Lakeland College

Softball Coaches

Chad Buchmann
Head Coach

Email: buchmanncp@lakeland.edu
Phone: (920)-565-1435

Coach Buchmann enters his eighth season as Lakeland's head coach. He is a graduate of Sheboygan North High School and of Lakeland College ('98 and '09).

In 2011, Buchmann led the Muskies to their fifth-straight Northern Athletics Conference Tournament after posting a 14-10 conference record, including a 15-26 overall mark. Five players received All-NAC recognition, including a First Team selection. Jenny LaLuzerne was named to the Capital One Academic All-District Third Team.

Nationally, the 2010 Muskies ranked first in the nation among NCAA Division III teams in triples hit per game with 35, fourth in scoring, ninth in slugging and 19th in doubles.

The 2009 season left numerous marks on the college's record books. The 30 wins surpassed the season record Buchmann's Muskies set in 2007 of 27 wins; their winning streak of 23 games in a row surpassed the 1994 record of 15; the team's 34 home runs is a school record; and Buchmann has moved into second all-time in coaching wins at Lakeland with 103.

Since 2004, five players have received All-Region recognition, 11 players have received All-Conference recognition multiple times and seven different players have been named to the All-Rookie team. Two different Muskies have been the conferences batting champions since 2006, and in 2009 the Player of the Year in the NAC was a Muskie (KC Blahnik). In 2010, Blahnik was also named the NAC Woman of the Year.

During the summers, Buchmann serves as a head coach for USAAI College Softball organization, which competes internationally. He has guided teams to two gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Locally, he is a founding member and the coaching coordinator of Sheboygan's only youth girls ASA competitive fastpitch program.

Coach Buchmann returned home to LC in 2004 after a two-year stint in Jamestown, N.D. The Jimmies won a school-record 41 games in his first year and had five all-conference selections that year. In two seasons with the Jimmies, his career record at Jamestown College was 65-41.

Buchmann and his wife, Amy, have a three-year-old son named Brady and welcomed their daughter Lauren Ruth into the family in January 2011. Amy is a native of Menomonee Falls and is a UW-Madison School of Nursing graduate. Currently, Amy is a nurse coordinator working in Sheboygan. She also held positions as a nursing instructor at Jamestown College and a nurse at the Mayo Clinic. She finished her master's in nursing in the summer of 2005 and Coach Buchmann completed his master of education in 2009.

The Buchmanns, who reside in Sheboygan, enjoy spending time with their two dogs, Magnus (dachshund) and Regal (beagle).

Coaching Record

Contact Head Coach Chad Buchmann

Elisa Waltz '08
Assistant Coach

Email: waltze@lakeland.edu
Phone: (920)-565-1451

Elisa Waltz begins her second season with the Muskie softball program as the infield and slapping coach. Waltz graduated from Lakeland College in 2008 and was an award-winning starter for both the softball and soccer programs.

Waltz was a three-time All-Conference selection at shortstop and was the program's all-time leader in stolen bases, career hits and runs batted in. Academically, Waltz was the 2008 outstanding senior in non-profit management and held an outstanding GPA of 3.84.

She also was an Academic All - Region scholar in both soccer and softball. The softball program's highest academic achievement award is named after her. The "Elisa Waltz E-chievement Award" is awarded to the senior softball player with the highest GPA.

"Coach Waltz was a role model on and off the field when she played at Lakeland and will ensure the future of the program is held to the highest of standards," said head softball coach Chad Buchmann. "Her relentless work habits, drive for success and her outstanding organizational skills will benefit all the players in the program."

Waltz plans to pursue her master of arts in counseling.