United Community Bank Athlete of the Week: MLS’ Ginger Savelkoul

MOHALL, N.D. (KMOT) – You can’t touch this.

“I’m very excited that I don’t have to ever play against her, and I only get to have her on my team,” said Kate Zimmer, a senior from Kenmare on the Renville County softball team.

Ginger Savelkoul has struck out more than 700 batters in her varsity career.

“She wants to strike you out. That’s her goal,” said Kate.

Ginger is still a junior at Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood High School.

“You have to be ready to expect anything,” said Ellie Braaten, a senior from Westhope on the Renville County softball team.

While that may be striking, Ginger would never brag about it.

“She’s always willing to put the team ahead of herself. She’s never first to talk about herself, it’s always ‘the team’s doing great, the team’s doing great’ even though Ginger’s doing great too,” said Kate.

“There have been moments and teams that I’ve played on that have not been fun. I’ve taken those experiences and I don’t want anyone else to experience that. I want others to feel the love and feel the fun, it’s a game,” said Ginger.

Ginger got to spread her love further last year, when the Renville County co-op was approved by the school board and NDHSAA.

“I literally started bawling tears of joy,” said Ginger.

She now shares her attitude with Kenmare, Bowbells, Westhope and Newburg.

“She’s an amazing friend. She always has your back, always a shoulder to cry on, she’ll lift you up when you need it. People like that, you should keep around,” said Ellie.

“It’s just a game. At the end of the day, even if you had the worst game of your life, you’re still going to be a good friend, you’re still going to be a good sister, you’re still going to be a good daughter, you’re still going to be good at other things. Softball doesn’t define you,” said Ginger.

For as friendly as she is, Savelkoul can turn into a savage.

“She’s fire and she’s also friendly. She’s the perfect mix. She knows when to turn it on and she knows when to turn it off. If she sees one of her teammates struggling, she can turn it off and be that sincere person and when the game starts up again, she’s going to be fired up,” said Ellie.

There’s a fire inside Ginger...

“She’s killing it on the mound and that’s all you can ask for. You have on days, and you have off days, Ginger works through them all,” said Ellie.

And you can’t put it out.

Ginger said she hopes to continue her softball career after graduating from MLS next spring.

The Mavericks play Kindred at the East-West Crossover in Fargo on Friday.

Related content:

United Community Bank Athlete of the Week featured athletes

Copyright 2023 KFYR. All rights reserved.