After winning the WIAA Division 3 State Championship last week the Cardinals say goodbye to senior pitcher Ella Stewart. The Cardinals rode the right arm of the soft spoken, respectful, and amiable hurler as Prescott won its first softball state championship in program history. Impressive too is that Head Coach Nick Johnson has now led two programs - one girls and one boys - to state titles, a feat quite uncommon in the realm of high school sports. And next year the cupboard will be far from bare for the 2024 champions. Stewart, along with state semi-final game hero Megan Richter are the only players who have played their last game as a Prescott Cardinal. Therefore, a sizable amount of the Cardinal roster will return to defend their state championship in the spring of 2025. 

Congratulations to pitcher Cullen Huppert on being named the Northwest District Division 2 Player of the Year. The talented senior lefthander was also named 1st Team All District by the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association.  Bravo to junior infielder Barrett Temmers on being named 2nd Team All District and to Cole Platson for being named Honorable Mention All District. Earlier last week, Huppert and Temmers were named 1st Team All Conference, and Platson, along with senior Mason Schommer and sophomore Max Monteith were named 2nd Team All Conference. Senior outfielder Nolan Thomley was named Honorable Mention. Huppert was also named Middle Border Conference Player of the Year. WBCA All State Team selections will be made this Thursday at the WIAA State Tournament in Appleton. Other Middle Border 1st Team All District selections include infielder Trent Cornell and outfield Kellen Smith, both of Altoona. 

Baldwin-Woodville Sectional Champion and #4 seed La Crosse Logan will play #1 seed Mosinee in game two of the WIAA Division 2 State Tournament this week. The other Division 2 semi-final will feature two private schools, #2 Kettle Moraine Lutheran squaring off with #3 seed Madison Edgewood. In Division 3, tournament favorite and #1 ranked La Crosse Aquinas brings its Minnesota laden roster to Appleton for the second consecutive year. 

Bonduel will be making their first appearance in the state tournament this season and are members of the Central Wisconsin East Conference. In Division 4, Northwood/Solon Springs of the East Lakeland Conference will be making their first trip to Appleton as will Eleva-Strum of the Dairyland Conference. 

Congratulations to River Falls Head Baseball Coach Ryan Bishop on winning his 300th career game. The Gilman High School and Viterbo College graduate has been the head coach of the Wildcats for the past 24 seasons. Congratulations Coach Bishop. And congratulations to Somerset Head Coach Zac Eichten on being named Middle Border Conference Baseball Coach of the Year. The Stillwater, Minn. native just finished his eighth season as head coach of the Spartans and guided Somerset to wins in nine of their last 11 games. With no seniors, the Spartans are expected to challenge for the conference championship next season along with Prescott, Altoona, and St. Croix Central. 

Speaking of head coaches, St. Croix Central skipper Brad Sauve has stepped down as head coach of the Panthers. Sauve guided the Panthers to the Middle Border Conference Championship this season and finished with an overall record of 15-5. A member of the WBCA Hall of Fame, Sauve spent the bulk of his coaching career at Spring Valley and wrapped up his career with an overall record of 358-261. Baldwin-Woodville Head Coach Wes Haney has also resigned as head coach. Haney ends this coaching stint at Baldwin-Woodville with an overall record of 99-60. 

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater finished as the 2024 NCAA Division III Runner up as they fell to Misericordia University of Dallas, Penn. in the three-game national championship series held in Cleveland, Ohio last week. The Warhawks finished the season with an overall record of 45-12 and this season won their 22nd conference championship in school history.  

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR announced preliminary totals for the 2024 spring turkey season. Wisconsin turkey hunters registered 50,435 birds this season, making it the fourth-highest spring harvest on record and a 22% increase from the five-year average. The 2024 spring season started on April 13 with the two-day youth hunt for hunters under 16 years old. A total of 3,967 birds were registered, a 37% increase from the five-year average. A total of 246,068 authorizations were available this spring, and hunters applied for or purchased 224,630 of them. The regular season is divided into six separate one-week periods, from April 17 to May 28. These separate periods help maximize hunter opportunities while minimizing interference for a more sustainable harvest. The robust participation and harvest numbers show ample opportunities across the state.

Headshaker of the week: With over 700 members, the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association recognizes dozens of players each year around the state with scores of awards, certificates, and plaques for outstanding performance on the diamond. In order for players to be recognized with All District and All State Awards, the head coaches of teams must be members of the coaches’ association. Sadly, each year there are players who will not be recognized because the head coach is not a member of the association. This year, players from one of the qualifying teams for the state tournament are ineligible to receive any kind of postseason recognition. Members of the WBCA Executive Board, district representatives and conference representatives send several reminders to non-member coaches regarding the importance of becoming a member of the association. Sadly, there are a handful of coaches/schools who fail to become members. Over the years the small number of coaches who shirk this responsibility try to justify their decision not to become a member of the association or blame someone else for their own mistake. Head baseball coaches not being a member of their respective organizations? That’s a headshaker.