The Prescott Cardinals softball team faced some of the state’s best pitchers in western Wisconsin in Somerset, Ellsworth, Fall Creek, Northwestern, Grantsburg and Superior. With such a formidable schedule, Head Coach Nick Johnson and the Cardinal softball offense are well prepared for this week’s WIAA tournament. 

Reportedly, the Prescott baseball and softball teams participated in some “testy” WIAA tournament seeding meetings over the last week and a half. Strength of schedule and head-to-head matchups were at the crux of pointed discourse between Prescott coaches and those from La Crosse Aquinas and St. Croix Central. The Prescott softball team garnered a well-deserved #1 seed, while the baseball team was saddled with the #2 slot. The pitfalls and pratfalls of coaches seeding tournament brackets continue. Coaches seeding teams in order to avoid certain tournament opponents continues all across the state. Sadly, the only answer is to move toward a computerized system. It’s just like the WIAA pitch count rule. The vast majority of high school coaches never sacrificed the arm health of high school kids during the season; however, a few rogue head coaches allowed pitchers to throw 125-150 pitches in a game jeopardizing their future playing careers. Unfortunately, creating some form of computerized format to determine tournament seedings seems to be the only answer. However, reportedly, the WIAA has no interest in doing so for baseball. 

The Prescott Cardinal baseball players, coaches, and fans got their first look at Osceola’s new baseball uniforms. Impressive. Head Coach Joe Rysdam’s club sported a traditional white uniform that paid homage to the Osceola towns teams of yesteryear. 

“We wanted to duplicate the look of the uniform worn by teams when NFL Hall of Fame Football Coach Bud Grant played with Osceola,” said Rysdam. 

A Minnesota Viking fan himself, Rysdam is said by many to be among the nicest guys among the Middle Border coaching ranks. 

Speaking of baseball, heading into this week the Cardinal pitchers have an overall earned run average of 2.09. In Middle Border Conference play, the staff ERA dips to 1.26. The team ERA record for a season was set in 2002 with an incredible season earned run average of 1.16.  The 2002 teams finished the season with a record of 21-1, their only loss coming to La Crosse Aquinas in the sectional semi-final by a score of 2-1 in eight innings. 

The Prescott baseball team is currently ranked #17 in the most recent Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association state poll. St. Croix Central is ranked #15 in the final WBCA poll of the season. 

From the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: The DNR invites the public to head outdoors for the 12th annual Free Fun Weekend happening June 1-2, 2024. State Park admission fees, fishing licenses and trail passes are waived for all visitors. With 50 state parks, 15 state forests, 44 state trails, 84,000 miles of rivers and streams and roughly 15,000 lakes, Free Fun Weekend is also an opportunity to try fishing for food or fun before purchasing an annual fishing license.

The UW-La Crosse and UW-Whitewater baseball teams both won their respective NCAA Division III Regional Tournaments over the weekend and will square off in the best of three super regional at Whitewater. UW-La Crosse (35-14) beat Coe College (Iowa) 9-7 in the La Crosse Regional to advance, while UW-Whitewater (38-8) posted a 6-4 triumph over Centre College (Ky.) in the Whitewater Regional. The conference duo will meet in a best-of-three Super Regional series in Whitewater May 24-25, with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division III World Series.

Headshaker of the week: This year the Prescott team is experiencing what some baseball parents have dubbed “uniform-gate.”  Players have had more problems with uniform pants this year than any time in recent memory. Throughout the season the team has had to play a baseball pants version of a Christmas White Elephant gift exchanging varsity bottoms with one another. This year’s varsity pants have subjected players to more tears than a pair of ripped blue jeans bought from American Eagle. It’s a headshaker.