around the campfire.

What motivates you to work hard?
– I’ve known for a while that I want to go play college athletics after high school and wanting to play at the highest level possible pushed me to put in extra hours in the gym. The weight room also pushes me to be a better athlete because I want to make improvements each and every time I max out.

What is your favorite subject in school?
– My favorite subject in school is science because there is so much hands on activities and experiments it keeps me engaged and wanting to learn more.

What is your favorite food?
– My favorite food is Sesame chicken from the Hy-Vee Market Place.

What sports do you play?
– I play volleyball and softball. I have been playing volleyball since I was 6 and softball since I was 5.

What do you love about working at The WAVE?
– I love how The WAVE gives everyone the opportunity to be a better version of themselves. Seeing people come in to get extra reps after a long day of school or work is really inspiring.

 

I am Kelsey, and a senior at Waverly High School. I have lived in Waverly my entire life and played sports locally growing up with all my friends. I am planning to play Softball at UNK while studying Biology. I have been working at the WAVE since it opened in the fall of 2019 and have loved every minute of it!!

What do you enjoy most about athletics?
⁃ For me I enjoy the continual challenges that come with being an athlete.

What has athletics taught you about life?
⁃ Being an athlete has taught me true value of team success

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you are starting a sport what would you tell the younger version of yourself?
⁃ Go harder, put everything you have into it, smile more, and never take for granted the time you have when you are younger to enjoy the game.

Who is your hero?
⁃ My hero is my dad. He has taught me how to use every tool in my box in a variety of ways, and all while being humble, hardworking, and kind.

What is your biggest fear?
⁃ My biggest fear is that one day I won’t be able to smile with the people I love.

What is your favorite family vacation?
⁃ This one time my family and I went skiing in Colorado and I actually almost flew off the side of the mountain, so that was pretty cool.

What motivates you to work hard?
⁃ My motivation is the pure fact that I want to be the best version of myself for others.

What is your favorite subject in school?
⁃ I love Chemistry a lot.

What is your favorite food?
⁃ I love ice cream because it’s a food group.

What sports do you play?
⁃ I play Softball, Basketball, and Soccer.

What do you love about working at The WAVE?
⁃ I love working at the WAVE because it’s full of people all ages trying to have a little fun!

My name is Malia Thoms. I am a student at WHS (2023). I have 2 siblings, 2 younger brothers. I love working with kids and I love helping them with the game of softball or baseball.

What do you enjoy most about athletics?
– The 1 thing I enjoy about athletics is getting to see each athlete develop in their own way.

What has athletics taught you about life?
– Athletics has taught me to never give up. If it gets hard, push through it and if you don’t, there is always someone else working out there trying to get better.

If you could go back and talk to yourself when you are starting a sport what would you
tell the younger version of yourself?
– I would tell my younger self that it’s okay to fail.

Who is your hero?
– My hero is my great grandpa Wagner because he was a fighter and taught me to fight when it gets hard. He was a battler with cancer too and fought through that.

What is your biggest fear?
– My biggest fear is snakes.

What is your favorite family vacation?
– My favorite family vacation is Mexico.

What/Who motivates you to work hard?
– My dad motivates me because he pushes me to work hard in everything I do.

What is your favorite subject in school?
– My favorite subject in school is Math.

What is your favorite food?
– My favorite food is wings

What sport(s) do you play?
– The sport I play is softball.

What do you love about working at the wave?
– The one thing I love about working at The Wave is getting see each athlete develop their better self in softball or baseball.