Two years ago, UW-Madison student-athlete Danielle Lucey accepted an offer to join the Madison Night Mares, the city’s first women’s summer collegiate softball team. Lucey had just wrapped up her freshman year on the Badgers softball team, where she didn’t play much. But after one season with the Night Mares, the trajectory of Lucey’s softball career shifted. The following fall Lucey earned a starting spot and a new athletic scholarship.

“I gained so much confidence,” she says. “I felt so comfortable with myself, hitting and playing the outfield. I really felt like more of a leader out there and less timid.”

This summer, Lucey, 21, is playing her third season with the Night Mares — a team that’s gained a footing since its founding in 2024 through a steady stream of big wins, like the team’s championship in the Northwoods League Softball Championship last summer. The team began this season with a 16-game winning streak, quickly establishing itself as one of the league’s top contenders. Staff and players are excited about the team’s potential to lay the groundwork for the future of softball — and other — women’s sports in Madison.

The Madison Night Mares are part of Northwoods League Softball, the first for-profit women’s summer collegiate softball league in the U.S., consisting of six teams across Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota.

While summer collegiate men’s baseball teams are common, the creation of Northwoods League Softball in 2024 presented an opportunity for Madison to help usher in a new era for women’s sports, says Samantha Rubin, general manager for the Night Mares and the Madison Mallards.

There’s growing national interest in women’s softball. The 2025 Women’s College World Series drew record viewership, and new investments, like Major League Baseball’s partnership with the Athletes Unlimited Softball League, have expanded opportunities for players after college.

“I think for a long time, softball players’ goals in their careers have been to get a college scholarship,” Rubin says. Now, pro softball is a possibility.

Community support for the Night Mares has proven strong from the start, Rubin says, though the team is still building a fan base. The team wants to appeal not just to softball fans but to families who might be interested in a fun evening at the ball park. “Mallards fans sometimes come to games to enjoy pretty much everything besides the baseball, whereas our softball fans are coming to enjoy the softball,” says Rubin.

With so many recent wins under its belt, the team shows no signs of slowing down. On July 11, the Night Mares will host the Northwoods League Softball All-Star Game in Madison — the first all-star game in league history.

Lexi Godwin, who started coaching the team last season, led the team to its 2025 league championship. Godwin is optimistic about this season and encourages the public to lend their support.

“The girls are awesome. They’ve been killing it, and I expect that to be the trend all season long,” she says. “The Northwoods League is doing it like no other, and so just come out and support women, especially young women, who have really big aspirations to do some really cool things.”