Board Officers
PRESIDENT, Jerry Schmitt
Board member since October 2014 / current term expires in October 2023
Jerry was elected Board President in October 2021 after being Vice President of Baseball Operations in 2020-21. He started his Board service in 2014 as the Junior League Coordinator for the summer program and Fall Ball Coordinator for Junior and Senior League. He has also served on the Facilities Committee & Baseball Operations Committee and coordinated the Skills Session since 2019. He was a coach in the league from 2008-2020 for both baseball and softball, including several baseball tournament teams. He is married with two sons and a daughter who played and umpired at WMLL and were buddies in the Challenger League. Jerry is Vice President of Planning and Survey at KL Engineering, Inc.
VICE-PRESIDENT – BASEBALL, Robb Vogel
Board member since October 2018 / current term expires in October 2024
Robb has coached baseball teams at WMLL since 2014 at the Rookie, Minor, Major, Junior & Senior League levels. He has also coached WMLL Tournament Teams at the U10, U11 & U12 levels. Robb & his wife have a son who has been a part of WMLL as a player since 2014 and served as a volunteer for the Challenger League. Robb works at Madison Property Management as well as sports radio host and play-by-play for Badgers Hockey.
VICE PRESIDENT – SOFTBALL, Mark Wochos
Board member since October 2021 / current term expires in October 2024
Mark has been active as an assistant coach and volunteer at WMLL since 2019 and has recently helped form the West Madison Travel Team program. An avid baseball fan, Mark played into high school and still enjoys baseball activities of any type. He has a son playing in the Junior League and a daughter joining the Minor League in 2022. Mark will be dipping his toe in the head coaching ranks for the inaugural U13 travel team next year as well. Professionally Mark is the Chief Information Security Officer for Veda Data Solutions.
TREASURER, Chris Jillings
Board member since October 2020 / current term expires in October 2023
Board Members
Nadeem Afghan
Board member since October 2021 / current term expires in October 2024
Nadeem has been helping and coaching at WMLL since the 2019 season. Nadeem grew up in San Diego and moved to Wisconsin in 2007. He is married to Heidi Simmet and they have two children, both who play at WMLL – Amelia (11 years old) plays Major League softball & Benjamin (9 years old) plays Minor League baseball. Both are also seeking a spot on a WMTT team. Nadeem and Heidi also have a 3rd child named BODE, a soft coated wheaten terrier. Nadeem works for BIOFerm Energy Systems and also supports a local solar company Glow Solar. When he has time Nadeem plays racquetball at Supreme and enjoys watching his kids play baseball & soccer in the summer and hockey in the winter.
Kraig Bodie
Board member since March 2019 / current term expires in October 2025
Kraig started coaching in the Rookie League in 2018 and is now working up through the Atlantic League as his boys get older. Kraig played Little League in Northern Minnesota, so he is excited to have his kids play on the beautiful fields at WMLL. He is married and has two sons that will both play in WMLL for years to come. Kraig has worked for Regus as an Area Sales Manager since 2014 and assists companies of all sizes with office space locally and globally.
Brianne Coffey
Board member since October 2022 / current term expires in October 2023
Growing up, Brianne played soccer while she cheered on her big brother, who played Little League. Baseball was a big love for her, and for her family; especially for her Abuelo (Grandfather) from Mexico. She dreamed of one day watching a game at every MLB stadium. Today, Brianne is a parent of a Little Leaguer with WMLL. Professionally, Brianne is an MD Program Coordinator at UW SMPH, supporting medical students on their journey to become medical professionals. She is looking forward to participating on the board, and giving back to the WMLL community.
Scott Eckel
Board member since October 2022 / current term expires in October 2025
Scott has been involved with WMLL since 2018 coaching in the Major and Junior Leagues as well as several fall ball teams. Scott is a huge baseball fan and played baseball in high school and league softball for many years after that. Scott and his wife, Christine, have a daughter who played softball in WMLL and a son who will now be playing in the Senior League. Scott retired in 2019 from teaching instrumental music for the Madison Metropolitan School District at both East and West High Schools. Scott enjoys golfing, hiking, and gardening when he is not driving two teenagers from one event to another.
Joan Farrell
Board member since October 2020 / current term expires in October 2023
Joan grew up in a baseball-loving family, started waving her homer hanky in the ’80s, and hasn’t looked back since. She is the mother of two baseball kiddos and has been happy to be a parent with WMLL for the last 5-years. She works for the Madison Metropolitan School district and loves to come cheer-on not just her own sons but also kids she knows from school in baseball, softball, and the challenger league.
Andrew Hahn
Board member since October 2021 / current term expires in October 2025
Andrew has been involved coaching his now 10-year-old son at WMLL since he was 8 and is a head coach of an inaugural West Madison Travel Team. Andrew grew up playing at WMLL and is excited to be able to continue to be a part of this great program and community as a father, coach, spectator & now board member. Andrew has worked at the University of Wisconsin as a researcher in medical imaging since 2011.
Tom Heneghan (past president)
Board member since October 2005 / current term expires in October 2023
Tom joined the board 13 years ago and finished serving his 7th year as President in 2014. He has stepped up to the plate again and volunteered to serve as President in 2017-18. He has two daughters who played WMLL Softball and a son who played WMLL Baseball. Tom is an attorney for the Husch Blackwell law firm in Madison. Tom is married and has coached both baseball and softball at WMLL at all levels. He has also served for many years as VP-Softball and on the Softball Committee and coordinated the Softball Rookie, Minor and Major Lgs, as well as the WMLL Commemorative Brick Program. Tom will again be working with umpire training in 2018.
Nate Judnic
Board member since October 2020 / current term expires in October 2025
Nate played baseball and softball growing up in southeastern Wisconsin cheering for the Milwaukee Brewers and continues to love the game. He coaches both sports for all three of his kids (Bella, Rylan, Hudson) at WMLL. Nate is married and his wife Nici played softball growing up in Iowa and has coached softball and has been a team coordinator at WMLL. Professionally, Nate is Legal Counsel for the Department of Administration in Madison
Harry Miller (past president)
Board member since October 1994 / current term expires in October 2024
Harry is the longest tenured member of the board, having served over 20 years. He has filled a variety of positions in the organization, including President, VP-Baseball, Baseball Operations Committee chair, Umpire Coordinator and Tournament Team Coordinator. Harry has also coordinated several of our special events, such as Little Lg Night at the Brewers and the WMLL 50th Season celebration in 2008. He is married and has two sons who played at WMLL and a daughter who managed the concession stand for a number of years. Harry is retired from the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives and has coached at WMLL in all levels of play. Harry has also coordinated the Fall Ball Junior and Senior Lgs and the regular season Pacific,Badger and Senior Leagues. He is the recipient of the 2012 Vern Ruhle Little Lg Volunteer of the Year award, as presented by the Wis. District 4 Little Lg staff.
Karli Shapiro
Board member since October 2022 / current term expires in October 2025
Laura Swisher
Board member since October 2021 / current term expires in October 2024
Laura grew up playing softball until high school when field hockey and distance running took over. When Laura started dating her husband Bill, a baseball player his entire life, she upped her baseball knowledge & fandom – learning to keep score, planning baseball getaways, & debating the intricacies of rules & stats. Her son, Will, started playing catch as soon as he could walk & joined WMLL after playing t-ball with the Wexford league. Laura has been helping to manage her sons teams & volunteering for community organizations in the Madison area since relocating here 7 years ago.
Ex-Officio Board Members
Bill Battista, former Executive Director & Board President
Bill began his WMLL involvement as a coach in 1995 and was elected to WMLL’s Board in 1999. During his time on the Board, Bill served as the President, the Vice President for Baseball, the Major League Coordinator, the Board Liaison to District 4 Little League, and the chair of a number of committees. Bill became WMLL’s first Executive Director in 2008 and served in that position for ten years. Bill initiated the fall Challenger League and was its league coordinator from 2009 thru 2014.
Brian Beutter, former Executive Director
Brian grew up playing Little League & high school baseball in Northern Indiana & was thrilled when his two daughters developed a love for softball. Ocean currently plays in the Junior League, & is a WMLL umpire, & Sky plays in the Major League. Brian’s wife Sabrina is a head coach in Major League softball. Brian has coached WMLL softball every season since 2016, including coaching at the Minor, Major & Junior League levels. He has also been a tournament team coach every year since 2017, including coaching the U10 (twice), U12 & U14 teams. Brian was elected to the Board in 2017 Annual Meeting & served as WMLL’s Executive Director from April 2018 to February 2022.