Congratulations to pitcher Ella Stewart and catcher Leah French on being named Division 3 First Team All State by the Wisconsin Softball Coaches Associations. The senior/junior battery led the Cardinals to their first softball championship in program history. Also, congratulations to Cullen Huppert on being named Honorable Mention All State by the Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association.

Speaking of the All State Baseball Team, there were 14 players nominated for All State that have committed to NCAA Division 1 programs. Being selected First Team is extremely difficult. Just ask University of Tennessee recruit Sawyer Deerling of Kimberly who was named Third Team All State. The WBCA does not select All State teams for each division, meaning players from Drummond High School with an enrollment of 113 compete with players from Middleton, with an enrollment of 2,388, for spots on the All State team. Area players receiving All State recognition are Wichita State bound Hudson catcher Hunter Carlson who was named First Team All State. Altoona shortstop Trent Cornell, who will be playing at San Francisco next spring, was named to the Second Team, and freshman Hudson outfielder Logan Hagman was named to the Third Team. 

The momentum is building among Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association member coaches to move to five divisions for tournament play. For years, coaches within the organization have resisted adding another division believing it would “water down” competition and lead to subpar play in the tournament series. With so much turnover among baseball head coaches over the last five years, the opinions of the membership may be changing. Stay tuned. 

St. Croix Falls Head Baseball Coach Matt Vold has resigned and will be relocating to the Phoenix, Ariz. area. Vold was named the 2023 WBCA Coach of the Year after the Saints won the WIAA Division 3 State Championship a year ago. In 2022, St. Croix Falls finished as the state runner up. St. Croix Falls and Prescott have played each other eight times over the last 10 years with the Cardinals holding a 5-3 edge in the series.  

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR announced that the summer issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine is now available in print and online. Learn about great things happening around the state and get ready for summer with the latest issue. The cover story focuses on an important but underappreciated resource, Wisconsin’s grasslands – essential areas for habitat, clean water, recreation and more. Often yielding to development and row-crop agriculture, their footprint keeps shrinking in the state, but efforts such as conservation grazing are helping to change that. 

Fargo-Moorhead second baseman Peter Brookshaw returned to late last week action after a short stint on the disabled list. The North Dakota State and Prescott High School alumnus is hitting .310 on the season for the Redhawks and is among the team leaders in home runs, runs batted in, and batting average. 

Congratulations to Molly Janke on being selected to play in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Games next week at JustAGame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells. Other Middle Border Conference selections include Julia Rybacki of Somerset and Alyssa Wirth of Altoona. For the boys, Somerset forward Dylan Leccia and Altoona guard Keaton Camastral will represent the Middle Border Conference during next week’s games. 

Soon to be Michigan Tech guard Isabella Lenz is poised to return to Houghton, Mich. to begin preparations for her final season as a member of the Huskies. A two-time All Conference Selection, Lenz is on track to become a member of the 1,000 points club at the NCAA Division 2 School. Lenz is a 2021 Prescott alumnus and the all-time leading scorer in the history of Prescott girls’ basketball. 

Headshaker of the week. At last week’s state tournament there were dozens of hitters who wore almost as much protective gear at the plate as their team's starting catcher. Additionally, countless players had sliding “oven mitts” jammed into the back pockets of their game pants each plate appearance. One player last week, as they reached first base, gave all his protective body gear to the first base coach who affixed the assorted attachments to his upper torso, making him look like he was wearing one of those dog bite sleeves used to train police canines. But, that is not the headshaker. That happened when the kid wearing the Arby’s restaurant logo on his hand stole second base. As the young man slid head-first into second base, he led with the hand that was mittless, rendering the supposed required protective equipment, completely useless. Wearing a sliding mitt, but sliding into the base with your “naked” hand, now that’s a headshaker.