Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
An unwavering confidence in her own ability and a strong belief in her faith in God helped carry Lorena Cernetisch Wenger at a time when others might have given up. An unrecruited three-sport athlete at Erie High School, Cernetisch arrived on the Augustana campus in the fall of 2003 with the hopes of playing both volleyball and softball during college.
“I was a true walk-on,” she remarked. “Nobody recruited me and nobody really knew who I was when I showed up for practice that freshman year.”
That would be quite an understatement as she did not play in a single varsity volleyball match as a freshman and she garnered just 26 at-bats on the Viking softball team which went 36-9 and captured the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin title. Augustana also won a pair of games in the NCAA Division III regional tournament in Alma, Michigan and it was there that Cernetisch first showed a flash of what eventually would become a hall of fame career.
The Vikings were in the process of losing a 1-0 decision in 11 innings to the University of Chicago in the opening round, when out of the blue, head coach Kris Kistler called on Cernetisch to pinch hit to lead off the third inning. She laced a double for one of just five hits for Augustana on the day. At the time Kistler was asked about her decision to plug a relatively untested Cernetisch into the lineup at that moment. “She always gets good swings, and she doesn’t appear to be bothered by much,” said Kistler.
That “doesn’t appear to be bothered by much” statement would serve as an accurate descriptor of her career at Augustana. After not playing much as a freshman, she further complicated matters by tearing up her A.C.L. playing softball in the summer of 2004. She tried to tough it out in volleyball for her sophomore campaign but eventually had to cut her season short and had knee surgery in November of 2004. She recovered in time to play softball in 2005 but had just 51 at-bats while starting 15 games as the Vikings went 33-12 overall and 11-3 in the CCIW.
What came next over the two seasons spanning 2006 and 2007 might have surprised many but not Cernetisch. “My confidence never wavered,” she remarked. “I love the game of softball, and I knew that if I was given the chance, I could be successful. I had fun playing and I relied on my background. I had a lot of people in my corner and that helped with my belief that I could play at this level.”
“Lorena had one speed and it was 200 miles per hour,” said Kistler. “She practiced that way and played that way every day. She had all the tools, speed, power and range on defense. With her physical tools also came the fact that she was an even better leader and teammate.”
She exploded onto the scene in 2006 as she batted .455 with 56 hits in 123 at-bats while scoring 34 runs with 17 doubles, six triples, two home runs and 31 runs-batted-in. Batting mostly in the clean-up position, she also found time to steal 13 bases as the Vikings went 33-10 and won the CCIW with a 13-1 record.
Cernetisch earned NCAA Division III All-America honors as a junior and was named to the all-conference and all-region team. She also won the first of her two CCIW “Batter of the Year” titles.
Her senior year was pretty much the same as Kistler moved her to the leadoff spot and she posted a .432 batting average with 63 hits in 146 at-bats with 48 runs scored, 12 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 27 RBI. She upped her stolen base total to 37.
The statistics for her final two seasons were eye-popping as she hit at a.442 clip with 119 hits in 269 at-bats with 82 runs scored, 29 doubles, nine triple, 11 home runs, 58 RBI and 50 stolen bases. Her slugging percentage during that time frame was a phenomenal .740. The Vikings were 63-24 overall and 24-4 in the CCIW during those two years.
As a senior in 2007 she was the CCIW “Player of the Year” and was all-conference and all-region. She was not, however, a repeat selection on the All-America team. Cernetisch, as is fitting with her personality, took that completely in stride. “I thought it was weird but there was nothing I could do about it,” she said without a hint of animosity in her voice nearly 20 years later.
Cernetisch never really worried much about things she couldn’t control. She played for the absolute joy of competing. “I loved it when we played the best teams,” she said. “I had fun going against people who were good. That is when I always felt I was at my best. My batting philosophy was always the same. I went up there to hit. If I could reach it, I was swinging at it.”
In four years and 126 games she only walked 30 times and, despite the fact that she was a bit of a free swinger, she only struck out 34 times.
After graduating from Augustana in the spring of 2007 with a degree in biology/pre-medicine, she had a variety of jobs before eventually enrolling in Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. Her life changed quite a bit in 2014 when she started her chiropractic practice in Clarks, Nebraska, where she settled with her husband ????. The couple also began their family that year with the first of seven children (with an eighth due shortly after her induction into the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame) born just as the business was getting off the ground.
“I enjoy being a chiropractor and it is fun to help people get better,” she said.
The Wengers are what Lorena jokingly refers to as “hobby farmers” on their eight-acre piece of land in Clarks. They homeschool their children and both Lorena and her husband are actively involved in coaching, mostly softball and baseball.
“We do things a little bit differently in our household,” she admitted. “We are really a close-knit family and our kids are each other’s best friends. In the dugouts we are all together and I have my kids with me at work. They love watching each other compete and we love being a close-knit unit.”
She has some concrete beliefs that she uses in coaching, but she agrees that she and her husband don’t always agree on hitting philosophy. “He’s a former baseball player and he worries about working the count and using that to your advantage. I just want them to go up there, find a pitch and take a rip at it,” she laughed. “We do agree that we strive to coach the bottom half of the team (in terms of talent) to get as close as possible to the top half. We don’t ignore anyone. We both believe in fundamentals, and we try to balance the playing time out as equally as possible.”
Cernetisch was always one who had her feet firmly on the ground and she knows exactly where that came from. “I had a great Christian upbringing, and I have always been able to fall back on that,” she commented. “I give credit to God for giving me the ability and I try every day to use that gift. I am thankful for all that I have been able to accomplish. My faith that God would bring me through every trial and use my gifts for good kept me on an even keel throught my time in softball.”
Lorena and her husband Jeffrey currently have seven children with an eighth due shortly after her induction ceremony.
